"Coal Town Photograph"

"Coal Town Photograph" speaks directly to the urban Appalachian experience of leaving home and returning to find things have forever changed. Based on the book by Pauletta Hansel, this unique presentation blends poetry, music by Raison D’Etre, and theatrical performance by Falcon Takes Flight—an outreach wing of Falcon Theater in Northern Kentucky. "Coal Town Photograph" does not shy away from the contemporary problems that plague both rural and urban Appalachians, capturing the mixed feelings so many Appalachians have toward their homes as we look at the changes we see over time, changes that are simply inevitable, and changes that are genuinely tragic. Following the performance, join writer Pauletta Hansel for a Q&A session. Hansel is author of eight poetry collections, including "Palindrome", winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for Appalachian Poetry. She is from eastern Kentucky and was Cincinnati’s first poet laureate (2016-2018).