Poetic Obituaries: [Irene] McKinney was named West Virginia's

poet laureate by then-Gov. Gaston Caperton. In a 2009 interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, she said she didn't subscribe to the idea that a poet laureate should have to do a lot besides be a good poet.

"I like working with younger writers one on one, having someone come to my house with their manuscript in their hands, spending some hours drinking coffee with them, trying to convey what I know of the craft by looking closely at what they've written, pointing out what they've done well so that they can do it again," she said. "I tell them about books I love and why and read poems out loud so we can hear how it's done together."

During the last three years of her life, McKinney created and directed a Master of Fine Arts Program in creative writing at West Virginia Wesleyan.

from Saturday Gazette-Mail: W.Va. poet laureate Irene McKinney dies at 72

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