Wytheville Community College (WCC) and Wytheville Chautauqua Festival Creative Writing Committee will host a reading and discussion, “Birding in Literature and at Rural Retreat Lake” on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Smyth Hall Learning Resource Center (library) at Wytheville Community College, 1000 East Main Street, Wytheville.
Speakers for the event are Jim Minick, a local author, essayist, and poet; and Allen Boynton, a retired wildlife biologist who has researched the songbirds of Rural Retreat Lake.
Jim Minick lives in Wythe County and is the author of six books, the most recent, Fire Is Your Water, a novel. The Blueberry Years, his memoir, won the Best Nonfiction Book of the Year from Southern Independent Booksellers Association. His poem “I Dream a Bean” was picked by Claudia Emerson for permanent display at the Tysons Corner/Metrorail Station. His work has appeared in many publications including the New York Times, Poets & Writers, Tampa Review, Shenandoah, Orion, Oxford American, and The Sun. His newest book is Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas, a nonfiction work forthcoming from the University of Nebraska Press in 2023.
Allen Boynton is a retired wildlife biologist living in Troutdale, Virginia. Allen worked for 39 years with both the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. He is an avid birdwatcher and also enjoys hiking, camping, photography, and nature study.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Deanna Bradberry, Public Relations and Development Coordinator, Wytheville Community College, at 276-223-4880 or email [email protected].
