Mode of Program Participation
Performances and Arts
Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
“What’s in Your Toolbox?”: Writers Respond to Drug Abuse in Appalachian Families
Session Abstract or Summary
The decimating effects of substance abuse on families in rural and urban Appalachia regularly receive media coverage, but writers of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction can go beyond the statistics and headlines, especially when their professions and personal experiences offer unexpected views from within the lives of those directly affected. Beginning and ending with the perspective of a teen whose life has been continuously impacted by family drug abuse, this presentation of creative writing highlights the effects of addiction on foster and kinship care, adoption, social work, and those who suffer with addiction and its resulting family trauma.
Presentation #1 Title
Reading from FALL OR FLY: STRANGELY HOPEFUL STORIES OF FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION IN APPALACHIA
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Wendy Welch will read excerpts from her book FALL OR FLY. She spent a year talking with foster parents, social workers, family counselors, medical professionals, and adopted/fostered children in the coalfields of Appalachia. She will share stories of hope and terror from this year of "journalism storytelling." Some may find details in the narratives disturbing, while also hearing them as a call for desperately needed change.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Wendy Welch is the author of the internationally acclaimed memoir THE LITTLE BOOKSTORE OF BIG STONE GAP from St. Martin's Press. Her book FALL OR FLY: STRANGELY HOPEFUL STORIES OF FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION IN APPALACHIA comes out October 2017 from Swallow Press. She owns and operates a bookstore in Southwest Virginia and is book review editor for the JOURNAL OF APPALACHIAN STUDIES.
Presentation #2 Title
Reading from THE WAY THE WORLD IS
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Michael Henson will read from THE WAY THE WORLD IS: THE MAGGIE BOYLAN STORIES, winner of the 2014 Brighthorse Prize in Short Fiction. This collection of linked stories describes nine months in the life of an OxyContin addict in rural Appalachia, the impact of her addiction on her family and community, her spiral into overdose, and the beginnings of a shaky recovery. These stories are based on the author's work as a community organizer and substance abuse counselor.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Michael Henson's most recent work is THE DEAD SINGING: POEMS, from Mongrel Empire Press. A retired community organizer and substance abuse counselor, he is co-editor of PINE MOUNTAIN SAND & GRAVEL, the annual publication of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative. He has written extensively on issues of substance abuse, poverty, and addiction.
Presentation #3 Title
Reading from COUNTING DOWN
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
Deborah Gold will read from her creative nonfiction manuscript, COUNTING DOWN: MEMOIRS OF FOSTER PARENTING AND BEYOND, about the ways that family substance abuse shaped her relationships and role as a foster parent and eventual guardian.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Deborah Gold is the pseudonym of a teacher, writer, and licensed foster parent in western North Carolina. She is the guardian of Jacob. She has used her experiences to lead memoir and life-writing workshops at state and national conferences.
Presentation #4 Title
Two Poems
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Jacob will read two poems and discuss losses he has experienced and strengths he has gained over 15 years of life impacted by the substance abuse of family members.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Jacob is a teen student who has used memoir-writing and poetry to gain ownership of his journey through foster care, shared parenting, and permanence. He won second place in the 2016 national Foster Club Art and Creativity Contest and his work has been published in FOSTERING PERSPECTIVES, a statewide publication of the UNC School of Social Work.
Reading from FALL OR FLY: STRANGELY HOPEFUL STORIES OF FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION IN APPALACHIA
Wendy Welch will read excerpts from her book FALL OR FLY. She spent a year talking with foster parents, social workers, family counselors, medical professionals, and adopted/fostered children in the coalfields of Appalachia. She will share stories of hope and terror from this year of "journalism storytelling." Some may find details in the narratives disturbing, while also hearing them as a call for desperately needed change.
