This is how Rob Neufeld's review of the recently published Southern Appalachian Poetry anthology begins in the Asheville Citizen Times two weeks ago:

Many of the poets in "Southern Appalachian Poetry," Marita Garin's new anthology, talk like ghosts. Their laments and longings view life as if from under a TVA lake. This is mostly by design; for Garin, poet and Elderhostel instructor, set out to "document and preserve details of a way of life in the Southern Appalachian region that is beginning to disappear."

I had some trouble with that assessment after sitting down and reading this anthology carefully. And I began to wonder how many of us readers here in the mountains actually take advantage of Rob's blog and the opportunity to respond to his reviews online. Please do go to the citizen-times.com website to respond to his reviews. He would be happy to hear from you. Don't let thereadonwnc.ning.com go by unnoticed, either. Rob is passionate about bringing WNC poetry to our students, so please go to this site and find out about his plans. I'll be posting more about it later.

As for Southern Appalachian Poetry, I will be offering my comments along with some poems from the collection. Although some of the work in this book is dated, there is much to celebrate in its pages, including work by our own Nancy Simpson, Bettie SEllers, Ron Rash, and the late John Foster West and Jim Wayne Miller.