Writers by the river : reflections on 40+ years of the Highland Summer Conference / edited by Donia S. Eley and Grace Toney Edwards.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Eley, Donia S., editor.

Edwards, Grace Toney, editor.

Series:

Contributions to southern Appalachian studies ; 51.

Contributions to Southern Appalachian studies ; 51

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--Appalachian Region.

American literature.

Appalachian Region--Literary collections.

Appalachian Region.

Appalachian Region--In literature.

Genre:

Literary collections.

Literature.

Physical Description:

xii, 260 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2021]

Summary:

"The Highland Summer Writing Conference (HSC), held each summer along the banks of the ancient New River at Radford University's Selu Conservancy, brings together and inspires writers as they participate in the communal art of creating and sharing. Over the years, many prestigious Appalachian authors have taught workshops to like-minded students, many of whom became published authors in their own right. This book, a celebration of the HSC, is a collection of reflective essays, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction contributed by 41 authors and student-authors who have taken part in the conference over a span of 43 years"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Grace Toney Edwards p. 8

In Memoriam: They Came, Left Gifts, and Now Are Gone p. 8

Parks Lanier, Jr. p. 19

Highland Summer Conference: The Beginning p. 19

Jeff Daniel Marion p. 25

The Chinese Poet Reconsiders Time p. 25

"Late Autumn the Chinese Poet Invites His Old Friend the Brier Out to the River to Sit a Spell" p. 29

Loyal Jones p. 30

Words from a Legend of Appalachia p. 30

"Tintagel" p. 31

Marilou Awiakta p. 32

Our Courage Is Our Memory p. 32

"Dawn Birth" p. 33

"Out of Ashes Peace Will Rise" p. 36

"Parting Thoughts" p. 38

"I Offer You a Gift" p. 43

David Huddle p. 44

How and Why Radford University's Highland Summer Conference Was More Than Just a Teaching Gig for Me p. 44

"Where Do You Come From?" p. 47

"What Can You Tell Me About Your Father?" p. 48

"What About Your Mother?" p. 48

"Art for Money" p. 49

"What Are You Up To?" p. 49

"Elrica" p. 50

"Some Kitchens" p. 50

"Inez" p. 51

George Ella Lyon p. 53

Reflections: Community, Generosity and Magic p. 53

"All to Pieces" p. 55

Bill Brown p. 56

Gift ... Beyond Measure p. 56

"The Talk in Floyd County" p. 57

"Passenger" p. 59

"Learning to Be Quiet" p. 60

"Otter Dream for Geron" p. 61

Rita Sims Quillen p. 63

Writing in the Highlands of Virginia p. 63

"A Woman Born to Farming" (After Wendell Berry's "A Man Born to Farming") p. 64

Robert Morgan p. 66

Experience at Radford: Connecting with the Indigenous Roots p. 66

Lost Lead Mine of the Cherokees p. 68

Diane Gilliam p. 77

How I Got to RU, and What I Found There p. 77

"Said the Girl to the Boy" p. 79

Part II More Inspiration

Ron Rash p. 82

Words from Ron Rash p. 82

Reflection on Highland Summer Conference p. 82

"Canning" p. 83

Ricky Cox p. 84

My First Highland Summer Conference p. 84

Where Are You Now, Marlos Perkos? p. 85

Ruth B. Derrick p. 91

Fun, Terror and Gratification p. 91

"The Sweater" p. 94

"Taken" p. 95

"Body Language-1918 Family Portrait" p. 95

"Life Cycle" Four Poems in One p. 96

George Brosi p. 97

Appalachian Mountain Books and HSC p. 97

Pamela Duncan p. 101

In the Blue Ridge of Virginia p. 101

Real Life p. 102

Grace Toney Edwards p. 105

Yesterday's Voices, Today's Visions: The Power of a Teacher's Influence p. 105

Robert Gipe p. 110

Words from Robert Gipe p. 110

The Hide-Behinds p. 110

Richard Hague p. 114

Jesus of the Hills p. 114

My Week p. 118

Heidi Hartwiger p. 119

There Is No Such Tiling as Too Much Garlic p. 119

An Incredible WOW Factor Woman p. 123

Jeff Mann p. 129

HSC Memory p. 129

"Country Kitchen-Christiansburg, Virginia" p. 131

"Gay Redneck, With Baby Stroller" p. 132

"Redneck Food" p. 133

Karen Salyer McElmurray p. 134

Conferencing p. 134

Linda Parsons p. 139

A Grateful Confluence p. 139

"Divine Rods" p. 140

Dana Wildsmith p. 142

Teaching the Teachers p. 142

"One Light" p. 144

"Emergency Room" p. 145

"Pitched Past Grief" p. 145

"Elegy" p. 145

Frank X Walker p. 147

Contributions from Frank X Walker, a Kentucky Poet Laureate p. 147

"Sweat Equity" p. 147

"Ritual" p. 148

"Rock Paper Scissors" p. 149

"Hoofers" p. 149

"Wheeze" p. 150

"Eclipse" p. 151

Rick Van Noy p. 152

Reading the River p. 152

Donald Secreast p. 156

The Highland Summer Conference Could Have Added Ten Years to My Writing Life p. 156

Part III The Inspired

B. Chelsea Adams p. 164

The Truth We Share p. 164

"The Part Gone" p. 166

"The Nineteenth Hole" p. 167

Charles A. Swanson p. 169

You Made Me One of Your Own p. 169

"Fraulein" p. 173

"Old Work Shirt: Let Me Praise the Pansies" p. 173

"Old Work Shirt, the Hand-Stitched Swans Most Gone" p. 174

"Forward: Row-ing for O-hi-O" p. 174

"Homeplace" p. 175

Donia S. Eley p. 178

From Long Dusty Roads and Tobacco Rows to a Seine with Gurney p. 178

"I Am From" p. 179

"The Captain" p. 180

"Sputnik" p. 181

"Evening Light" p. 182

Kevin Stewart p. 183

From a Montana Vantage Point p. 183

Silenced p. 184

Becky Dellinger Hancock p. 192

APPALKIDS at HSC p. 192

Rick Mulkey p. 195

Homecoming p. 195

"Concerning Whisky" p. 197

"Cured" p. 198

"An Explanation" p. 199

Matt Prater p. 201

"Trieste" p. 202

Sam L. Linkous p. 204

Remembering Jim Wayne Miller-and More p. 204

"Catching Supper" p. 205

"Sacred Ground" p. 205

Elizabeth McCommon p. 216

You Asked, and I Came p. 216

Up On Locust Hill p. 217

Teresa Stutso Jewell p. 219

From Hairdresser to Writer p. 219

"The Plea of Brother Mountain" p. 222

Luther Kirk p. 223

Impacts p. 223

Opal Jean p. 224

"Ain't Never Went to the Ocean" p. 232

"Witching Hour" p. 232

"She Left" p. 233

"Child of Appalachia" p. 233

"My Soul" p. 233

"Went to the Ocean" p. 234

Tim Thornton p. 235

For Those Two Weeks in That One Summer ... I Was a Writer p. 235

"Mom and Dad, 1958" p. 237

Bonnie Roberts Erickson p. 238

A Journey into the Heart p. 238

Jim Minick p. 242

Writing Community: Celebrating the Highland Summer Conference's 40th Anniversary and More p. 242

"When You Realize the Future" p. 244.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781476684062

1476684065

OCLC:

1242024060