A one-paragraph
job description awaited Marc Harshman when he accepted his appointment in spring
2012 as poet laureate of West Virginia.
Clearly, state
leaders had no intention of being verbose with their official writer. Code 29-7-1 states: "There shall be a poet laureate
of West
Virginia, who shall be appointed by, and serve during the will and pleasure of
the governor. No person shall be eligible to such appointment who is not a
resident of this state, and who has not written and published poems of
recognized merit."
Harshman is obviously well qualified. The
poet and storyteller is also the author of 11 children's picture books that
have been published in five languages. He has been honored by the state
Language Arts Council, Arts Commission and Fellowship in Children's Literature.
"There's not much
written about what it entails," said the former collegiate educator who also
taught for several years at the three-room Sand Hill School in Marshall County. "The expectations are pretty much my
own.
"I'm still very,
very early in this. All I can say at this point is I really hope that I can
support my fellow writers throughout the state of West Virginia. (I want) to do all that I can to nurture
their success."
Harshman is
taking his cues from the legacy of his predecessor, Irene McKinney. She served
in the position from 1994 until her death in February.
"She was a truly
important and amazingly talented poet from West Virginia," he said of the Belington native. "I'm
truly blessed to be in a state with so many professional writers. "
He has already
made numerous public appearances for readings and workshops in libraries,
schools and events such as the West Virginia Writer's Conference in Ripley and
the West Virginia Book Festival in Charleston. He will deliver the Feb. 7 Founders Day
Address at Bethany College, his alma mater.
Manipulating
a musical language takes time, according to Harshman.
"I'm a very slow
worker," he said, referring to his always-present notebook. "I have poems that
I have scribbled, worked on and revised for a couple of decades. I write and
re-write my work just trying to get every word right so that it sounds
correctly as well as reads correctly.
"A perfect day is
a sunny afternoon, sitting outside under a shade tree … a cup of tea and a
stack of journals and books of poetry and magazines. Whatever I read, ideas are
constantly sparking in my mind and I can hardly keep my hand off my pen as I
scribble down ideas.
"If you saw what
I was reading and looked at what I was writing, you would very likely see no
connection whatsoever," he said.
Harshman, who
spent his early years in rural Indiana, said he was guided toward education by
his parents.
"The once a week
trip to town for groceries always included a trip to the library there in the
small farming town near where I grew up," he recalled. "As far back as I can
remember, I can see my mom and dad sitting in their chairs in the evening
reading books. I remember hearing my father recite poetry to me. All these
things truly shaped me."
He and his wife, Cheryl Ryan, an author
and artist, have a 23-year-old daughter, Sarah.
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