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PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg native David B. Prather has recently published his second full-length collection of poetry, "Shouting at an Empty House," from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions.
"A master of the suburban pastorale, Prather's keen affection for the natural world outside our back doors informs these poems with a convincing and refreshing credibility," said West Virginia poet laureate Marc Harshman.
The collection describes experiences as something universal, whether the "self" is haunted by being ill at ease in their own body like Frankenstein's monster or is fatally consumed by their own identity like Narcissus. The poems recognize the joys of this world and how easy it is to lose them and sometimes not even recognize them.
Prather dedicates "Shouting at an Empty House" to his sister, and many of the poems pull from family history and experience. The introductory poem, "Apple Snowfall," is dedicated to Susan Sheppard, a local poet and astrologer who passed away in 2021.
Prather said he is grateful to the local writing community and to the Mid-Ohio valley that helped shape this work.
"With precise verbal skill and meticulous detail, Prather presents a rare clarity into the mysteries surrounding our everyday lives, our personal and collective histories," noted West Virginia author Kirk Judd said.
Prather will be reading from his collection at the Parkersburg & Wood County Public Library in April 2024 to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Copies of "Shouting at an Empty House" and his first collection, "We Were Birds," will be available at that event, and are currently available from the publishers online.