Local poet Tom Donlon looks at his book, "Apart, I Am Together," in Four Seasons Books, where he gave a poetry reading at the end of last month. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Over the last 37 years he has lived in Jefferson County, Tom Donlon has dedicated himself to two things — his family and his poetry.

Those two priorities became intermixed over the years, as his poetry began to reflect his experiences with his family, leading other poets to dub him a “family poet,” Donlon said on Monday afternoon. Now, local residents can judge for themselves the accuracy of that statement, by picking up a copy of Donlon’s first poetry book, “Apart, I Am Together,” at Four Seasons Books or online.

“It’s a full collection of 127 poems. It covers decades of my marriage and raising six children with my wife, Beth, and our spiritual journeys through life,” Donlon said. “It’s amazing!”

Nature is also prominently featured throughout his poetry, according to Donlon.

“Growing up in a D.C. suburb, I knew nothing about nature until I moved out here,” Donlon said. “A lot of my poems talk about nature — we used to have woodpeckers knocking on trees right outside of our front door and turkeys running across the street!”

Prior to this publication, Donlon had been awarded, as a contest finalist, the opportunity to have a 33-page chapbook of his poetry published in 2016. That experience led him to eventually getting “Apart, I Am Together” published.

“I went to the Manuscript to Marketplace conference at Shepherd University last fall. One of my friends showed me a list of publishers, and I noticed a familiar name, Wipf and Stock [Publishers],” Donlon said. “I thought, ‘Wait a minute! The professor at Franciscan University who picked my chapbook had books published by Wipf and Stock!’ So I sent them my manuscript, and they just took it!”

According to Donlon, publishing this book is a way for him to leave a similar artistic legacy to his dad’s

“My dad was a genius portrait painter — we all have portraits in our houses that my dad did. I finally got something I can hand down to my kids, like him,” Donlon said. “As I grew to an older age, here, I realized I am doing portraits like my dad, but I’m using words instead of paint. I’m doing portraits in words!”

Along with crafting these “portraits” as part of his legacy, Donlon has also left an impact on the local poetry community, as the Eastern Panhandle representative for West Virginia Writers, Inc., and Bookends poetry group leader, which met in Four Seasons Books prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

So far, the reception of his book has been positive, since its release in March.

“It seems to be exploding! It’s not only being sold on Wipf and Stock’s website, it’s on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Good Books,” Donlon said. “It’s out there, and people are buying them. It’s unbelievable!”