West Virginia author Denise Giardina returned to her roots for a reading at 123 Pleasant on Friday, November 6. The reading celebrated all things West Virginia, featuring two additional writers who spent their formative years in Morgantown, Andrea Null and Keegan Lester.

The event was co-sponsored by the Black Bear Club Reading Series and WVU’s English Department. From the Black Bear Club, Howard Parsons kicked off the night by introducing Andrea Null to a room of more than a hundred eager listeners. Andrea is a schoolteacher in Charleston, West Virginia, and her first collection, Common Whores and Midwives is forthcoming. She spoke first of growing up in Morgantown, giving several shout outs to friends and neighbors in the audience. With lively hand gestures and a lilting voice made for storytelling, she read aloud an essay about a man named Homer she’d encountered when she was younger. A final line that captured the heart of the piece: “There is always goodness in the grotesque.”

Andrea Null

Next, Howard introduced Keegan Lester, who earned his undergrad degree at WVU and later earned his MFA in Poetry at Columbia University. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, but spoke fondly of his time in Morgantown, also calling out to his family and friends in the crowd. He read ten poems, which culminated into a leap off the stage and a venture into the crowd when his microphone stopped working. He shouted the last poem as he wove his way through the people, arms reaching out to slap him on the back, even pausing for a quick hug.

Keegan Lester

The atmosphere was joyful and the crowd was warmed up when the headliner, Denise Giardina, took the stage. Two of Denise’s novels explore the rich history and coal mining industry of West Virginia, bringing life to stories glossed over or not often told. Her work has earned prizes such as the American Book Award and the Boston Book Review fiction prize, and the audience was clearly thrilled to listen to a local author.

Denise Giardina

Wearing a pink cardigan and clutching the pages of her latest manuscript, Denise got right to it. She was going to read something new from a work-in-progress she told an enthusiastic crowd. The excerpt revolved around John W. Davis, a Marine Corps officer who sought to re-marry after his wife died. The audience listened intently to the historical tale and chuckled along afterwards when Denise concluded her reading by asking, “Wasn’t 1910 awful?” The evening was anything but.

Contributed by Andrea Ruggirello