"Now, Appalachia"

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Earl Swift about his latest nonfiction book UP ON COVE MOUNTAIN. Earl is the author of the New York Times bestseller Chesapeake Requiem, which was named to ten best-of-the-year lists. His most recent book, Hell Put to Shame, was a finalist for the Edgar Award (Best Fact Crime) and the Virginia Literary Award. A former reporter for The Virginian-Pilot and a contributor to Outside and other publications, he lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains west of Charlottesville.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Susan Zurenda about her latest novel NO WAY OUT BUT THROUGH. Susan taught English for thirty-three years at the college level and at the high school level to AP students. She is the author of the Southern literary novel, Bells for Eli,which received several awards including first place for Best First Book—Fiction in the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Her novel The Girl from the Red Rose Motel was the recipient of the 2024 Patricia Winn Award in Southern Fiction and first place winner for Southeast Fiction in the 2024 Independent Publisher Book Awards, among others. Zurenda has won awards for her short fiction, including the South Carolina Fiction Prize, twice.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Rayelle Davis about her new book MONEY IN THE MOUNTAINS. Rayelle Davis is a licensed therapist specialising in generational trauma in rural working-class communities. She started working as a counsellor in 2016, witnessing the personal stories behind the opioid epidemic, and has gone on to run her own private practice. She is currently working towards her doctoral degree in Counsellor Education and Supervision at Duquesne University. She lives in western Maryland.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot profiles Appalachian publisher Walnut Street Publishing and their publisher, Aaron Quinn. For more information about Aaron and Walnut Street Publishing, visit www.walnutstreetpublishing.com

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jen Julian about her latest Appalachian horror novel THE WINTER FOLK. Jen Julian’s previous publications include a short story collection, Earthly Delights and Other Apocalypses (Press 53, 2018), which was the winner of Press 53’s Short Fiction Prize, as well as work in numerous literary journals, most recently a story in Third Coast Magazine, which received distinction in Best American Short Stories 2023. Jen holds a PhD in English from the University of Missouri and an MFA in Fiction from UNC Greensboro. A 2016 Clarion Alumna, she has contributed fiction both to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Texas Book Festival. These days, Jen lives in the mountains of North Georgia and teaches creative writing at Young Harris College.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews poet Justin Wymer about his latest collection LET THE FOREST GO. Justin is is a writer and educator from West Virginia. He is the author of DEED and has been honored by the Harvard Office for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute, the University of Iowa, and the Academy of American Poets. His work appears in the Boston Review, the Kenyon Review, Literary Hub, and other publications. Find him online at justinwymer.com.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Michael Cody about his new Appalachian thriller AVALON MOON. Michael was born in Sumter, South Carolina, and grew up in the village of Walnut, jewel of Madison County, North Carolina, not far from the ruins of Runion, a place he has reimagined for stories appearing in Tampa Review, Yemassee, The Chaffin Journal, Still: The Journal, and other publications. He spent his formative twenties living and working as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. His prior novel, Streets of Nashville, is scheduled for publication in April 2025 by Madville Publishing. Cody lives with his wife Leesa in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and teaches American literature before 1900, Native American literature, and mythology in the Department of Literature & Language at East Tennessee State University.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Linda Gambill about her new memoir THE GEOGRAPHY OF DESIRE: A MEMOIR OF WEST AFRICA. Linda Gambill has been a therapist at a state psychiatric hospital, a Peace Corps volunteer, a nationally exhibited photographer, and an ESL teacher at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. Her writing has appeared in Persimmon Tree and Parhelion Literary, and is forthcoming from Allium: A Journal of Poetry and Prose. The Geography of Desire: A Memoir of West Africa is her first book. She lives in the South with her husband and their overly talkative rescue cat.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jason Irwin about his memoir THESE FRAGMENTS I HAVE SHORED. Jason is the author of three books of poetry: The History of Our Vagrancies (Main Street Rag, 2020), A Blister of Stars (Low Ghost, 2016) and Watering the Dead, winner of the Transcontinental Poetry Award (Pavement Saw Press, 2008). He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, writer, Jen Ashburn.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Rose McLarney about her newest essay collection RUBBLE MASONRY. Rose's collections of poems are Colorfast, Forage, and Its Day Being Gone, winner of the National Poetry Series, from Penguin Books, as well as The Always Broken Plates of Mountains, published by Four Way Books. She is co-editor of A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia, from University of Georgia Press, and the journal Southern Humanities Review. Rose grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina and, at present, is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Auburn University.