Rita Quillen
Rita Quillen is a writer whose works – from poetry to non-fiction to fiction – are purposely rooted in the surrounding mountains of Southwest Virginia, reflecting a personal vision in her explorations of universal truths. Her gift as a poet is in always finding the deepest human connections in creating a remarkable body of work – a quilt of language, a strong voice, never wavering in its declarations of life's details. Quillen is part of a rich tradition of Appalachian writers – James Still, Mildred Haun, Wendell Berry, Jim Wayne Miller, Kathryn Stripling Byer – who find the remarkable beauty of living in (not merely on) the world.
Her latest book, "Something Solid To Anchor To," a resonant collection of poems, evokes untapped emotions of humanity, family, rites of passage in a stubborn but transcendent world, and the ache to hold on to that world in a time that has lost its own sense of possibility. These poems are maps, photographs, markers for such a vital landscape readers desperately need. Quillen's collection, filled with strong pieces – "Tree Gothic," "Witness," "Maybe Tragedy Is Too Strong a Word," "Spring Meditation of the Mad Farmer's Wife – goes against the grain of the expected to reveal an immense power, both fresh and direct.
There's an ease of language – deceptively simple yet strong – which can only come from well-honed writing skills. In the book's poetic world of bedrock, meadow and stream, "trout yawp at a surface bug," becoming the reader's epiphany of self-discovery. There is a "cracked mirror," to be sure, but the view of the self is an honest one. "Something Solid To Anchor To" is an unrushed read of steady greatness and quiet solitude, enlarging the reader with every page. Quillen is that good.
Visit www.ritasimsquillen.com to learn how to purchase her books. They'll also be available at Writers' Day.
Sam Rasnake's works have appeared in The Southern Poetry Anthology, Best of the Web 2009, Wigleaf, OCHO, MiPOesias Companion 2012, Big Muddy, Literal Latté, Poets / Artists, LUMMOX 2012, BOXCAR Poetry Review Anthology 2, and Dogzplot Flash Fiction 2011. His latest poetry collection is Cinéma Vérité (A-Minor Press 2013). He also edits Blue Fifth Review, an online journal of poetry, short fiction and art.
