Madeline ffitch, author of the novel Stay and Fight, discusses living and writing in Appalachian Ohio; the realities of homesteading; writing in multiple points of view; the art of writing a child’s voice for an adult audience; fiction and autobiography; writing for urban vs. rural audiences; climate activism; Appalachian anti-fascism; the politics-art connection; and why sometimes, a snake is just a snake.

Stay and Fight was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, the L.A. Times Book Prize for Fiction, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, and the Washington State Book Awards. It was Ohio Center for the Book’s 2023 adult selection for Great Reads from Great Places at the National Book Festival. Madeline ffitch writes and organizes in Appalachian Ohio.

Page Count is produced by Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library. For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page. To get in touch, email [email protected] (put “podcast” in the subject line) or follow us on Twitter or on Facebook.