Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Readings on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia
Session Abstract or Summary
This reading/performance will showcase essays from Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia. Released in October 2015 from Ohio University Press, the book is a collection of essays on the legacies of silence surrounding faith, class, work, family, race, and gender in contemporary Appalachia. Five writers of prose and poetry--Sarah Einstein, Jason Howard, Ida Stewart, Jessie Van Eerden, and Crystal Wilkinson-- will read from their original essays.
Presentation #1 Title
Moderator: Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Readings on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Karen Salyer McElmurray will introduce the collection and its premise, and will introduce each of the five essayists.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Karen Salyer McElmurray is the author of two novels, Motel of the Stars and Strange Birds in the Tree of Heaven, as well as a memoir, Surrendered Child: A Birth Mother's Journey. She teaches at Gettysburg College and in the Low Residency Program at West Virginia Wesleyan.
Presentation #2 Title
"Mountain Jews"
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Sarah Einstein will read from “Mountain Jews,” her contribution to the essay collection.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Sarah Einstein is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, and the author of the recently released Mot: A Memoir, winner of the 2014 AWP Prize in Creative Nonfiction. Her short works have appeared in journals such as The Sun, Ninth Letter, PANK, and elsewhere, and been awarded a Best of the Net and a Pushcart Prize. She is also the Prose Editor of Stirring: A Literary Collective.
Presentation #3 Title
"Bastards and Ghosts"
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
Jason Howard will read from “Bastards and Ghosts,” his contribution to the essay collection.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Jason Howard is the author of A Few Honest Words: The Kentucky Roots of Popular Music and co-author of Something’s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, The Louisville Review, Lumina Journal, Utne Reader, Sojourners, Paste, and on NPR and C-SPAN’s Book TV. He is editor of Appalachian Heritage, teaches at Berea College, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Presentation #4 Title
“Between, Beneath, Beyond: Tunnel Vision in Coal County"
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Ida Stewart will read from “Between, Beneath, Beyond: Tunnel Vision in Coal County,” her contribution to the essay collection.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Ida Stewart is the author of Gloss, winner of the 2011 Perugia Press Prize for a first or second book of poetry by a woman. Her poems can also be found in journals including Field, Still: The Journal, the Tusculum Review, and Connotation Press. A native of West Virginia, she currently lives in Philadelphia and teaches writing at the University of Delaware.
Presentation #5 Title
"Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean"
Presentation #5 Abstract or Summary
Jessie Van Eerden will read from “Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean,” the title essay from the collection.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #5
Jessie Van Eerden is author of two novels, Glorybound, winner of the 2012 ForeWord Reviews Editor’s Choice Fiction Prize, and My Radio Radio. Her work has appeared in The Oxford American, River Teeth, and other magazines, and has been included in Best American Spiritual Writing and Red Holler: An Anthology of Contemporary Appalachian Literature. Jessie received her MFA in nonfiction at the University of Iowa. She directs the low-residency MFA program at WV Wesleyan.
Presentation #6 Title
"Strange Fruit Your Imagination Bears"
Presentation #6 Abstract or Summary
Crystal Wilkinson will read from “Strange Fruit Your Imagination Bears,” her contribution to the essay collection.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #6
Crystal Wilkinson is the author of Blackberries, Blackberries and Water Street. Her first novel The Birds of Opulence will be released by University Press of Kentucky in March 2016. She and her partner, poet and artist Ron Davis, author of Caul & Response own Wild Fig Books & Coffee in Lexington.
Moderator: Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Readings on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia
Karen Salyer McElmurray will introduce the collection and its premise, and will introduce each of the five essayists.
