An Evening with Authors Donna Burtch & William Burtch

777 Evening Street,Columbus OH 43085

09 August, 2022

Description

An ordained abolitionist white officer is appointed by President Lincoln to recruit the first federal African American Union Army troops after the Emancipation Proclamation. Hundreds of courageous Black men and former slaves come forth in early May1863, only to be forever erased from War Department records. This, seemingly due to a perceived slight and overstep… W.G.: The Opium-addicted Pistol Toting Preacher Who Raised the First Federal African American Union Troops (Sunbury Press). Sibling coauthors Donna Burtch & William Burtch will discuss their uncovering of this incredible story in an attic found 19th century memoir of W.G. Raymond. PBS Songs at the Center music show creator/producer/host Eric Gnezda will moderate. Eric will also perform historic music of the period along with virtuoso violinist Arkadiy Gips. A signing with Prologue Bookshop follows. This event is free and open to the public. Donna Burtch is an American writer and poet. Her early life involved moves throughout and across the United States. Books and reading smoothed the transitions. She settled in central Ohio in 1976, where she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and completed graduate studies at The Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Donna worked for several decades in marketing and fund-raising for firms, not-for-profits, and universities. In 2011 she committed to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Ten years later she self-published her work as a biography of her late father’s life, In the Key of Sea the Life & Times of William A. Burtch. She and her family live in Columbus, Ohio. William Burtch was a finalist for the American Fiction Short Story Award, appearing in American Fiction Volume 17 (New Rivers Press). William’s creative work spans magazine, journal and anthology publications, including Alive in the World Vol III (Riverfeet Press), Great Lakes Review, Ruminate Magazine, Northwest Indiana Literary Journal, BULL, Schuylkill Valley Literary Journal and others. Following a childhood that spanned the Allegheny Mountains of northwestern Pennsylvania to the sprawl of Los Angeles County, he has lived in central Ohio since his teen years. After graduate school at Miami University, he worked many years in the investment business before he began writing. His work often gravitates toward the experiences and struggles of the rural characters he grew up around, as well as themes of survival in a culture of addiction. William lives in Columbus, Ohio. Books are available through Prologue Bookshop at https://store.prologuebookshop.com/book/9781620069080 or at the event!