We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Dorsch. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.

Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My first book, Thunder and Song: A Collection of Civil War Poetry, is my first published book and represents my professional philosophy that we must learn to study and teach history in new and interesting ways.
The premise of this assortment of poems is that the human soul endures through even the darkest and most gruesome of times. For four years from 1861-1865 men, women, and children all over the United States experienced the terrible crucible of war.
Whether they were fighting in it, praying for their loved ones who served in it, losing everything because of its destructive wrath, or finally seeing a chance at freedom because of it, the war touched everyone somehow.
Through all this, people continued to love, to dream, to hope, and to grow. My poems tell this story, because there are enough books already highlighting the genius of authors or the intricacies of battlefield tactics. It is time the tale of the human soul in the Civil War gets told.
My journey with Civil War scholarship started in 2010 when I was honored to represent my home state in the Living History internship at Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park.
In what was probably one of the best summers of my life, I got to wear Union Blue and Confederate Gray, meet people from all over the world, create and present tours, fire historic weapons in educational demonstrations, and live Civil War history firsthand.
Though my participation in the program ended, my interest in Civil War history did not. As years passed, I kept reading and researching. Always I found myself drawn to the stories of everyday people who believed in the righteousness of their cause, but also struggled to reconcile lofty ideals with the realities of living through war.
In 2020 when the whole world shut down, I began writing poetry to cope. A large majority of my writing incorporated history, specifically that of the Civil War. Soon I had almost 50 poems! My brilliant wife suggested I consider publishing it as a collection, so here we are!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

All my life, I’ve always been a writer. From middle school writing contests to the high school literary magazine to cutting my teeth as a beat reporter in Wheeling, I’ve never stopped writing. Also, I am always drawn to educating others about the things I care about. Even when I worked in corporate communications and journalism, I always enjoyed assignments which allowed me to teach others new things.

No doubt my love for teaching about history was heavily influenced by my time working for the National Park Service at Harper’s Ferry in the Living History internship in 2010. While there, I got to live real American history everyday, conduct research using the best resources, and give tours to people from all over the world.

Those days stayed with me, and I kept studying Civil War history even as I graduated from West Virginia University and went on to get my Masters Degree at Duquesne University.

What really sparked this union of historical study with poetic form was the 2020 Pandemic and the shutting down of the world. During that time, I began writing poetry in earnest, and I noticed that my muse kept drifting back to the multitudes of historic things I learned over the years. Before I knew it, I had almost 50 poems about the Civil War! It was my brilliant wife Brandy who suggested I put them together into a collection to be published.

My confidence also received a boost in 2022 when I won the Fort Ashby Public Library Writing Contest.

With my writing, I want to give people a new way to care about the past and what we can learn from it. A lot of people will not pick up a history book, but they might pick up a book of poetry. The world is changing, and historians must change with it. I hope, in my own small way, to contribute to the preservation of the lessons of the past so our present and future do not forget.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The best way to support artists is to buy into them. If you can, buy an artist’s original work. If you can’t afford the original, buy a print. If you can’t afford the print, buy a sticker. If you can’t afford any of these, then for goodness sake go online and follow them on social media. Help them with the algorithms which dictate who gets seen. Artists in this time need all the help they can get.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to contribute to the preservation of history in my own way. My background is historical studies but I am drawn to writing historical fiction. My goal is to write stories which capture people’s imaginations and spark interest in the real events my tales are built around. If one kid reads my stories and decides he wants to learn more about the history they’re based on, then my mission has been a success.

Contact Info:

• Website: Website coming soon
• Instagram: @iam.danieldorsch
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C8L33JY5Q/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Image Credits

All pictures taken by either the exquisite Brandy Lee Dorsch or the up and coming skilled young filmmaker Balin Dorsch.