Poet
and novelist Tony Abbott kicks off the 2003 Appalachian State University
Visiting Writers Series today in W.H. Plemmons Student Union.
“He’s one of the top writers in North Carolina,”
Associate Professor of creative writing Joseph R. Bathanti said
Monday. “He’s quite a distinguished poet and quite a creative
writer, too.”
Abbott, a recently retired Davidson College professor, served as
chairman of the Davidson department of English while gaining publicity
for his unique style of poetry.
Bathanti, who hails as a long-time friend, colleague and fan of
Abbott, reviewed Abbott’s second book of poetry.
Bathanti said he sees this visit by Abbott as “especially [good]
for would-be writers” because Abbott suggests new ways of looking
at life and daily experiences and shows writers how to turn them
into topics for their poetry.
“Abbott is best at taking something [many] don’t see as
significant and holding it up to the light to gain a different [perspective],”
Bathanti said.
“I’ve only read some of Abbott’s poems, but there
is a sense of innocence in them that is very hard to find elsewhere
in modern day poetry,” junior elementary education major Rebecca
A. Camper said Monday.
Abbott judged both the Marian Coe and the John Foster West Scholarship
competitions for Appalachian in the fall of 2001, which “he
did out of the kindness of his heart,” Bathanti said.
Abbott recently won the Novello Festival Press 2003 Literary Award
for his novel, “The Boy Who Could Not Say Love,” according
to the Novello Festival Press. Abbott’s novel defeated 100
other entries, and he received a cash prize, a presentation piece,
publication and national distribution of his novel.
“Tony Abbott is one of our region’s most talented and
insightful writers,” Novello Festival Press Executive Editor
Frye Galliard said.
Abbott has a novel coming out in the fall of 2003.
In the past, the Visiting Writers Series has had a good turnout
from students as well as community members from Watauga and the
greater surrounding counties, Bathanti said.
Abbott will host a craft talk today from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., centering
on tailoring individual work “From Form to Free Verse.”
The craft talk will be held in the Attic Window Room of the student
union. A question and answer session will follow.
Abbott will read from several of his works at 7:30 p.m., including
“The Girl in the Yellow Raincoat,” “A Small Thing
Like a Breath” and “The Search for Wonder in the Cradle
of the World,” followed by a book sales and signing.
Admission to both events is free to Appalachian State students and
the general public.
