Debbie Richard is a poet and creative nonfiction writer who was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and grew up in rural Wirt County. She spent her early childhood in the small community of Munday before moving to Roane County during her high school years. Richard is listed in the Directory of Poets & Writers and has received recognition for her work, including being shortlisted for the Best Poem in the Adelaide Literary Award for Poetry in 2018.
Richard's writing has been published in various journals and magazines, including Torrid Literature Journal, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, WestWard Quarterly, and Halcyon Days. She has published several books, including "Resiliency," a chapbook of poetry published by Finishing Line Press in 2012, and "Hills of Home," a memoir about growing up in Appalachia, released by eLectio Publishing in 2014. In October 2018, Sweetsong Productions released an audiobook version of "Hills of Home," which is available on Audible.com. Richard's illustrated book of poetry, "PIVOT," was published by Adelaide Books of New York in January 2019, and her newest volume of poetry, "CROSSWINDS," was released by Finishing Line Press in November 2021.
Richard studied Secretarial Science at West Virginia Career College in Charleston and completed her courses with honors in 1987. She moved to the South as an adult, following her love of the ocean, before returning to her home state of West Virginia in 2015. Richard is a member of South Carolina Writers Association and West Virginia Writers, Inc. Her work has received praise from notable figures, including David Selby, a renowned actor and author, who said that Richard's poems are "poignantly observant" and "showered with grace, honesty, and love." Earl Hamner Jr., bestselling author of Spencer's Mountain and creator of the beloved The Waltons television series, described "Hills of Home" as a "valuable detailed and most honest documentation of a part of Appalachia that has not been celebrated so well until now."