BOONE, N.C. — The new issue of Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review (vol. 52, no. 4) features an ecofeminist exploration of Mesha Maren’s stunning debut novel Sugar Run, an in-depth discussion of Northern Appalachian writer Susan Fenimore Cooper’s Rural Hours through a deep ecology lens, book reviews of recent publications and an interview with Clint and Griffin McElroy on folklore’s intersection with role-playing games and podcasting.
Highlights also include creative nonfiction from Valerie Nieman, Jean K. Dowdy and Susan J. Mitchell and a suite of poems focused on Hurricane Helene and her aftermath by Jerry Buchanan, Tom Hansell, Gene Hyde, Paul Karnowski and William Swarts. In addition to the poets included in the Helene suite of poems, this issue also features brilliant poetry by G. C. Waldrep, Abby Minor and Aruna Gurumurthy. This issue also includes illustrations by artist Annie Greenwood, accompanying “Signs of the Times.”
Scholarly article, “Ecofeminism in Mesha Maren’s Sugar Run (2019): Familiar Territory, Intersectional Pathways and Fresh Trails” by Deedee Abbott explores the relationship between protagonist Jodi McCarty’s identity as a queer woman and convicted felon and the exploitation of her family’s land. Abbott’s analysis of Maren’s work offers a fresh take on an underexplored novel.
In “‘The forests are great and old’: Deep Ecology, Deep Time and Northern Appalachian Environmental History in Susan Fenimore Cooper’s Rural Hours,” Michael S. Martin discusses this classic work of Northern Appalachian nature writing through the lens of deep ecology. In this essay, Martin not only demonstrates how Rural Hours fits within an Appalachian canon but also serves as an early example of an important ecocritical subfield.
This issue features three creative nonfiction pieces which deal with loss and return. In Jean K. Dowdy’s “Far From Home,” the speaker seeks (and fails to find) West Virginian solidarity in her now home state of Florida. Susan J. Mitchell’s “I Need to Ask You” centers on the difficult task of sorting through a loved one’s belongings after they’ve passed. Valerie Nieman channels her ancestors as she explores the connections between Appalachia and Scotland that influenced her most recent book, Upon the Corner of the Moon. Throughout each of these pieces, readers are encouraged to think about how people and place come together to provide a sense of belonging.
Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth interviews the super-creative father-son duo Clint and Griffin McElroy, who, along with Clint’s two other sons, Travis and Justin, host the long-running Adventure Zone podcast. Adventure Zone features actual-play (as in real-time) role-playing game campaigns that frequently invoke Appalachian places (the family is from West Virginia) and folklore, including a variety of the regional cryptids we all know and love.
Twelve reviews survey a wide range of recent Appalachian literature on topics such as ecology, queer theory, music history and migration. Josh Howard reviews I Hate It Here, Please Vote for Me: Essays on Rural Political Decay by Matthew Ferrence. John Turner examines I Could Name God in Twelve Ways by Karen Salyer McElmurray. Tucker Seifert explores Gary Carden’s Stories I Lived to Tell: An Appalachian Memoir. Mesha Maren delves into Little Ones by Grey Wolfe LaJoie. Jacinda Townsend explores Good Women by Halle Hillwhile Thomas Rain Crowe unpacks Vanessa Miller’s The American Queen. Andrew Denson examines Oconaluftee: The History of a Smoky Mountain Valley by Elizabeth Giddens and Jim Minick reviews Load in Nine Times by Frank X Walker. Continuing in poetry, Meredith McCarroll considers Thickets Swamped in Fence-Coated Briars by Evan Gray. Kristofer Collins reviews the crime novel Once These Hills by Chris McGinley and Nancy Lawson Remler explores Where Dark Things Grow by Andrew K. Clark. Finally, Gabriel A. Rieger delves into Valerie Nieman’s newest work, Upon the Corner of the Moon.
For current subscribers, this issue will be mailed on July 11. To order this issue of Appalachian Journal or to subscribe, visit the UNC Press page.
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About the Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review
Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, founded in 1972, is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed quarterly journal housed at Appalachian State University. The journal features field research, interviews and other scholarly studies of history, politics, economics, culture, folklore, literature, music, ecology and a variety of other topics, as well as poetry and reviews of books, films and recordings dealing with the Appalachian Mountains region. Learn more at appjournal.appstate.edu.
About the Center for Appalachian Studies
The Center for Appalachian Studies promotes public programs, community collaboration, civic engagement and scholarship on the Appalachian region. The center is committed to building healthy communities and deepening knowledge of Appalachia’s past, present and future through community-based research and engagement. Learn more at appcenter.appstate.edu.
Written by Dr. Jessica Cory
Edited by Lauren Gibbs
July 1, 2025
BOONE, N.C.
Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review (vol. 52, no. 4)
Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review (vol. 52, no. 4)