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On August 16th, 2025, from 1-5 pm, four prominent poets from Venetian Spider Press will be reading from their works and signing books at Barnes and Noble in Morgantown, WV.John Burroughs is the 2019-2021 Ohio Beat Poet Laureate, US National Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus., as well as 2nd Vice President of the Ohio Poetry Association. A native West Virginian, John is a playwright, musician, editor and the author of around twenty poetry collections, as well as a dynamic performer who has wowed audiences from Oakland to New York City and myriad points in between. Since 2008 he has served as the founding editor for Crisis Chronicles Press, publishing over one hundred books by esteemed writers from around the world. He is also a founding member of the Rolling Stock Poets troupe and will be signing copies of his Venetian Spider Press hardcover Rattle & Numb: Selected and New Poems, 1992 – 2019.
Patricia Nwoko is a 2024 graduate of Morgantown High School and winner of the first Morgantown High School/William F. DeVault/ Venetian Spider Press Poetry Award, which in addition to a substantial cash prize, won her the right to publish her first hardcover book of poetry, Uniquely Unspecial, with Venetian Spider Press, and which is currently nominated to the Maya Angelou Literary Award. She will be reading and signing copies. She is a fresh and refreshing young poet presenting her visions of being a young woman of Nigerian American lineage in today’s America. Earnest, honest and at turns playful and painfully direct, she is a voice to be listened to and who will be with us for years to come, sharing her unique and very special visions and experiences.
Daniel McTaggart, drawing from his own experiences, living and working in Morgantown, West Virginia, this West Virginia Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus writes of the places he's been, the people he's met, and the experiences of his life. His book with Venetian Spider Press, Midnight Muse in a Convenience Store, reflects his time working at a Mileground convenience store. He is also a founding member of the Rolling Stock Poets troupe as well as an alumnus of Morgantown High School, and is currently working on a book of his sketches exploring his experience as dyslexic.
William F. DeVault has, in his creative run (so far) amassed tens of thousands of poems. Since his 1973 graduation from MHS, he has published over 30 books, received his unfair share of sobriquets, and performed his poetry across the continental United States. He has read in churches, bars, parks, schools, libraries, alleyways, and brothels. Named the Romantic Poet of the Internet by Yahoo in 1996, the US National Beat Poet Laureate (now Emeritus) by the NBPF in 2017 and in 2025 declared a New Generation Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation. He will be reading from and signing several of his hardcover books, including Selected Poems and Passions: 1972-2011, and TACHYON. A founding member of the Rolling Stock Poets troupe, he will be celebrating his 70th birthday at Barnes & Nobel in Morgantown on August 16 this year.
Other Venetian Spider Press books, by R. Nikolas Macioci (City of Hammers, Drunk on Angel Breath, and Why Dance?); Sandra Feen and Cliff Treyens (There’s a Rock on Martin Avenue); and additional titles by William F. DeVault (EROica, Qoheleth, and Quintessence) will also be available at this event.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Barnes & Noble (Morgantown, WV), 2814 University Town Center Dr, Morgantown, WV 26501-2465, United States
