Louise McNeill was born in 1911 in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. She was West Virginia Poet Laureate from 1979 until her death in 1993. A. E. Stringer is Professor of Creative Writing at Marshall University.
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"Louise McNeill had a voice, both in person and in the poems, that was direct and forceful. Her toughness came from her resistance to the merely decorative or folksy. We still need such a voice. Her poems project a powerful presence: it is resonant with character. It is the sound of the griefs and meanings and dignities of the land and the people. It strikes me as absolutely authentic." Irene McKinney, Poet Laureate of West Virginia and author Vivid Companion and Unthinkable "[McNeill's] poems have the virtue of freshness, a spontaneity that is equally evident in the lyrics and the narratives. I particularly like the ballad-like music that ranges from the matter-of-fact to the macabre. There is warmth as well as wit in the lines." Louis Untermeyer, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, 1961-1963 "I don't know anybody in Appalachia, writing poetry, who equals [McNeill's] brilliant work. Buy this book. Read it and love it. I cannot praise this excellent poet too highly." Jesse Hilton Stuart, Poet Laureate of Kentucky, 1954-1984