This episode features four of the contributors to Tori Bovalino’s folk horror anthology The Gathering Dark. These women are so insightful, and I learned so much about folklore, folk horror, and more through our discussion. In this talk, we tackle everything from what defines folk horror to publishing industry categories to what makes rural places scary. That last part was probably my absolute favorite part of the conversation. I hope you’ll join us!

Get the book from my Bookshop.org storefront (and help support the show!): https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9781645676225

Learn more about the authors (with websites) featured in this episode:

Alex Brown – https://www.alexbrownwrites.com

Olivia Chadha – https://www.oliviachadha.com

Hannah Whitten – https://hannahfwhitten.com

Halloween may be over, but for me spooky season doesn’t end until Thanksgiving. So, in honor of extended spooky season, this Book Talk features a short story collection full of spooky stories just perfect for this time of year. In it, you’ll find wonderfully goosebump-inducing folk horror stories that span a range of rural locations, cultures, and histories. It’s fabulous, so check it out.

Buy the book via our affiliate link: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9781645676225

Get some Reading Rural YAL or Literacy In Place merch: http://tee.pub/lic/wqlsXCua0HY

In this episode Julia, David, and I talk about the importance of place and rurality to our lived experiences, to reading, and to writing. We also get to do something that few authors and readers get to do – talk to one another about the conversation we had across the page. This is one of my favorite things about this podcast.

Angel Falls Website: http://www.angelfalls.org/

Buy the book via our Bookshop.org affiliate link: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9781949140347

Reader Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GHlMbDWgpnSDgyYiuXpf2u9jK6SCjs0P/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=102079734450780712143&rtpof=true&sd=true

Spooky Stories on RethinkELA: https://www.rethinkela.com/october-inquiry-unit-reading-and-writing-spooky-stories/

More rural book recommendations: https://literacyinplace.com/rural-book-list/

Time to get our spooky on! In honor of Spooky Season, in this episode, I do a little reading, give a summary, and use some place-conscious analysis to talk about Whippoorwill Award winning Angel Falls. I also outline some teaching ideas for using the book in a rural (or non rural) ELA classroom.

Angel Falls Website: http://www.angelfalls.org/

Buy the book via our Bookshop.org affiliate link: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9781949140347

Reader Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GHlMbDWgpnSDgyYiuXpf2u9jK6SCjs0P/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=102079734450780712143&rtpof=true&sd=true

Spooky Stories on RethinkELA: https://www.rethinkela.com/october-inquiry-unit-reading-and-writing-spooky-stories/

More rural book recommendations: https://literacyinplace.com/rural-book-list/

Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr. is a brilliant poet and a kindred spirit, and I enjoyed every single second of this conversation. I hope rural English teachers out there will listen to it, because he puts language to a lot of issues faced by rural ELA in language with concrete examples that I’ve always wished I had. We had a big time talking, and hope you enjoy listening.

Get Gay Poems for Red States: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9780813198125

Learn more about Willie and his work: http://williecarver.com

To read my rural language inventory: https://literacyinplace.com/2022/01/14/what-is-my-rural-language-variety/

To get some of our merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/literacy-in-place

In this episode I read a few poems from, give an overview of, and discuss how I would teach Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr.’s incredible collection, Gay Poems for Red States.

If you’re teaching in a school that is currently inhospitable to queer literature, know that there are poems in this collection could still work in your classroom, so this episode could still be useful for you!

Buy the book: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9780813198125

Listen to Read Appalachia: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/read-appalachia/id1665295313?i=1000617943530

Shop our merch!: https://www.teepublic.com/user/literacy-in-place

Y’all – this discussion with Regina Hansen was so good, I lost myself in the conversation and forgot about my questions. We talked about so much important stuff including

Get the book: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9781534482449

Learn more about Regina Hansen and her work: https://www.reginamhansen.com

In this Book Talk episode, I give the summary for, perform a mini analysis of the way place functions in the book, and provide a skeleton of an idea about how teachers could approach teaching The Coming Storm.

In this Author Talk, Dr. Rob Petrone sits down with me to talk about my first book Country Teachers in City Schools. We talk about why I wrote it, how I wrote it, what’s in it, and what it means to me. I had so much fun and hope you do too!

You can find my book: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666909012/Country-Teachers-in-City-Schools-The-Challenge-of-Negotiating-Identity-and-Place

You can find Rob’s new book: https://bookshop.org/a/86567/9781625347152

In this episode, I give quite a few updates and announcements about cool stuff happening at Literacy In Place. I also talk about my book, Country Teachers In City Schools: The Challenge of Negotiating Identity and Place. Here are some things discussed in the show:

You can buy the book

Check out the Read Appalachia website

Check out the Read Appalachia podcast

Encourage the young (grades 9-12) rural writers in your life to submit to the Literacy In Place Rural Teen Writing Contest

Write a review of Country Teachers for Literacy In Place

Visit Tee Public to check out our merch and grab a sticker or two