The Logan Topographies
Alena Hairston

Winner of the 2006 Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize

This extraordinary debut is an inhabiting of the town of Logan, West Virginia. In four gorgeous sequences, Alena Hairston conducts the voices of this population of miners and their kin, poingantly rendering their destitution, their heartbreak, and their incongruous strength and spirit.

“Alena Hairston crystallizes the fecund interconnections of history, genealogy, geography, subsistence, and worldview that define the community of Logan, West Virginia. These interconnections outstrip any one community and move across several generations, making Logan, in this work, a refreshingly full version of the American working-class town.”
—The Believer

“The Logan Topographies is an evocative glimpse into dedicated lives and the cultural fabric of hardworking people.”
—Midwest Book Review

Alena Hairston, also known as elen gebreab, grew up in Logan County, West Virginia. A writer, artist, teacher, and performer, she lives in Oakland, California.

Paperback / $13.95 ($17.50 Can.) / ISBN 978-0-89255-329-7 / 80 pages / Poetry