"Now, Appalachia"

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author M. Hendrix about her young adult debut novel THE CHAPERONE. M Hendrix is the author of two previous books. She lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with her husband, novelist David Bell. The Chaperone is her YA debut.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jim Minick about his latest non-fiction work: WITHOUT WARNING: THE TORNADO OF UDALL, KANSAS. Jim is the author or editor of seven books, including the award-winning Fire Is Your Water and The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Poets and Writers, Oxford American, Orion, and Shenandoah.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews poet Susan O'Dell Underwood about her latest collection titled SPLINTER. Susan O'Dell Underwood is a native of East Tennessee, where she has lived most of her life. She's the director of creative writing at Carson-Newman University. She has published one earlier collection, The Book of Awe (Iris Press, 2018), a novel, Genesis Road (Madville Publishing, 2022), and two chapbooks. Her poems and fiction have appeared in journals and anthologies such as A Southern Poetry Anthology: Tennessee, Oxford American, Alaska Quarterly Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and Still: The Journal.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Michael Farris Smith about his latest novel SALVAGE THIS WORLD. Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets, and have been named Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. He has also written the feature-film adaptations of his novels Desperation Road and The Fighter, titled for the screen as Rumble Through the Dark. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Russell Johnson about his latest crime thriller THE MOONSHINE MESSIAH: A MOUNTAINEER MYSTERY. Russell is a fiction writer and North Carolina attorney. His debut story, "Chung Ling Soo's Greatest Trick," was published by ​Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in January 2015 and won the Edgar Award's Robert L. Fish Memorial prize for best short story by a new author. Since then he's been published in a number of outlets and recently won the West Virginia Writers Association’s Pearl S. Buck Award, as well as first place for book length fiction. In addition, he has been a nominee or finalist for the Pushcart Prize, Claymore Award and Screencraft’s Cinematic Novel competition.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Ohio crime fiction author Andrew Welsh-Huggins about his latest thriller THE END OF THE ROAD. Andrew is a former reporter for the Associated Press, editor of “Columbus Noir” and author of the Andy Hayes detective series; “An Empty Grave,” the seventh book, was nominated for a Shamus Award in the Best Original Paperback PI Novel category by the Private Eye Writers of America.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Travis Rountree about his new book "Hillsville Remembered: Public Memory, Historical Silence, and Appalachia's Most Notorious Shoot-Out."Travis an assistant professor of English at Western Carolina University. His writings have appeared in North Carolina Folklore Journal, Appalachian Journal, Journal of Southern History, and Storytelling in Queer Appalachia: Imagining and Writing the Unspeakable Other.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews suspense and thriller writer Trace Conger about his new book THE WICKED SIDE. Trace Conger is an award-winning author in the crime, thriller, and suspense genres. He writes the Connor Harding (Thriller) series and the Mr. Finn (PI) series. His Connor Harding series follows freelance “Mirage Man” Connor Harding as he solves problems for the world’s most dangerous criminals. The Mr. Finn series follows private investigator Finn Harding as he straddles the fine line between right and wrong. Conger won a Shamus Award for his debut novel, THE SHADOW BROKER. His suspense novella, THE WHITE BOY, won the Fresh Ink Award for Best Novella of 2020. 

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews Affrilachian poet, educator, and children's book author Frank X. Walker about his latest children's book A IS FOR AFFRILACHIA. A native of Danville, Kentucky, Frank X Walker is the first African American writer to be named Kentucky Poet Laureate. Walker has published eleven collections of poetry, including Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers, which was awarded the 2014 NAACP Image Award for Poetry and the Black Caucus American Library Association Honor Award for Poetry. He is also the author of Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, winner of the 2004 Lillian Smith Book Award, and Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate This Ride, which he adapted for stage, earning him the Paul Green Foundation Playwrights Fellowship Award. His poetry was also dramatized for the 2016 Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV and staged by Message Theater for the 2015 Breeders Cup Festival.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot speaks with historian Lindsay Chervinsky about the latest book she edited with Dr. Matthew Costello titled MOURNING THE PRESIDENTS: LOSS ANS LEGACY IN AMERICAN CULTURE. Lindsay is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Presidential Studies at Southern Methodist University and she teaches about the presidency at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. Her columns can be found at Governing and Washington Monthly, and she contributes to the Washington Post, USA Today, Ms. Magazine, the Bulwark, NBC Think!, the Wall Street Journal, TIME, The Hill, and CNN. In her spare time, she loves hiking with her American Foxhound, John Quincy Dog Adams (Quincy for short).