Poetry Reading with Pauletta Hansel

Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel will visit the Kingsport Public Library Thursday, June 23 at 12:30 pm, for an author talk/reading.  Pauletta Hansel, the 2022 Writer-in-Residence for The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, is author of nine poetry collections including Heartbreak Tree (Madville Publishing, 2022) and Friend, Coal Town Photograph and Palindrome, winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for Appalachian poetry, all from Dos Madres Press.

Pauletta was born and raised in southeastern Kentucky.  Her writing has been featured in Oxford American, Rattle, American Life in Poetry, Appalachian Journal, Still: the Journal and Poetry Daily, among others. Pauletta was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate (2016-2018) and is past managing editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the literary journal of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative.

Pauletta Hansel will read from her collections, including her newest book, Heartbreak Tree, a poetic exploration of the intersection of gender and place in Appalachia. Heartbreak Tree is “the breakout work of a lifetime, a work of breaking silences and ancestral truth telling.” Madville Publishing Poetry Editor, Linda Parsons.

Copies of Heartbreak Tree and other books will be available for sale & signing. Pauletta will also donate several of her books to the Kingsport Library.