Contributors to this issue:

Contributors to this issue: Fred Chappell grew up in Canton, North Carolina, and currently lives in Greensboro where he is Professor Emeritus at UNC-G. He was PoetLaureate of North Carolina from 1997 until 2004. Chappell is the author of dozens of books in many genres including The Fred Chappell Reader, published by St. Martin's in 1987. He was the featured author for the Summer 2003 issue of Appalachian Heritage. Scott K. DuVaI grew up in Wise County, Virginia, and now lives in neighboring Lee County where he works with adults with mental illness. "Drawing Water" is his first published poem. Kathleen Ernst grew up in Maryland, spending the summers in the mountains of the western part ofthat state. Agraduate ofWest Virginia University, she has hiked the southern half of the Appalachian Trail. She presently resides in Wisconsin, but her forthcoming novel, Hearts ofStone (Dutton, 2006), is set in East Tennessee. Sidney Farr grew up in Bell County, Kentucky, and served as editor of Appalachian Heritage from 1985-1999. She is the author of seven books including More Than Moonshine (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995). Truman Fields grew up in Perry County, Kentucky, and attended Berea College. He is presently living in Berea again, enjoying retirement from a career as a teacher and tennis coach in Cleveland, Ohio. "Strip Mining Comes to Big Creek" is a chapter from his memoirs, which he is currently developing in between tennis matches and auctioneering. Neva Hamilton grew up in Wise County, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She writes a biweekly column for The Coalfield Progress out of Norton, Virginia. She has worked in the fields of communications, law and mental health and is currently a public relations professional. In the summer of 2005, Hamilton took a short fiction class with Meredith Sue Willis at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman Settlement School, and she wrote the first paragraph of "Sawmill Boys" as part of an exercise in that class. Brittany Hampton is a glasswork artist and musician who grew up in Hazard, Kentucky, but currently lives in Rockledge, Florida, working as a tutor. She is currently enrolled in the low-residency MFA Program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Harmon Jackson" is her first published work. 113 David C. Hardesty, Jr., is a native of Shinnston, West Virginia, and currentlyserves as Presidentofhis almamater, WestVirginiaUniversity. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned his JD from Harvard and worked as a lawyer in Charleston before returning to WVU in 1995. Loyal Jones grew up in Cherokee County, North Carolina, graduated from Berea College and stayed on to become the first director of their Appalachian Center. His publishing credits includebooks onmountain religion, folk music and humor. Melanie Jordan grew up in Cookeville, Tennessee, and did her undergraduate work at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She was an Associate Editor for Lyric Poetry Review and Gulf Coast magazine. She currently teaches for the University of Houston and the Houston Community College system. Jeff Kerr lives in the Chicago area where he was raised, but both his parents came from Pike County, Kentucky, where he spent childhood summers with his "paw paw" on his father's side. He is currently the Sales Manager for Pegasus Audio Visual Products. John Langteachesliterature atEmory &Henry College and coordinates theCollege'sannualLiteraryFestivalhonoringAppalachianWriters. He is the editor of The Iron Mountain Review and of a new book, Appalachia and Beyond: Conversations with Writersfrom the Mountain South. Keith Maillard grew up in the northern panhandle of West Virginia and currently teaches at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of numerous award-winning novels. Phyllis Wilson Moore, a retired nurse living in Clarksburg, West Virginia, has made it her business to become as knowledgeable as possible about Appalachian writers, and especially West Virginia authors. She often gives talks on her favorite subject and was the chief instigator behind the Literary Map of West Virginia: http:/ /www. fscwv.edu/wvfolklife/literary_map/ Tim Poland teaches American literature and fiction writing at Radford University in Virginia's New River Valley. He received the Plattner Award for his non-fiction piece, "Going Native," which was published in the Spring 2002 issue of Appalachian...