In this episode we’re straying from the rock novels camp to talk about a single short story, entitled “A Wayfarer at Devil’s Elbow,” written by North Carolina author, Pushcart Prize nominee, and musician Emily Alice Katz. The story, which appears in the new online issue of ‘North Carolina Literary Review’ was a finalist in the 2022 Doris Betts Fiction Prize, an annual competition sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network, with winning entries and some finalists published in ‘NCLR’. Full disclosure: I serve as Senior Associate Editor of the journal.

You can find a link in the show notes to the new issue of ‘NCLR’, where you can read Emily’s story and all the other amazing stories, essays, and poetry in the issue.

Emily Alice Katz’s short fiction has appeared in such literary journals as ‘North Carolina Literary Review,’ ‘Salamander’, ‘Jelly Bucket’, ‘Meridian’, ‘South Carolina Review’, and ‘storySouth’. Her short story collection, ‘The Book of Nut and Other Stories’, was designated a finalist for the 2019 Eludia Award. And her short story “Little Hen” is included in the 2022 anthology ‘Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from “Lilith Magazine”.’ She has a PhD in modern Jewish studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Her book, 'Bringing Zion Home: Israel in American Jewish Culture, 1948-1967', was published in 2015.

“A Wayfarer at Devil’s Elbow” follows a young music journalist in her quest to locate and interview an obscure 1970s experimental rock musician from the mountains of North Carolina, Nyssa Adcock, who has fallen off the musical map and become a recluse and a bit of a rock ‘n roll mystery. Fans of this period in music history and Appalachian literature and lore will be enchanted by the story, an excerpt from which Emily reads at the beginning of the episode, and our discussion. You’ll also hear an abundance of Appalachian music as well as Emily’s own music. See the playlist below. 

Special thanks to Tim Randall and Hub Respess for providing the voices of music critics in the opening.

MUSIC AND MEDIA IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

LINKS:

Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451

Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350

‘North Carolina Literary Review’ (read Emily’s story “A Wayfarer at Devil’s Elbow” in the fall online issue): https://nclr.ecu.edu/issues/nclr-fall-online-2023/

Emily Alice Katz’s website: https://emilyalicekatz.com/

Emily Alice Katz on Instagram: @emkatz

Christy Alexander Hallberg’s website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/

Christy Alexander Hallberg on Twitter, Instagram & YouTube: @ChristyHallberg

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