Valerie Nieman

Appalachian and Southern landscapes are the common thread binding Valerie Nieman’s wide range of writing, from mainstream fiction to speculative, and both lyric and narrative poetry. Her fifth novel, In the Lonely Backwater, is being published in summer 2022. She is also the author of To the Bones, a folk horror/mystery that focuses on the coal industry and its effects on Appalachia, and three other novels. Her third poetry collection, Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse, included work that had appeared in The Missouri Review, Chautauqua, Southern Poetry Review, and other journals. On its debut at Coney Island Museum, the curator wrote, "Steeped in sideshow tradition, and addressing issues of race, gender, self-concept, and creative expression, your book is beautifully written." Her writing has appeared widely in journals and in numerous anthologies, including Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods (WVU) and Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (U Georgia). She has held state and NEA creative writing fellowships. Her readings have included Why There Are Words in Pittsburgh and Sausalito, Piccolo Spoleto, and the Joaquin Miller series. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte and a former journalist, she was a founding editor of two literary magazines. She taught creative writing at North Carolina A&T State University and continues to offer workshops at John C. Campbell Folk School, NC Writers Network conferences, and many other venues.