"Now, Appalachia"

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews poet Sara Moore Wagner about her latest collection HILLBILLY MADONNA. Sara is the author of Swan Wife (winner of the 2021 Cider Press Review Editor's Prize), a recipient of a 2022 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, a 2021 National Poetry Series Finalist, and the recipient of a 2019 Sustainable Arts Foundation award. Sh...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews YA author Kevin Dunn about his latest book VICIOUS IS MY MIDDLE NAME. Kevin is in several bands, runs a small record label, publishes zines, and writes for Razorcake magazine. He also works at a small liberal arts college, where he teaches and publishes on a range of topics from African politics to international relations to global punk. H...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews poet Thomas Richardson. Thomas is a teacher and writer. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and raised in Columbus, Mississippi, he earned his bachelor's degree from Millsaps College and master's degrees from Vanderbilt University and Mississippi University for Women. He teaches English at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot speaks with author and linguist Dr. Michael Rost about his latest book THE JOURNEY HOME: PORTRAITS OF HEALING. Michael is a renowned American linguist, specializing in psycholinguistics, language acquisition, language loss, in dementia. He has worked on language project in multiple countries and government institutions. Formerly a professor of lingui...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Rebecca Bernard about her new short story collection OUR SISTER WHO WILL NOT DIE. Rebecca is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Angelo State University. Her work has appeared in Colorado Review, Southwest Review, Juked, Pleiades, and elsewhere and has been recognized in Best American Short Stories.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Culley Holderfield about his debut novel HEMLOCK HOLLOW. Culley learned to love storytelling on the porch of a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, he ventured to South America, Africa, and Europe. When not writing or working in community development finance, he spends his time hiking, pad...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews mystery author Kelly J. Ford about her latest novel REAL BAD THINGS. Kelly J. Ford is the author of the award-winning Cottonmouths , a novel of “impressive depths of character and setting” according to the Los Angeles Review , which named it one of their Best Books of 2017. An Arkansas native, Kelly writes about the power and pitfalls of f...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot profiles publisher Orison Books with founder Luke Hankins. Luke Hankins is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Radiant Obstacles and Weak Devotions, as well as a forthcoming chapbook, Testament (Texas Review Press, 2024). He is also the author of a collection of essays, The Work of Creation, and is the editor of Poems of Devotion: An An...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot speaks with author Christopher Kelder about his new book THE SECRET OF COBB CREEK: A DEPRESSION ERA STORY OF E. KENTUCKY. Christopher lives in Lexington, Kentucky and is an award winning filmmaker as well as the author of several children's books. This book is his most recent work.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Zach Steele about his new novel THE WEIGHT OF ASHES. Broadleaf Writers Association Founder & Executive Director Zachary Steeleis the author of Anointed: The Passion of Timmy Christ, CEO and Flutter: An Epic of Mass Distraction. He has been featured by NPR, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Publishers Weekly, Baby Got Books, Shel...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot welcomes back author John Vercher to talk about his new novel AFTER THE LIGHTS GO OUT. John lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two sons. He has a Bachelor’s in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Mountainview Master of Fine Arts program. He is a contributing writer for WBUR Boston’s Cognosce...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews journalist Ronnie Greene about his latest book HEART OF ATLANTA: FIVE BLACK PASTORS AND THE SUPREME COURT VICTORY FOR INTEGRATION. Ronnie is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and a veteran investigative reporter, who, over the years, has worked at the Center for Public Integrity, the Associated Press, and the Miami Herald. He...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Sheila Myers about her new novel THE TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE. Sheila Myers is an award-winning author and college professor in Upstate New York. Her penchant for research and meanderings through the wilderness, lakes, mountains, and vistas (and the occasional trip to a cemetery) in the U.S. and abroad, inspire her novels and short stor...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Scott Blackburn about his new thriller novel IT DIES WITH YOU. Scott is an English instructor and a 2017 graduate of the Mountainview MFA program. He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife and two children. When he is not writing and teaching, Scott enjoys training in combat sports such as boxing, Muay Thai, and Ju-jitsu,...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Eliot interviews co-hosts of the Pantsuit Politics podcast as well as authors Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland. In addition to the podcast, they are the authors of "Now What?: How to Move Forward When We're Divided (About Basically Everything)." Sarah attended Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and later received her Jur...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot speaks with author Jamie Lyn Smith about her latest book TOWNSHIP. Jamie Lyn Smith is a writer, editor, and teacher. She earned her BA in English and Theatre from Kenyon College, her Masters in Education from Fordham University, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Ohio State University. Jamie Lyn is the Fiction Editor at BreakBread Magazine and a Co...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Valerie Nieman about her latest novel IN THE LONELY BACKWATER. Valerie has been a farmer, a sailor, a journalist, a teacher. To the Bones, a genre-bending novel about Appalachia, was published by West Virginia University Press in 2019, joining three earlier novels, a short fiction collection, and three poetry books. Her award-winnin...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Ohio author Michael Wayne Hampton about his new novel DREAM KIDS. Michael Wayne Hampton is the author of five books of fiction. His criticism, essays, fiction, and poetry have appeared in numerous publications such as Atticus Review, The Southeast Review, 3AM Magazine, and Fiction Southeast. In 2013 he won The Deerbird Novella Prize, and i...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jess Montgomery about her latest novel THE ECHOES. Jess writes a Writer's Digest magazine column, "Level Up Your Writing (Life)" and was formerly the “Literary Life” columnist for the Dayton Daily News. Based on early chapters of the first book in the Kinship Series, The Widows , Jess was awarded an Ohio Arts Council individual arti...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Virginia historian Jonathan White about his new book: A HOUSE BUILT BY SLAVES: AFRICAN AMERICAN VISITORS TO THE WHITE HOUSE. Jonathan White is associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University. He is the author of ten books and over 100 articles, essays, and reviews on Lincoln and the Civil War. His writing has appe...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Nancy Allen about her novel RENEGADE. Nancy Allen, author of the Ozarks Mystery Series, practiced law for fifteen years as Assistant Missouri Attorney General and Assistant Prosecutor in her native Ozarks. She’s tried over thirty jury cases, including murder and sexual offenses, and is now a law instructor at Missouri State Universi...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Robert Gwaltney about his novel THE CICADA TREE. Robert Gwaltney, a writer of southern fiction, is a graduate of Florida State University. He resides in Atlanta Georgia where he is an active member of the Atlanta literary community. By day, he serves as Vice President of Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., Children Services, a non-pro...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jessica Weible about her new non-fiction book DEAD LETTERS: DELIVERING OPENED MAIL FROM A PENNSYLVANIA GHOST TOWN. Jess Weible is a freelance writer and reporter. She is also a founding editor for The Watershed Journal, an inclusive, regional literary magazine for the western Pennsylvania wilds. Jess leads two writing groups, the Wr...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews science fiction author J.V. Hilliard about his latest book THE LAST KEEPER. Born of steel, fire, and black wind, J.V. Hilliard was raised as a highlander in the foothills of a once-great mountain chain on the confluence of the three mighty rivers that forged his realm’s wealth and power for generations. His father, a peasant dwarf, toiled...

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Kentucky author Ashley Blooms about her latest novel WHERE I CAN'T FOLLOW. Ashley Blooms is the author of Every Bone a Prayer, which was long-listed for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize and which NPR said “bears within its pages striking beauty and strangeness in equal measure.” Her second novel, Where I Can’t Follow, will be published by Sou...