Poet, Mentor, Leader, Bobcat

Alumna Kari Gunter-Seymour holds Athens and Appalachia close to her heart.

Laura M. André | October 7, 2022

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Two-time OHIO graduate Kari Gunter-Seymour released her second book of poems this fall.

Two-time OHIO graduate Kari Gunter-Seymour released her second book of poems this fall. Photo by Meagan Hall.

Each year the Ohio University Press and its literary imprint, Swallow Press, publish around 40 titles, but it’s rare when a book’s author and subject are as close to home as they are with Kari Gunter-Seymour’s second book of poems, Alone in the House of My Heart .

Gunter-Seymour , BFA ’94, MA ’16, hails from a family rooted nine generations deep in Appalachia. Hers is the third generation to call Athens County home. Her award-winning poetry sings of local culture, family and community.

Currently in her second term as Ohio’s poet laureate, Gunter-Seymour is the author or editor of several books and has won numerous awards and fellowships. Her photographs have garnered nationwide acclaim, too.

Gunter-Seymour gives back as a community leader. She is the founder and executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project , founder and host of the Spoken & Heard series at Stuart’s Opera House , and she helms writing workshops for incarcerated people and for those in recovery.

Her generosity shows in a poem from her latest book . Its details might sound familiar to those who have called Athens home:

“The Whole Shebang Up for Debate” 

Today I gave a guy a ride, 
caught in a cloudburst
jogging down East Mill Street.
Skinny, backpacked, newspaper
a makeshift shield, unsafe
under any circumstances.
I don’t know what possessed me.

I make bad decisions, am forgetful,
cling to structure and routine
like static electricity to polyester,
a predicament of living under
the facade I always add to myself.

Said he needed to catch a GoBus,
shaking off droplets before climbing in.
He gabbed about Thanksgiving plans,
his mom’s cider basted turkey,
grandma’s pecan crusted pumpkin pie.

It was a quick masked ride.
Bless you, he said, unfolding himself
from the car. No awkward goodbyes,
no what do I owe you? Just Bless you
and a backward wave.

At the stop sign, my fingers stroked
the dampness where he sat minutes before.
Sometimes life embraces you
so unconditionally, it shifts
your body from shadow
into a full flung lotus of light.

Laura M. André is the publicity coordinator at the Ohio University Press.

The cover of Kari Gunter-Seymour's book 'Alone in The House of My Heart.'

Image courtesy of the Ohio University Press.

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