Hickory – The December 10 Poetry Hickory will feature a Local Authors’ Showcase and Book Sale, including 6 award-winning local authors and publishers.

Featured writers will include Lenoir Rhyne Creative Writing Professor, Scott Owens; CVCC History Professor, Richard Eller; CVCC Professor and award-winning baseball writer, Tim Peeler; CVCC Professor and Publisher, Robert Canipe; Morganton author, Christina Xiong; and award-winning artist, author, and designer, Bud Caywood.

Owens is the award-winning author of 14 collections of poetry, including “Paternity,” “Down to Sleep,” and “Waiting for the Next Big Bang in the Galaxy at the Edge of Town.” He has served as Vice President of the NC Poetry Society, Editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review, and Founder and Coordinator of Poetry Hickory. His poems and essays on poetry have been published in journals, anthologies, blogs, and radio shows across the country and internationally.

Peeler is the author of more than 15 books of poetry, and local and baseball history, including “Henry River: An American Ruin,” “Checking Out,” and “Rough Beast.” A past winner of the Jim Harrison Award for contributions to baseball literature, he has also been a Casey Award Finalist and a finalist for the SIBA Award. He directs the academic assistance programs at CVCC.

Bud Caywood is the author of 13 collections of poetry, including “Blue,” “The Feather Collector,” and “The Cafe Terrace at Night.” He is also an artist and designer, and Founding Editor of the journal, “Bloodshot.”

Christina Xiong is the author of “Ghost Monogamies” and “The Gathering Song.” She is a certified Story Medicine Facilitator and peer support specialist from Morganton.

Richard Eller has created documentaries and books focusing on Piedmont Airlines, The Miracle of Hickory, and other topics of local interest. He recently spoke at TEDx Hickory on his upcoming documentary and book based on the undefeated and unscored upon 1964 Ridgeview High School football team known as “The Untouchables.”

Robert Canipe is editor at Red Hawk and Third Lung Press. He has published books of poetry, nonfiction, history, and local interest, including “Polio, Pitchforks, & Perseverance” (based on the Miracle of Hickory), “We See What We Want to See” (based on the history of Henry River Mill Village), and “Newton Then and Now”.

The reading will begin at 7:00 P.M. at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse in downtown Hickory and is free and open to the public. Taste Full Beans has hosted Poetry Hickory on the second Tuesday of every month for more than 12 years. For more information, contact Scott Owens at 828-234-4266.
Scott Owens