Read Appalachia

In this episode of Read Appalachia’s minisode series, Poetry Corner, Kendra Winchester talks to Mary Leauna Christensen about her forthcoming poetry collection Beading Water, which will be out from Wesleyan University Press in spring 2027.

Things Mentioned

• Pre-order Beading Water

Books Mentioned

• Beading Water by Mary Leauna Christensen
• WHEREAS by Layli Long Soldier
• Horses by Jake Skeets
• Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets
• Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller

Guest Info

Mary Leauna Christensen is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and received her PhD from the University of Southern Mississippi. Her poetry can be found in Southern Humanities Review, Denver Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, Cream City Review, and Poetry Daily, among others. Her nonfiction has also appeared in the Common and in Black Warrior Review. She was named a 2022 Indigenous Nations Poets fellow for the inaugural In-Na-Po retreat and was selected as a returning fellow for 2023 and 2025. Her first poetry collection, Beading Water, releases in 2027 from Wesleyan University Press. With No’u Revilla and Annie Wenstrup, Mary is co-editing a forthcoming anthology of contemporary Indigenous poetry and poetics (Wesleyan University Press).

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In this episode of Read Appalachia’s minisode series, Poetry Corner, Kendra Winchester talks to Justin Wymer the author of Let the Forest Go, which is out now from the University Press of Kentucky.

Books Mentioned

• Let the Forest Go by Justin Wymer
• Carrion by Wes Jamison
• Nomenclature by Dionne Brand 
• Shae by Mesha Maren
• Poem Bitten by a Man by Brian Teare

Guest Info

Justin Wymer 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.

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In this episode of Read Appalachia’s minisode series, Poetry Corner, Kendra Winchester talks to Noah Soltau about his poetry collection Titanfall.

Things Mentioned

• Read Appalachia, Ep. 49 | The Red Branch Review
• The Red Branch Review

Books Mentioned

• Titanfall by Noah Soltau
• The Mobius Strip Club of Grief by Bianca Stone
• Its Day Being Gone by Rose McLarney
• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinnamin 
• He Who Fights with Monsters by Shirtaloon

Guest Info

Noah Soltau’s work stands at the busy intersection of art and politics. He is the author of Titanfall (Madville Publishing, 2026) and managing editor of The Red Branch Review. His most recent work appears in Cutleaf, Raw Head: Point Blank, Wild Roof Journal, and elsewhere. He lives and works in East Tennessee.

Instagram

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In this episodes of Read Appalachia, Kendra Winchester talks to Emilee Hackney about her debut book All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir.

Things Mentioned

• Appalachian Literary Arts Festival

Books Mentioned

• All That’s Unseen by Emilee Hackney
• Crappalachia by Scott McClanahan
• Good Inside by Becky Kennedy
• What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff 
• Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith
• Hill Women by Cassidy Chambers

Guest Info

Emilee Hackney grew up in the coalfields of southwest Virginia. She graduated from Harvard University with a BA in English and briefly attended Vanderbilt University’s MFA program. All That’s Unseen is her first book.

Website | Instagram

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In the latest installment of our minisode series, Poetry Corner,  Kendra Winchester is joined by Danni Quintos, the author Two Brown Dots.

Books Mentioned

• Two Brown Dots by Danni Quintos
• Sula by Toni Morrison
• Green of All Heads by Aracelis Girmay
• Replica by Lisa Low
• All the Words I Can Remember Are Poems by Michelle Peñaloza
• All This Want (and I Can’t Get None) by T Clark

Guest Info

Danni Quintos is the author of the poetry collection, Two Brown Dots (BOA Editions, 2022), chosen by Aimee Nezhukumatathil as winner of the A. Poulin Jr. Prize, and PYTHON (Argus House, 2017), an ekphrastic chapbook featuring photography by her sister, Shelli Quintos. She is a Kentuckian, a knitter, an educator, and an Affrilachian Poet. She received her BA from The Evergreen State College, and her MFA in Poetry from Indiana University. Her work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Cream City Review, Cincinnati Review, The Margins, Best New Poets 2015, Salon, and elsewhere. Quintos lives in Lexington with her kids & farmer-spouse & their little dog too.

Website

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In this episode of Read Appalachia’s conversations series, Joe Bond and Mandi Fugate Sheffel discuss everything from writing inspired by their lived experiences to future of Kentucky during the ongoing opioid crisis.

Things Mentioned

• Appalachian Literary Arts Festival

Books Mentioned

• Hope House by Joe Bond
• The Nature of Pain by Mandi Fugate Sheffel
• Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker
• Water. Witness. Word.by Marianne Worthington
• A Middle-Aged Woman Rages by Melissa Jørgenrud Helton
• Dirt Pusher by Daisy Cashin

Guest Info

Hope House is Joe Bond’s first novel. He began working on it after his story “Damico” won The Masters Review Short Story Award. His writing has been published by The Paris Review, People, New South, The New Ohio Review and ESPN. He grew up around group homes in eastern Kentucky and lives now in New Orleans.

Website | Instagram

Mandi Fugate Sheffel was born and raised in Redfox, Kentucky. She is the owner of the Read Spotted Newt, an independent bookstore in Hazard, Kentucky, and has been involved with the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky and the Appalachian Arts Alliance, among other organizations. Her personal essays and opinion pieces can be found in Still: The Journal, Appalachian Journal, The Lexington Herald-Leader, and The Courier Journal.

Website | Instagram | Read Spotted Newt | Read Spotted Newt Instagram

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In the latest installment of our minisode series, Poetry Corner,  Kendra Winchester is joined by Marianne Worthington, the author Water. Witness. Word.

Books Mentioned

• The Girl Singer by Marianne Worthington
• Water. Witness. Word. by Marianne Worthington
• Communion by bell hooks
• Good Woman by Lucille Clifton

Guest Info

Marianne Worthington grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, and moved to southeastern Kentucky in 1990 where she works as a teacher, editor, and writer. She is author of Water. Witness. Word., poems from Belle Point Press (2026), and The Girl Singer, poems from University Press of Kentucky (2021), winner of the Weatherford Prize for Poetry. She co-founded and co-edited Still: The Journal, an online literary magazine publishing writers, artists, and musicians with ties to the Appalachian region (2009-2024). Her work has been supported by the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship at Berea College. In 2026 she was awarded the inaugural Writing Prize from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She has edited five anthologies, including two for the Hindman Settlement School. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Oxford American, CALYX, Grist, Appalachian Review, and One Art, among other places. A retired and recovering college professor, she often teaches poetry and nonfiction writing classes for workshops and conferences.

Website

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In a special episode of Read Appalachia, Amy Le Ann Richardson and Andrew Preston give listeners a preview of the Appalachian Literary Arts Festival. 

A special thank you to Gwenda Bond, Bernard Clay, Mandi Fugate Sheffel, and Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr for their selective readings. Another thank you to Doug Van Gundy for our theme music for this episode.

Things Mentioned

• Appalachian Literary Arts Festival

Books Mentioned

• The Stone Catchers by Laura Leigh Morris
• A Middle-Aged Woman Rages by Melissa Jørgenrud Helton
• An Octopus Named Houdini by Zana Fraillon, Illustrated by Corinna Luyken

Guest Info

Amy Le Ann Richardson earned a Bachelor’s in English from Morehead State University (‘07) and an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University (‘09). She is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Make Believe Worlds We Built Together (Bottlecap Press, 2023) and Who You Grow Into (Finishing Line Press, 2024), as well as a full collection, Out of Places (Pine Row Press, 2025). Her work has been featured in journals such as Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Untelling, Kentucky Monthly, and Still: the Journal. She currently lives and works on her family farm in Carter County, Kentucky, where she writes, grows food, and engages with the community through both art and environmental advocacy.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

A.p. Harbor is the pen name / band name of Andrew Preston, writer and producer from Van Lear, Kentucky. He is the author of The Hum of a Dreaming Moon, a full-length, illustrated collection of lyrics and poetry. Preston has been a featured songwriter by the International Bluegrass Music Association, lecture faculty at the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop, and nominee for the 2020 Audioverse Awards. His lyrics and poetry have been published in Untelling Magazine and Discarded, a rural anthology. With works spanning eight albums and hundreds of performances across North America, Asia, and Europe, Preston and his bandmates have become mainstays of Appalachia’s burgeoning indie scene. In his other life, he sells books and coffee at The Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop and CoffeeTree Books in Morehead, Kentucky, where he lives with his husband and two cats.

Website | Instagram

Theme Music: “Quincy Dillon’s High ‘D’ Tune,” trad. Performed by Doug Van Gundy. 2026” 

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In this episode of our Conversations series, Wes Blake and Em J Parsley discuss novellas and more.

Things Mentioned

• Appalachian Literary Arts Festival

Books Mentioned

• Pineville Trace by Wes Blake
• You, From Below by Em Parsley
• Kinfolks by Gurney Norman
• Nothing Gold Can Stay by Ron Rash
• Stories by Breece D’j Pancake
• Deviant Hollers edited by Zane McNeill and Rebecca Scott
• Queer Communion edited by Davis Shoulders
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• All About Love by bell hooks
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
• Flux by Jinwoo Chong
• The Caretaker by Ron Rash
• Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison
• Trigger Warning by Jacinda Townsend
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
• Light Years by James Salter

Guest Info

Wes Blake is the award-winning author of Pineville Trace, a Southern Gothic flash novella (Etchings Press, 2024). His narrative nonfiction collection Hazelgreen and Other Haunts, a memoir of place-in-essays, is forthcoming in 2027 from West Virginia University Press. Wes’ debut book won the Etchings Press Novella Prize and was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. His fiction and essays have appeared in Electric Literature, storySouth, Louisiana Literature Journal, and Untelling, among others. He is part of the visiting faculty at Eastern Kentucky University’s Bluegrass Writers Studio MFA in Creative Writing Program and lives in Nonesuch, Kentucky with his wife and cats, where they’ve planted 100 trees. Learn more at wesblake.com. 

Website | Instagram

Em J Parsley (they/he) is a farmer, environmentalist, and cultivator of oyster mushrooms living in Lexington, Kentucky. They are the author of the novella, You, From Below (Split Lip Press, 2025) and the poetry chapbook, The Anonym Gospels (April Gloaming Publishing, 2024), which won the Apogee Poetry Chapbook Award.  

Website | Instagram

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay

In this episodes of Read Appalachia, Kendra Winchester talks to Kayla Rae Whitaker about her new novel Returns and Exchanges.

Things Mentioned

• Appalachian Literary Arts Festival

Books Mentioned

• Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker
• The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
• Fat Swim: Fiction by Emma Copley Eisenberg
• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
• Headshot by Rita Bullwinkle
• State Champ by Hilary Plum

Guest Info

Kayla Rae Whitaker is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and New York University. Her first novel, The Animators, was named a best book of the year by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and BookPage. She lives in Queens, New York.

Website | Instagram

---

Show Your Love for Read Appalachia!

You can support Read Appalachia by heading over to our merch store, tipping us over on Ko-fi, or by sharing the podcast with a friend! For more ways to support the show, head over to our Support page.

Follow Read Appalachia

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

Contact
For feedback or to just say “hi,” you can reach us at readappalachia[at]gmail.com


Music by Olexy from Pixabay