LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia ed. by Jeff Mann and Julia Watts (review)

Creating an introductory anthology is no small feat, but that was the goal of Jeff Mann and Julia Watts, editors of the new LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia. There has never been a representative collection in this genre, and Mann and Watts have created a long-awaited love letter to the Appalachian LGBTQ+ community, an affirmation that their existence within the larger culture is valued and valid. It sends the message that there is no need for an individual to decide between being Appalachian or LGBTQ+, because the mountains created both in congruence. This collection is a timely and long-overdue recognition of a previously overlooked group.

Appalachia means something different to everyone. Popular culture is rife with stereotypes that seek to explain the lives of those that live within the region. However, the most apt cultural exposés are those told by the native Appalachians—those born, raised, and well-versed in the culture. It is evident the authors of the LGBTQ+ community speak from the pages of this anthology with a collective Appalachian voice. They are telling the story, the life, and the struggle of LGBTQ+ Appalachia from various viewpoints but sharing common themes. Each character and setting is a different fabric, but they are all part of the same quilt. Like a bubbling kettle of apple butter on an October afternoon, the mixture is then condensed into the spicy, sweet taste of home and spread with the proverbial knife that could cut the tension after a coming-out announcement at Sunday dinner.

Generations of LGBTQ+ people, authors young and old, color the anthology. Seasoned professionals lead the discussion, and like grandparents' tales on the front porch, their voices bring cadence to the works of novice authors who are picking up the torch and illuminating the stories of the future. Common themes of Appalachia (sense of place, family, and religion) mingle in this anthology with gender and sexuality, which classify this work into a genre all its own.

Sense of place has a firm grip on the authors. As Dorothy Allison writes in "Butter," "I come with all of it, all my parts"; it is not possible to remove the LGBTQ+ and have Appalachia remain, nor vice versa (13). They intermingle in a symbiosis, and loss of any aspect results in death, with subsequent mourning. An individual at a mountain crossroads wonders whether to go left or right—not realizing that every direction is necessary in order to be whole. That which is born in the mountains, whether LGBTQ+ or not, will always be of the mountains.

Similarly powerful is the influence of family—from Fenton Johnson's sibling rivalry in "Bad Habits" to Rahul Meta's immigrant dreams in "A Better Life." Family is both a blessing and a curse. Most powerful is Carter Sickel's "Saving," which exposes the trials of a transgender man trying to maneuver between the past with his ailing grandmother and his present with a city-born girlfriend.

Religious devotion and love are underlying tones through the pieces. As Lisa Alther writes in "Swan Song"—"since love first starts in the human heart, it might just as well end there too" (9). Love grapples with the incongruencies between what is known by the heart and what is taught by religion. Jeff Mann's "Three Crosses" takes a damning assault on religion's treatment of LGBTQ+ people, complete with notable examples of apathy and hate directed at the community in the name of God.

This anthology gives a voice to stories that have been aching to be told for centuries. LGBTQ+ Appalachians are tricultural according to the editors—people living in a marginalized community within a minority of mainstream culture (1). In a nod to the art of Appalachian storytelling, the pieces never overreach. Each holds responsibility for itself and does not serve as a blanket statement for the entire work. The end effect of the anthology, and the understanding of...