SUNRISES IN NEW HARMONY

by Karah Wilson

Currently the education reporter for the Owensboro-based Messenger-Inquirer , Karah Wilson's love of writing goes back to her elementary and middle school days when she embraced poetry, in particular, as an outlet for her emotions. The Alabama native aimed to take creative writing in high school but with the class full, opted for a journalism course - it was still writing, after all - while continuing to plug away at home on poems and short stories. Wilson stayed on that path as she entered higher education, ultimately graduating with a journalism degree from the University of North Alabama in 2019. But she needed a break from her hometown. "I knew I wanted to not live in Alabama, so I just applied to jobs anywhere that were related to a journalism degree," Wilson explains. That's when she spied an opening, hundreds of miles away, at the Messenger-Inquirer ; however, Evansville offered the cheapest living situation. Splitting the difference, she took the job in Owensboro and accepted the roommate offer here.

But interestingly, neither city would provide the true inspiration for Wilson's first published book of writings. Instead, Sunrises in New Harmony , as noted in the title, was primarily the product of her free time spent in that quaint little Indiana town 30 minutes northwest of Evansville. "It's so quiet and peaceful - I can gather my thoughts and feelings and put them down on paper, process them when I need to," she says. In fact, Wilson would make a habit of heading off to watch the sunrise in New Harmony at the end of a stressful work week. "That's when I would really get that inspiration back and start writing more," she says.

The poems and short stories that grew out of these solitary pilgrimages helped to form the basis of the book, along with many of Wilson's earlier works from her school days - yet it all holds together, thematically speaking, despite comprising writings from disparate periods in her life. "There's a lot about navigating different aspects of being a pre-teen and teenager and even as a young adult - just about everything that comes with it, including relationships, friendships and losing people," she notes. "There's even one or two [writings] about navigating faith because growing up in the south that was a really big thing for everyone. But really, it's just about trying to find yourself after going through major life changes."

Last month, Wilson returned to her hometown of Scottsboro for a book signing - her mother's idea - and was pleasantly surprised by the response; however, she can't help thinking that a New Harmony event in support of Sunrises would be the perfect way to celebrate her achievement. She just needs to figure out a way to do it, to find the right place and time. Stay tuned.

To order Sunrises in New Harmony, visit amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. For more info, follow Karah Wilson on Facebook.