Read along with students in the Diverse Voices in Appalachian Literature course with this book list
This spring, Director of The Stephenson Center for Appalachia and Comparative Highland Studies and Program Coordinator for Rhetoric Catherine Pritchard Childress is teaching a unique course that combines her two professional and personal areas of study. Through the examination of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, Diverse Voices in Appalachian Literature explores the experiences and perspectives of underrepresented Appalachians including Native American, Affrilachian, LGBTQ+, and Hispanic populations.
“It is crucial that students’ understanding of Appalachia includes not only the Scots Irish that dominate ideas about the region but also the Native American, Black Appalachian, and other groups that historically contributed—and still do—to what we think of as traditional Appalachian culture,” Childress said. “Further, to assume that being Appalachian means only one thing, one homogenous group of people, is a disservice to the region and its people. Diverse Voices in Appalachian Literature introduces students to the many voices and people who make the region remarkable.”
Throughout the semester, students will be exploring the course’s main theme through six unique books that seek to provide them with a more well-rounded understanding of Appalachia and its people.
Learn more about the course’s reading list below and read along throughout the semester to learn more about this place we all call home.
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in A Mountain Place
By Neema Avashia
Avashia, whose Indian immigrant parents settled in Appalachia in the 1970s, grew up in West Virginia. In this book about her life, she discusses her personal experiences and encourages readers to develop a more complex and comprehensive understanding of the Appalachian people.
What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia
By Elizabeth Catte
A Virginia historian and writer, Catte’s book is, according to the Los Angeles Times, a “perfect primer for readers seeking factual, realistic portrayals of the rural and working-class experience.”
Any Other Place: Stories
By Michael Croley
This collection of short stories spans from rural Appalachia, where Croley was born in the Kentucky foothills, to a South Korean village. Despite the varying settings, characters in each of these stories grapple with finding a sense of home within states of displacement.
Even As We Breathe
By Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
Clapsaddle is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and lives not far from Banner Elk in the Qualla Boundary. In this debut novel, her protagonist Cowney Sequoyah dreams of escaping his hometown of Cherokee, North Carolina, a dream that leads him to a summer job at a luxury inn in Asheville where World War II Axis diplomats and their families are being temporarily held.
As the novel unfolds so do mysteries within the inn, creating a suspenseful thriller in a historical setting.
Affrilachia
By Frank X Walker
Walker’s poetry collection exists at the intersection of Appalachian and African American literature. With this work, Walker coined the term “Affrilachia,” which refers to the cultural and historical contributions made by African American Appalachians.
Perfect Black
By Crystal Wilkinson
According to the University of Kentucky Press, Wilkinson’s 2022 NAACP Image Award Winning book “combines a deep love for her rural roots with a passion for language and storytelling.” The collection includes works of poetry and prose about girlhood, racism, and political awakening set to a backdrop of Southern Appalachia.
