#LocalEvent: One Night in Historic Matewan
As local history buffs know, the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum is on a mission to illuminate the vibrant history of this region and, in doing so, promote our culture and our people. This is well accomplished through the museum itself, which features a variety of resources and artifacts from the mine wars. That is not the only way the museum is promoting our culture, however. Case in point: the upcoming book reading from Evan Gray and Kevin Chesser.
This event will feature readings from two Appalachian authors. Evan, a writer and poet from North Carolina, will be doing a reading from his first book, Thickets Swamped in Fence-Coated Briars. Meanwhile, Kevin will be reading from his poetry collection Relief of My Symptoms, a collection of 49 poems about “family, Batman, baseball, depression, America, and other timeless subjects.”
Refreshments will be offered, and attendees will have the chance to speak to the authors and ask questions after the readings. The museum will be open to attendees before and after the event, and admission is 100% free. Those who wish to buy copies of the authors’ works will be able to do so.
Lloyd Tomlinson, the coordinator for the event, is excited about this event, and hopes that it will become a regular in the museum’s future. “Our season runs from March to November, but we’re always trying to develop year-round programming,” He says. “So when a regional author reached out to us about hosting a reading, it seemed like a great opportunity to try something we can turn into a regular program.”
The reading will be December 15, 2023 at 6pm at the Museum. Doors will open at 5pm, for those who wish to view the museum beforehand. Check out the Facebook event page for all the details.