Reviewed by Donna Meredith The land itself and male characters dominate the early works of West Virginia author Matthew Neill Null. They include the literary novel Honey from the Lion (Lookout Books, 2015) and a short story collection, Allegheny Front (Sarabande Books, 2016), which won the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. If there is […]
“Honey from the Lion” and “Allegheny Front,” by Matthew Neill Null
November 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Allen Mendenhall Interviews Robert J. Ernst, author of “The Inside War”
November 28, 2014 by 1 Comment
APM: Thanks for taking the time to sit down for this interview, Bob. Your novel The Inside War is about an Appalachian mountain family during the Civil War. How long have you been interested in the Civil War? RJE: I have had an interest in the Civil War for many years. Specifically, the effect of […]
“The Sheltering,” by Mark Powell
November 24, 2014 by 1 Comment
Reviewed by Sam Slaughter There is no need to fear the reaper here. In Mark Powell’s fourth novel, the author who has been called one of the best Appalachian writers of his generation proves that his home turf is not the only place he can write about. The Sheltering is a story of a drone […]
“A Shelter of Others,” by Charles Dodd White
June 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Sam Slaughter In his second novel, Charles Dodd White once again drives deep down the roads of his fictional Sanction County, an area in the Appalachian Mountains where, it seems, the ties that bind do so until circulation of the right and the real cuts off and the ghosts of the past walk […]
Wild Girls, by Mary Stewart Atwell
December 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Patricia O’Sullivan. Swan River, nestled in the Appalachian valley, is known for its poverty, its exclusive all-girl academy, and its wild girls who occasionally go on murderous rampages. Having grown up in Swan River, Kate Riordan has seen firsthand what the defunct mill town does to people. She calls the inhabitants deadnecks. “It’s […]
September Read of the Month: “Keowee Valley,” by Katherine Scott Crawford
September 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Philip K. Jason An independent woman; a lush frontier environment; the approach of war; and a romance of opposites are only some of the ingredients in Ms. Crawford’s ambitious first novel. Combining a style that is frequently lyrical, abundant historical research that has been well-absorbed and woven into the fiction with authority, and […]
The Anthology of Appalachian Writers Now Accepting Submissions
September 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The editors of The Anthology of Appalachian Writers have announced that they are now accepting submissions for their forthcoming Gretchen Moran Laskas Volume. Submission guidelines are available here. Submit electronic copies of any original, unpublished work of fiction or poetry, for consideration by the editors, to Dr. S. Bailey Shurbutt: sshurbut@shepherd.edu.