In conjunction with the 2022 Appalachian Heritage Festival, Shepherd Universtity’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities will host a week of public events featuring Barbara Kingsolver, the current Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence, along with exhibits, film screenings, discussions, and other performances.
Barbara Kingsolver is a Kentucky native who has lived and traveled extensively around the world, writing more than a dozen books and other works, many focused on the themes of family, social justice, and the environment, with protagonists at the outskirts of society — all themes that resonate throughout the hills of Appalachia.
The Writer-In-Residence program is a collaboration between Shepherd University and the West Virginia Humanities Council. The award, now in it’s 24th year, was conceived to celebrate contemporary writers whose work focuses on Appalachia and the cultural heritage of its people. Dr. S. Bailey Shurbutt, Director of the Center, described the objective of the Writer-In-Residence project as “telling our story of Appalachia – if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will.”
2022 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, September 23
• Shepherdstown Film Society Screening of Award-winning Film Dark Waters, discussion led by Dr. Peter Vila, Environmental and Physical Sciences Department, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education
Saturday, September 24
• Appalachian Heritage Festival Daylong Events and Concert, for events online throughout the semester [see related article]
Monday, September 26
• 7 p.m. “Connected: Reflections on Ecology, Technology, and the Human Condition with Dr. Jeff Groff,” 2019 West Virginia Professor of the Year and Chair of Environmental and Physical Sciences Department
Tuesday, September 27
• 7 p.m. A Celebration of Appalachian Storytellers, Anthology of Appalachian Writers with Marc Harshman and Marie Manilla, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education
Wednesday, September 28
• 9:30 a.m. Barbara Kingsolver reading and Q&A with Berkeley County honors students, Martinsburg High School, sponsored by the West Virginia Library Commission
• 11 a.m. Barbara Kingsolver reading and conversation with West Virginia Public Librarians and Teachers across the state, via Zoom
• 12:30 p.m. Shepherdstown Library Nourishing Literacy Giving Circle, lunch and book Q&A, Bavarian Inn
• 7 p.m. The Writing Life, with Barbara Kingsolver, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education
Thursday, September 29
• Noon Lunch and book discussion with Senior Moments Book Club
• 2-3:30 p.m. Writers Master Class with Barbara Kingsolver, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education
• 5 p.m. Dinner with Fiction Competition winners, The Press Room
• 7 p.m. Scarborough Society Keynote with Barbara Kingsolver and Appalachian Heritage Writer-In-Residence Awards Ceremony and Reception, Frank Center auditorium [NEW LOCATION], Shepherd University
Friday, September 30
• Interview with Inside Appalachia, West Virginia Public Radio
• 7 p.m. Stories from the Heartland, with Adam Booth, Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education
A Focus On Appalachia
The webstite of the Appalachian Studies Program at Shepherd University describes it’s mission as seeking to “critically examine this region through a series of interrelated programs, all dedicated to a richer and fuller understanding of the region, its language, its lore, its history, and its cultural traditions.” In addition to the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Project, the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities coordinates the West Virginia Fiction Competition, an annual Anthology of Appalachian Writers, and the Appalachian Heritage Festival [see related article]. Shepherd University offers several interdisciplinary programs in Appalachian Studies. Undergraduates have been able to minor in the program for several years, and the option to major in Appalachian Studies was added for this academic year (with both B.A. and B.S. degree options). Graduate students can obtain a certificate or M.A. degree.
Links:
Shepherd University Appalachian Studies Program
Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence Program
2022 Appalachian Heritage Writer-In-Residence (Barbara Kingsolver)
2022 Appalachian Heritage Festival (September 24)
By Steve Pearson