Tim Poland: Press Kit

Tim Poland grew up in Ohio and now lives and works in the New River Valley near the Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern Virginia.  

He is the author of the novel, The Safety of Deeper Water(Vandalia Press/West Virginia University Press, 2008), Escapee (America House, 2001), a collection of short fiction, and Other Stones, Kinder Temples (Pudding House, 2008), a chapbook of poems. His fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in various literary journals, such as North American Review, Cimarron Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, Literal Latte, Appalachian Heritage, Rattle, Main Street Rag, Sow's Ear Poetry Review, The Furnace Review, Stickman Review, and others.

 He is the recipient of a Plattner/Appalachian Heritage Award (2002), and his work has been included in the Best of the Net anthology (2007) and has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  He is a professor of English at Radford University in Radford, Virginia.

Books

The Safety of Deeper Water: A Novel (Vandalia Press/West Virginia University Press, 2008)

            “The genius of The Safety of Deeper Water is its ability to make fishing
appealing, even irresistible, to non-anglers….Poland’s tale is unusual and
unique, especially in its cast of characters and use of metaphor and language.”
--Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

            “Poland has executed a glimpse into the world just under the rushing waters,
the quieter, deeper waters where the larger, wiser fish lurk….a well written
novel that tells the tale of the deep change people are capable of….”
--The Roanoke Times

“…a fishing novel with suspense—and a first-rate writing job….His love of
nature and fishing and his understanding of the characters shine through.”
--ForeWord Magazine

“The Safety of Deeper Water distills a wonderfully integrated spirit of belonging.  Very few regional novels have so clearly shown how to shed the burden of a destructive egotism and achieve a transcendence that partakes of a particular terrain’s personality….In The Safety of Deeper Water…time doesn’t heal but place does, especially if the place is full of mountains, rivers, and trout.”
--Appalachian Journal

“This quietly brilliant novel…balances plot and lyricism, mystery and romance,
while evoking characters that find they belong beside—and especially in—the rare
wildness of an Appalachian river.”
--Appalachian Heritage

TV interview from “Cover to Cover,” BTW21-TV, Martinsville, Virginia

Radio Interview on “Studio Virginia,” WVTF, Roanoke, Virginia (May 17, 2009)

Video of reading at West Virginia Book Festival, Charleston (October 2009)

Other Stones, Kinder Temples: Poems (Pudding House, 2008)

            “Tim Poland’s Other Stones, Kinder Temples is a journey in the hands of a
skilled, introspective, observant poet.  His poems are alive and experientially
grounded….always poised for what remains just out of sight.”
--Michael Spring, author of Mudsong and poetry editor of
The Pedestal Magazine

Escapee: Stories (America House, 2001)

            “…the prose sparkles, as Poland endows the commonplace…with a startling
power.” 
--The Roanoke Times

            “…raises the bar on the art of the short story, truly a master of this difficult
genre.”
--The Bedford Book Festival