Book Reviews+Storytelling
Featured
The importance of working cats
I was cleaning the field for spring planting and discovered I had forgotten to return the crow netting to the shed for the winter. Discovering the rolled-up netting wasn’t a surprise; a lady farmer can’t do everything, you know. Read more
Jan 20, 2024
The Big Sled
On weekday mornings, my mother always had the front room radio tuned to WBRM, our local AM station. When we woke to a deep snowfall, the radio announcer, Sid Carrigan, proclaimed: “Well, kids, you don’t have to go to school today." Read more
Jan 20, 2024
Paper Dolls
The Marion Theatre in McDowell County opened in July 1929, during a time of unrest between cotton mill management and workers. This downtown movie theater must have been impressive and a refuge for the mill families. Read more
Nov 25, 2023
Growing Up a Jane West in a Barbie World
Confession: I may be the only woman on God’s green earth who hasn’t seen the Barbie movie. This is due, in part, because my daughter wouldn’t go with me. For a moment, I felt I had failed as a parent and then I reflected on my childhood. Read more
Nov 25, 2023
Remembering Holidays Past
The holidays conjure an unparalleled sense of nostalgia. The wistful longing and remembrance of the past are magnified even further when you add twinkling lights, delicious food, warm beverages, cozy fires, and time with loved ones. Read more
Nov 25, 2023
Coming Down the Mountain
Sitting in the Innovation Brewing outpost taproom at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, writer David Joy takes a sip of his craft ale and pauses for a moment, slowly scanning the mountains cradling the school. Read more
Oct 1, 2023
The Intimate Process of Harvesting Medicinals
The whine of a lawnmower and the repetitive groan of a tinny engine struggling against thick grass finds my ear. It is always a lawnmower, or a weed eater, or a leaf blower, interrupting my attempt at solitude and on a Sunday no less. Read more
Oct 1, 2023