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Sunday, Apr. 26, 2009

A man of his words

Ky.'s new poet laureate is devoted to nurturing Appalachian literature

Canoeing quietly along the backwaters and slinking curves of the Kentucky River, a soft-cadenced, mustached man with broad-rimmed glasses talks simply, evenly to a camera. Something about him — perhaps it is the unkempt, floppy hair — smacks of reformed hippie, as if he is the kind of guy who might at any time smell like campfire smoke.

He tells the story of the river: its geography, the innumerable rivulets and tributaries that flow from higher ground, its history and important landmarks, and stories of the people who lived and worked along the banks over the centuries.

Every now and then among the narration springs a phrase or two of unusual elegance and insight.

"The great thing about spending time on the river," he ruminates, "is the way the river itself begins to speak to you, trying to remind you of what it is you have forgotten and how you might call it back to life again."

It is 1987, and the cameras are rolling for Time on the River, one of several Kentucky Educational Television documentaries written and narrated by celebrated Kentucky writer and teacher Gurney Norman.

Norman treats the river and its stories with great curiosity and a kind of electric reverence, not unlike his attitude toward writing, teaching and his lifelong championing of regional literature and his native Appalachian culture.

Born in Grundy, Va., and raised largely in Kentucky's Perry County, Norman made a splash in the 1960s literary counter-culture scene when his novel Divine Right's Trip was released in the Whole Earth Catalog. Instead of driving west to California like everyone else at the time, the main character, D.R. Davenport, starts out in California and travels back to his native Kentucky. Full of drugs, casual and uncasual sex, and many far-out and psychedelic adventures, Divine Right's Trip was the quintessential novel of the counter-culture of the time.

On the heels of Divine Right's Trip, Norman released Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories, decidedly un-trippy. Set in the rural mountains, Kinfolks is widely considered one of the seminal books of Appalachian literature in the past 50 years.

After working for nearly 50 years as an artist, reporter, publisher and most recently an associate professor at the University of Kentucky, Norman was named state poet laureate in an induction ceremony Friday at the state Capitol in Frankfort.

One of the poet laureate's chief roles is traveling the state promoting the literary arts. That wide mission statement calls for hundreds of visits to schools, libraries and community centers in every corner of the state, reaching out to citizens through public readings, informal discussions and workshops, acting as a kind of ambassador for the value of Kentucky literature, a role that Norman has unofficially played for decades.

Author and mentor

Norman is critically acclaimed for Divine Right's Trip and Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories, but it is his behind-the-scenes work that is perhaps his greatest legacy.

As a teacher and mentor, Norman continually reaches out to connect with younger generations, new writers and artists, often cultivating relationships — and careers — that build on Kentucky's rich literary tradition.

Frank X Walker, award-winning poet and founding member of the Affrilachian poets, refers to Norman as his "literary father." As a UK student, Walker changed his major from journalism to English after studying with Norman. Norman and his wife, Nyoka Hawkins, later helped launch Walker's career by publishing his first poetry collection through their small, local press, Old Cove.

"His modeling of an artist/teacher/mentor/grass-roots activist has shaped my personal and professional life," Walker says. "I get credit for inventing the word Affrilachia, but it was Norman who shaped my consciousness and thinking about the region in a broad, inclusive way."

Another former student-turned-award-winning author, Chris Holbrook, also credits Norman with helping to cultivate the early seeds of his writing career. Like Walker, Holbrook first met Norman in a writing class at UK.