Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Roundtable
Session Title
Voices from Troublesome Creek: Forty Years of the Appalachian Writers' Workshop
Session Abstract or Summary
In 1977, poet Albert Stewart founded the Appalachian Writers’ Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School, an annual gathering that has come to occupy a vital and unparalleled place in the region’s literary landscape. In the forty years since its creation, the workshop has offered burgeoning writers the opportunity to study with some of the region’s premier literary talent, fostering successive generations of notable Appalachian writers. Members of this roundtable have longstanding ties to the workshop in various capacities: some were present in the early years, others came later and were known as the young writers on the block; some attended as teachers, others as students. All have been formed in some way by the workshop. These writers will explore how their own work has been influenced by their time on Troublesome Creek and discuss the workshop’s history, important moments, traditions, teaching methods, evolution and influence on Appalachian literature.
Presentation #1 Title
Moderator
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Introductions, remarks and discussion moderator.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Jason Howard (Berea College) is the editor of Appalachian Heritage. He 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, Salon and on NPR.
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Remarks about the Appalachian Writers' Workshop.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Sandra Ballard (Appalachian State University) is Professor of English at Appalachian State University where she also serves as editor of Appalachian Journal. She co-edited The Collected Short Stories of Harriette Simpson Arnow, co-edited (with Patricia Hudson) the literary anthology Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia, and co-authored The Carolinas and Appalachian States in the Smithsonian Guide to Historic America series.
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
Remarks about the Appalachian Writers' Workshop.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Amy Clark’s (University of Virginia-Wise) writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The New York Times, NPR, Still, Appalachian Heritage, Blue Ridge Country, Appalachian Journal, and many others. Her co-edited book, Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community, was used as a dialect resource for actors during the filming of Big Stone Gap, a movie adaptation of Adriana Trigiani’s novel of the same title.
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Remarks about the Appalachian Writers' Workshop.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Silas House (Berea College) is the nationally bestselling author of six novels, most recently Same Sun Here (with Neela Vaswani), as well as three plays and one book of creative nonfiction. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and his writing has appeared in Newsday, Oxford American, Narrative, and many others. House serves as the NEH Chair of Appalachian Studies at Berea College and on the fiction faculty at Spalding University’s MFA in creative writing.
Presentation #5 Abstract or Summary
Remarks about the Appalachian Writers' Workshop.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #5
Gurney Norman (University of Kentucky) is Professor of English at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of the folktale Ancient Creek, the novel Divine Right’s Trip, and Kinfolks, a collection of short stories. He is co-editor of Back Talk: Confronting Appalachian Stereotypes and An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature. Norman served as Kentucky Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2010.
Presentation #6 Abstract or Summary
Remarks about the Appalachian Writers' Workshop.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #6
Amanda Jo Runyon (University of Pikeville) is a mother, writer, and instructor in Pike County, Kentucky. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in journals such as The Louisville Review, Still: The Journal, Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel, and Kudzu, as well as Seeking Its Own Level, volume 4 of the Motif anthology series. She is co-editor of the literary journal The Pikeville Review.
Moderator
Introductions, remarks and discussion moderator.
