Hickory – Hickory native, Tim Peeler, author of 12 collections of poetry and 4 books on regional baseball history, will be the featured reader at Poetry Hickory on August 13 at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse. Peeler will be joined by award-winning photographer, Clayton Joe Young, whose black and white images of western North Carolina are featured alongside Peeler’s poems in their new limited edition collaboration, “West of Mercy,” recently published by Third Lung Press. The reading will begin at 7:00, and Peeler’s presentation will be followed by an Open Mic.
A past winner of the Jim Harrison Award for contributions to baseball literature, Peeler has also been a Casey Award Finalist (baseball book of the year) for his collection of baseball poems, “Touching All the Bases.” He has five books in the permanent collection at the Baseball Hall of Fame Library in Cooperstown, NY, and was invited to read as part of the Great Fenway Park Writers Series in Boston in 2013. “Checking Out,” his collection of narrative poems based on his experience managing Mull’s Motel, was also a finalist for the SIBA Award.
“West of Mercy” is the second collaboration between Peeler and Young, the first being “We See What We Want to See,” a collection of photos and poems relating to Henry River Mill Village. Peeler’s other books of poetry, including “Knuckle Bear,” “Rough Beast,” and “Waiting on Charlie Brown,” have focused on imagined and real lives in rural western NC.
Young has created several books of photography, including “Mountain Folk,” and “Country Roads,” an earlier collaboration with Hickory poet, Scott Owens. His work is currently on display at Taste Full Beans and is shown regularly in galleries across the state. Both Young and Peeler are part of the faculty at CVCC.
Poetry Hickory will enter its 12th year of monthly readings in September. For more information, contact Scott Owens at 828-234-4266.
Photo: Tim Peeler
