Whether you like memoirs, histories, or anthologies, there’s sure to be something for you on this list. So if you’re looking for more true stories from the region, here are some great places to start.
The possibilities are endless, and so are the number of stories from our region. We have everyone from writers like Nikki Giovanni to my friend Lucy, a queer white water rafting guide turned barista. And with a population of 20-25 million people, the region contains more different ways to be Appalachian than I can count. In a devastating and urgent work of investigative journalism, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hamby uncovers the tragic resurgence of black lung disease in Appalachia, its Big Coal cover-up, and the resilient mining communities who refuse to back down. Ever since, whenever I mention that I’m Appalachian, people will say something along the lines of, “Oh I know about that place! I read Hillbilly Elegy.”Īs an Appalachian, it’s important to me that Appalachian people tell our own stories. Several years ago, the hot book of the day was Hillbilly Elegy, authored by the now Senator of Ohio, JD Vance. But we don’t pause and think about the larger context or the story this single author is telling. We pass it around at book clubs or chat about it at drinks after work.
Sometimes we book lovers make the mistake of saying a single memoir can speak for an entire group of people.
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