Dr. Ted Olson
Dr. Ted Olson, a professor in East Tennessee State University's department of Appalachian studies, has released his second full-length book of poetry, "Revelations: Poems."
Fellow poets have had kind words for Olson's "Revelations." Jeff Daniel Marion said that the book "speaks to us in a quiet, restrained -and in many ways plaintive - voice of a journey, the narrator's evolution through stages of awareness to find some abiding and deeply personal truths." Maurice Manning, a recent finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, wrote that the poetry in "Revelations" is refreshing, almost old-fashioned in that it is truly verse - as we understood poetry 100 years back - composed generously with rhythm and rhyme, and that antiquated quality makes the gravity of "Revelations' all the more subtle."
The cover of the book displays a work of art entitled "Luz" by internationally-known Catalan artist Eduardo Arranz-Bravo. The book will be on display through Jan. 20, in the Arranz-Bravo Foundation, an art museum near Barcelona. The copy of "Revelations" will be shown in conjunction with an exhibition "Arranz-Bravo and the Book," which showcases "singular book editions created by Arranz-Bravo since the "60s."
Olson is the author of an earlier full-length book of poetry, "Breathing in Darkness." In addition, he is the author of "Blue Ridge Folklife" and of a forthcoming scholarly work on the poetry of Robinson Jeffers. Olson edited the music section for the "Encyclopedia of Appalachia," and co-edited the award-winning scholarly study, "The Bristol Sessions: Writings About the Big Bang of Country Music."
For his work as a music historian, Olson has received the East Tennessee Historical Society's Regional Excellence in History Award of Distinction as well as an award from the International Bluegrass Music Association and two Grammy Award nominations.
