By: Mat Cloak
The Parsons Advocate
Last Thursday, when the rest of Thomas was settling in for the night, TipTop was teeming with those ready to see and hear the finished work of poet Doug Van Gundy and artist Alexandra Miller.
The idea began when Van Gundy decided one month a year dedicated to poetry was not enough for him. April is officially National Poetry Month. Many poets, writers, teachers, and students participate in Poetry Month through reading or writing a poem every day. With their respective talents, the two collaborated to write and create a zine titled “The October Poems.”
“I enjoyed it so much in April, I figured I’d do it again,” Van Gundy said. Part of his idea for writing a poem each day in October was to generate new work and ideas, but also to hold himself accountable to his work.
Van Gundy and West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman sent each other their poems every day, many of which were composed late at night. “I’d scramble to write a poem before midnight,” Van Gundy reflected.
Thomas resident and artist Alexandra Miller added another layer to Van Gundy’s project. When the two met at TipTop, she suggested they design and print the poems in a zine, or homemade magazine. A quick blurb about Alexandra is in the finished zine. In it, she wrote, “This zine was quite different than any that I had worked on previously, as most of my experience making zines comes from congregating with a group of friends who all had a similar mindset – which was to make something very, very silly.”
Even though poetry in the zine was written with the emphasis on, “the first thought is the best thought,” Van Gundy said, the collection displayed stylistic versatility, a broad scope of ideas and themes, and a handful of homages, some discreet, some obvious.
Miller’s visual penchant produced an appealing published work. The 31 poems were housed between an autumnal design on the cover and back of the zine. Speaking to the crowd gathered at TipTop, Miller expressed that she enjoyed the effort that was necessary to complete a project that required such immediacy and collaboration. The crowd at TipTop was diverse in age, and all sat rapt as Van Gundy read.
Outside of this monthly challenge turned project that Van Gundy completed, his writing includes a published collection of his own poetry, work featured in “Appalachian Heritage,” “Oxford American,” and Fairmont State’s art publication, “Kestrel.”
He also co-edited an anthology of contemporary poetry and short fiction from West Virginia called “Eyes glowing at the Edge of the Woods.” He currently teaches creative writing at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
