This Issue

Amy Greene made an impact upon Appalachian Literature with her first novel, Bloodroot published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2010. We are proud to present here the first chapter of her second novel, Long Man, which is scheduled for publication next February. Joseph M. Schuster, whose first novel, The Might Have Been, was very well received, read Greene’s forthcoming novel in manuscript and provides an essay appraising her first two novels.

Toby D. Gibson, a young man of Melungeon ancestry, has an important essay in this issue aboout contemporary life in the heart of Melungeon country, Newman’s Ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee where he lives. He took Rebecca A. Keck to Newman’s Ridge to capture photographic images of that community and its people for this magazine. They accompany pictures from Hamblen County where she runs Fine Art Photography by Rebecca and where Amy Greene has lived all her life.

The short story in this issue is by Loyal Jones. This magazine is a program of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College, named in his honor. He is an icon in Appalachian Studies, the author of many books and articles that cover topics ranging from religion to humor.

In this issue we include a portfolio of five poems by Samantha Lynn Cole. We were so pleased with the power and purpose of Samantha Lynn Cole’s work that we couldn’t resist sharing a portfolio of her work that highlights her talent, her depth, and her range.

Robert Morgan, a native of rural Henderson County, North Carolina, and Charles A. Swanson from Virginia have published their poems in this magazine many times before, and we are pleased to introduce our readers to three poets new to our magazine. Thomas Alan Holmes grew up in Northern Alabama and now teaches at East Tennessee State. Anne Harding Woodworth maintains a home in the North Carolina Mountains near the South Carolina line. Ron Jackson is a Kentucky poet.

Katie Hoffman, a Tennessee resident, provides a scholarly perspective to our coverage of the Melungeons with her review of Becoming Melungeon by Melissa Schrift, and Phyllis Wilson Moore of West Virginia ably takes on the delicate task of assessing a book by Scott McClanahan with the disconcerting title of Crapalachia.