Mountain State Press Inc. has published a new anthology Voices on Unity: Coming Together, Falling Apart. “In these unsettling times, writers are called to express their thoughts and feelings in the art medium they know best, words,” said author Cat Pleska, who edited this anthology. This collection of prose, poetry and song comes from 35 contributors from West Virginia and 12 other states.
Among those included in the book is Randi Ward of Wood County, who has four poems in the anthology: “Ground,” “Hoe,” “Opossum” and “Ivy.”
“These artists offer the world their ideas on the challenges of unity and the difficulties of remaining united or falling apart, not just as a country, but in their own personal worlds,” Pleska said. “Through their words we are offered insight as to the meaning of unity and how to survive and thrive at any moment in time.”
Kentucky’s former poet laureate George Ella Lyon said: “Richly varied in form and voice, the work in Voices on Unity examines personal and communal cohesion and dissolution. Sometimes desperate, sometimes ecstatic, these writers offer insight, delight, and much-needed vision.”
From West Virginia University Press, Editor Abby Freeland said: “The powerful voices within this timely collection remind us that where there is unity, there is strength — quiet and steady, constant and kind. Within these pages, you’ll see your neighbor, your colleague, your friend, or an acquaintance, but most clearly, you’ll see yourself.”
“Voices on Unity is a collection of fine, timely, illuminating writing. With tender, frank, and brave reflections, the writers reveal ways to navigate the difficult, and ways to forge peace, separately and together. These insights are vital in this historic time of pain, conflict, and too much media blare,” said Laura Long, co-editor of Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Fiction and Poetry from West Virginia and author of Out of Peel Tree: A Novel.
Pleska teaches in the graduate humanities program for Marshall University and is a full-time instructor for Arizona State University’s Master of Liberal Studies Program.
As Pleska planned for this anthology, she said she created a wish-list of seasoned authors, who “I knew would step up to the challenging times and themes to create small masterpieces for inclusion.”
Pleska said she met Parkersburg resident Randi Ward several years ago at the West Virginia Writers Inc. annual conference and has heard her read her poetry several times over the years.
“I have always admired Randi’s intelligence, humility, and her poems which have the ability to pierce us to the bone with their truth,” Pleska said in an email.
In the interest of space for the anthology, Pleska said she planned to include only one poem from each of the poets. But fortunately Ward sent four of her “famously brief poems” that always pack a huge wallop, Pleska said. All four of Ward’s poems are in the anthology in “Suite of Poems.”
Each of Ward’s poems has its own page.
“Cat Pleska dedicated the anthology to all of the ‘truth seekers’ out there,” Ward said. “I think this project is especially important because, among other things, it’s about facing realities that can be painful — and facing them in ways that prepare us for sustained awareness and sincere change.
“It’s about finding the courage to have the tough conversations as well as making sure our voices consistently remain a constructive part of those ongoing conversations — with ourselves and others,” Ward said.
“I think the anthology serves as a reminder that growth — whether it be in the coming together, the falling apart, or both — often requires soul-searching and unflinching honesty,” Ward said.
This article was originally published in The Parkersburg News and Sentinel.