Poets and singers to visit Pikeville College

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – On Monday, Nov. 2, three poets with ties to Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., and an a cappella trio of sisters will share their talents with the Pikeville College campus. The evening of entertainment will be held at 7 p.m. in Chrisman Auditorium, located in Armington Learning Center, level two. Sponsored by the Division of Humanities and the college’s Special Events Committee, the event is free and the community is cordially invited to attend. There will be a reception and book and CD signing after the performance.

The poets include A. E. Stringer, professor of English at Marshall University; Edwina (Eddy) Pendarvis, a member emeritus of the Marshall faculty, and Ron Houchin, a southern Ohio educator with close ties to Marshall University. The trio of singers call themselves The Johnson Sisters and come from Laurel County, Ky.

Stringer is the author of two collections of poems, Channel Markers (Western University Press) and Human Costume (from Salmon Poetry of Ireland). He has edited and introduced a new edition of Louise McNeill’s Paradox Hill, forthcoming from West Virginia University Press, and has presented readings in a wide range of American locales as well as in Galway, Ireland. For 20 years, he has taught writing and literature at Marshall where he directs the Visiting Writers Series.

Eddy Pendarvis was born in Floyd County and grew up in eastern Kentucky, southern Western Virginia and Florida. She has taught at Marshall University for most of her academic career. The author of six books, her most recent poetry collection is Like the Mountains of China and her most recent book is a family memoir titled Raft Tide and Railroad, which is about life in Pike County from the early 1800’s to the 1900’s. Both her poetry and prose draw from Pendarvis’ eastern Kentucky heritage, especially its egalitarian ideals.

Raised on the remote banks of the Ohio River in Huntington, Houchin has traveled throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. His poetry has appeared in such publications as Appalachian Heritage, Poetry Island Review, The Southwest Review, The New Orleans Review and more than 200 other venues. He has been awarded an Ohio Arts Council Grant for teachers of the arts, a tutorial fellowship to teach in Dublin, Ireland, as well as a book of the year award from the Appalachian Writers’ Association.

The Johnson Sisters sing for the love of singing. They have traveled throughout Kentucky to perform. Although they consider themselves to be an amateur group, they were recently convinced by a legion of fans to release their first CD. One fan describes their voices as “. . . blending so well it seems as if the music is floating about in the song.”