Whimsical folklore gets its due

Storyteller Gary Carden and illustrator Mandy Newham-Cobb have collaborated to bring Appalachia’s imaginary beasts to life in a humorous and creative book published this fall. 

“When I sent the book out the first time, a publisher promptly returned it with the comment, ‘You’ve got to be kidding’,” Carden said. “Eventually, I put in on the shelf. A year ago, I had a feeling that the world had changed and that I should try again.”

{module Share this!|none}Carden worked with the print shop at Western Carolina University—the university awarded Carden, an alumnus, with an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2008. Carden has been an advocate, promoter and presenter of traditional Southern Appalachian culture for more than 40 years through his critically acclaimed written and spoken performances. His body of work includes Mason Jars in the Flood and Other Stories, which won the 2001 Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year award.

“Gary’s text and my illustrations met before we did,” Newham-Cobb said. 

The two connected with one another through Smoky Mountain Living when Newham-Cobb illustrated a piece for one of Carden’s articles. They began corresponding online, and Carden shared his Bestiary with Newham-Cobb and asked if she’d have an interest in illustrating the work. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the manuscript and said, ‘absolutely’,” Newham-Cobb said.

The book may not be as traditionally useful as the encyclopedia or dictionary, but it has its own purposes.

“Maybe this is one of those books where you can look for your ‘totem animal’,” Carden said. “Pick one, say, like ‘Puke Buzzard’ and have it reproduced on a tee-shirt, complete with the definition of what a ‘Puke Buzzard’ is…. and does. Much of it is a projection of the whimsical theme in Appalachian folklore.”

Carden’s introduction chronicles the existence of imagined creatures throughout history.

“Wondrous monsters that are the imaginative embodiment of disparate parts and talents,” he writes. “There are fish with golden eyes that prophesy, men with the bodies of horses that instruct young heroes, and birds that pursue and punish the guilty. Such beings are undoubtedly immortal, for they are still with us, passing from Parnassus to Appalachia; from the forests of Germany to the Ozark hills.”

Though imaginary, these creatures have a history. 

“It was fascinating following the folk-evolution and variations of the beasts and seeing how the descriptions and accounts of these creatures have morphed over time and place, so one of the challenges was to try to depict the best amalgam of each creature,” Newham-Cobb said.

Carden and Newham-Cobb worked together in a very modern way—emailing one another back and forth from North Carolina to Pennsylvania.

“Gary’s a great writer so even his emails are fun to read and creatively crafted,” Newham-Cobb said. “I think we benefited from very complimentary working hours. I wake up, meditate, eat, then start drawing in the early morning hours. Gary is much more of a night owl. He’d email along feedback that I would read and respond to early the next morning.”

The result is a work for those able to see the world as a place of wonder.

“The Appalachian Bestiary can be used as a field guide of the silly and the strange and quite possibly could save your life,” Newham-Cobb said. “Should you happen across a massive nest of mystifying square eggs you might want to be on the lookout for the giant Galoopus eyeing you from above.”

The Appalachian Bestiary is available for purchase at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva—citylightsnc.com, 828.586.9499.