A! Magazine for the Arts

Rita Quillen

Rita Quillen

Poetry Book of the Year Announced

September 20, 2008

Rita Quillen's collection of poetry, Her Secret Dream, has been named the 2008 Poetry Book of the Year by the Appalachian Writer's Association.

To read a book review of Her Secret Dream and a article entitled "Rita Quillen Recalls the Day She Discovered Appalachian Poetry," visit www.artsmagazine.info (keyword: "Quillen"). Quillen lives in Scott County, Va., and teaches English at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap. In addition to her books of poems, she is the author of a book of critical essays, Looking for Native Ground: Contemporary Appalachian Poetry, and an unpublished novel entitled Hiding Ezra.

Her work has been included in several critically acclaimed anthologies, including Bloodroot: Reflections of Place by Appalachian Women Writers; Listen Here: Appalachian Women Writers; Appalachia Inside Out; and the Appalshop public radio series, Tell It On The Mountain.

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