Lucas Adcock
Staff Writer
The Opera House held its poetry-reading night June 18 as part of the “Appalachian Ode Project.” Over the last couple of months, 12 writing workshops have taken place all over the county, led by none other than playwright and Green Bank resident Ned Dougherty.
Running the writing workshops has been a dream of Dougherty’s. He began the workshops toward the northern end of Pocahontas County, eventually ending with 12 completed poems – written by the workshop attendees, and assisted by Dougherty – that portray the real Appalachia and Pocahontas County.
There was an enormous turn-out at the reading, everyone either in their seats or getting refreshments before Caroline Hanson took to the podium to open the evening. Hanson, who handles several of the business-operations at the opera house, and who also created the Appalachian Ode Project’s logo and banner, spoke proudly: “As you can see, we are in full decoration for a summer full of magic.”
The opera house had been perfectly decorated with flowers and magical scenes of vines to set the mood for events to come; decorations reflecting a Shakespearian atmosphere.
“It’s going to keep on rolling this whole summer,” Hanson said, speaking on events and even a play that nearly 60 local students will be a part of in July.
She then introduced Ned Dougherty.
“The Appalachian Ode Project endeavors to inspire joy and re-ignite civic pride in our communities across the region, Dougherty said. “Through hands on and active community workshops, participants rediscover and express the joy they have for living in the often-overlooked, vital and vibrant communities of Appalachia.”
“It’s imperative that communities rally around each other,” he added.
This was the point of the workshop: to reimagine Appalachia by those who feel its soil under their feet.
As a playwright, Dough-erty has had the privilege of being featured at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia, where every year for the last 25 years, they’ve hosted the Appalachian Play Festival. They also feature new work by playwrights either from Appalachia or plays that center around Appalachian themes.
“The developmental pro-cess involves their audience,” Dougherty explained. “The audience gets to give a lot of feedback through these plays. As a playwright, I need that feedback because I need to hear how it’s going for you listening to, and watching the play.”
Dougherty has a vision for the Appalachian Ode Project.
“Imagine doing this over and over and over again,” he said. “We have twelve new poems tonight. Imagine us doing this for years and years and years. Maybe this place will be known, not just as the birthplace of rivers, but the birthplace of writers.”
All 12 poems were read – some of them by their writers – and the first iteration of writing workshops, called “O! Pocahontas,” had concluded.
The goal for the Appalachian Ode Project is to eventually have these workshops facilitated all over the state of West Virginia, creating an anthology of Appalachia from the writers who physically breathe in its air; a personal and poetic drive through the state of West Virginia.
