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Read Appalachia

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Celebrating Appalachian Literature & Writing
Created by @kdwinchester ⛰🌲🌿
New Episodes Every Other Thursday
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✨NEW EPISODE!✨

In this week’s episode of Read Appalachia, @kdwinchester talks to @madeline_ffitch about her new novel AVALON, RISE, which is out now from @fsgbooks. Kirkus Reviews calls AVALON, RISE “A blistering, multifaceted novel about collective action, being in community, and fighting for what’s right.”

Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts!

[ID: a graphic featuring a photo of Madeline ffitch. Text reads, Read Appalachia: The Podcast. New Episode. Madeline ffitch] by @readappalachia

When I’m not reading Appalachian Lit, I’m reading a little bit of everything! I especially love nonfiction, and it’s (almost) time for Nonfiction November. Here a few books on my TBR.

✨LET THE POETS GOVERN by Camonghne Felix
✨OUR ARAB by Zaina Arafat
✨RAISING HARE by Chloe Dalton
✨SOMEBODY IS WALKING ON MY GRAVE by Mariana Enriquez, Translated by Megan McDowell
✨WE THE PEOPLE by Jill Lepore

[VD: Kendra moves in front of the camera showing off all of the books above, with the last shot showing Kendra holding the whole stack.] by @readappalachia

COVER REVEAL: I’m thrilled to share the cover for my new book, Becoming Ammi: A Queer, Desi Journey into Parenthood, through this team-up between my publisher, Beacon Press, and the Read Appalachia community, which offered so much incredible support to my first book, Another Appalachia.

Becoming Ammi is an intimate portrait of queer motherhood and mother-loss—with meditations on grief, familial legacies, and selfhood. It carries within it some of the hallmarks of Appalachian literature: lyricism, careful attention to place, and use of story to build community.

Swipe to see the original photo inspo for the cover, and to read about @bloodcraisin’s thoughtful efforts to make elements of intersectional identity visible.

You can pre-order Becoming Ammi now at the link in my bio. April 2027 can’t come soon enough!

This is it! The original photo that inspired Becoming Ammi’s cover.

I sent the folks at Beacon several photos that I thought evoked my relationship with my daughter. Designer Louis Roe (@bloodcraisin) then selected this photo and used his skills to infuse it with details that share additional elements of identity, from the Grass-of-Parnassus dangling from Kahani’s hand, to the textile pattern on our matching clothes.

Louis wrote, “I liked the idea of using a textile pattern as a collage element—Appalachia is known for having a strong quilting tradition, and India for its massive textile production industry. I looked through a lot of images of Indian fabrics for inspiration, and was ultimately drawn to the one that appears on the cover for its bright red color and curly flower motif.”

I love the way that Louis brought the various elements of our identities to the forefront through his design, even managing to evoke my mom, her love of textiles, and her Indian identity, as a force shaping this story. This idea of integration–of putting all of the parts of an intersectional self together as a whole–is a throughline in Becoming Ammi, so seeing it made visible on the cover is very special.

Preorder BECOMING AMMI wherever books are sold! by @readappalachia

What a fabulous Saturday! @hubcitybookshop hosted @silashouse and @hallewrites in conversation at @spartanburglibraries. They chatted about Silas’s new novel, THE TULIP POPLARS (@algonquinbooks), which is a must read if you haven’t picked it up already. I love having a day job that is able to facilitate Appalachian literary events like this one.📚✨ A huge thank you to everyone behind the scenes who made this event possible. by @readappalachia

✨Today’s Book Mail ✨I’ve been hunting down the red, white and black editions of bell hooks’ books, so I was delighted to find this pre-loved copy. And a huge thank you to @kentuckypress for sending me a copy of @karigunterseymour’s new poetry collection! Stay tuned for her episode of poetry corner 👀

[ID: a photo of the books Salvation and All That Teethes Within on a cafe table (2) a photo of the books Salvation All That Teethes Within (3) a photo of the book Salvation] by @readappalachia

“There is space for all of us to reclaim Appalachia as it is for us.” - Appalachian Reckoning

[ID: a graphic featuring the above quote] by @readappalachia

In the latest episode of Read Appalachia, @kdwinchester talks to @pamela_sue_steele, the author of In the Fields of Fatherless Children (@counterpointpress). Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts! 🎧

[ID: graphic featuring a picture of Pamela Steele and text that reads Read Appalachia the podcast. New episode! Pamela Steele.] by @readappalachia

It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day! We all live on Native land.

Here are some of the fantastic books by Indigenous authors from across Turtle Island. You can find Native authors writing in every genre. There’s truly something for everyone. Let’s read Indigenous stories not just today but all year long. 🧡

You can learn more about the Native land that you live on at https://native-land.ca/ . by @readappalachia

✨NEW EPISODE✨

In this episode of the podcast, @kdwinchester talks to @doc.mclemore about their forensic memoir, Someday We Won’t Remember This, which is out now from @kentuckypress. Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts! 🎧

[ID: a graphic features a photo of Doc McLemore. Text reads Read Appalachia: the podcast. New episode! Doc McLemore] by @readappalachia

Happy pub week to PARTITA by @barbara.kingsolver! I picked up the indie exclusive edition from @hubcitybookshop, which features an essay for the reader. I can’t wait to dive in (I also have the audio, naturally).

Side Note: I left Gwen with her father at the dog park while I took photos of the book. I swear she wallowed in the mud as revenge. 😅 (Last photo)

[ID: a photo of the book Partita again a background of a field of goldenrod and other fall favorites (2) a photo of the first page of the essay (3) a photo of the title page (3) a photo of Partita with goldenrod (4) a photo of Gwen, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, being held up by Kendra. Gwen’s belly is covered in mud, and she looks very pleased with herself.] by @readappalachia

Book mail is the best mail! ✉️ A huge thank you to @kentuckypress for sending along these two must-reads: BLACK APPALACHIA and CARRYING THE BONES. BLACK APPALACHIA is the long-awaited successor to BLACK IN APPALACHIA (1985), the first modern anthology to examine the socioeconomic, cultural, and political experiences of Black Appalachians. CARRYING THE BONES braids memoir, cultural criticism, and poetics to ask how we might mourn meaningfully in an era of environmental crisis and pandemic loss.

Both of these books have been some of my most anticipated reads this fall. What are your most anticipated books of the season? by @readappalachia