This Appalachian Anthology Is A Testament to Resilience and the Ongoing Danger of Climate Change
In late September, hurricane Helene made landfall and headed north, right into Southern Appalachia. Most residents in my tiny town in the South Carolina upstate lost wifi, power, and cell service. Trees littered the roads and parking lots. Gas stations ran out of gas in a matter of hours. A short distance north of me, floods swept through western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and Western Virginia, causing extensive devastation. Entire towns were wiped off of the map. In the wake of the storm, I turned to Troublesome Rising, a new book that had just hit shelves, and I sought comfort in the work of writers who had experienced the historic flood of 2022.
Troublesome Rising: A Thousand-Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky, edited by Melissa Helton
On July 22nd, 2022, a flood swept through central Appalachia causing devastation in its wake and taking the lives of more than 40 people. At the Hindman Settlement School in eastern Kentucky, they were just wrapping up their yearly Appalachian Writers’ Workshop when the flood roared through campus. Staff members were in their office when the flood hit, the water rising above their waists. Others lost cars to the rising flood waters, and some were injured in their efforts to get to high ground.
After the water receded and the clean-up began, many writers began to process what they experienced through writing, while others couldn’t write at all. Melissa Helton, the literary arts director at Hindman, began thinking of a project that might bring all of these writers together, and it wasn’t long before this anthology began to take shape.
And what a star-studded list of contributors. Poets like Bernard Clay, Doug VanGundy, Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour, and former Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker capture the deep impact of the flood’s destruction. I found myself lingering over prose pieces from Leah Hampton, Neema Avashia, Silas House, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, and Carter Sickels. Every piece spoke to something unique, and each helped give readers the larger picture of the devastation caused by the flood.
Troublesome Rising is an anthology to be savored, lingered over as you take in every word. It’s a testament to Appalachian resilience in the face of the ongoing danger of climate change. It’s a love letter to a community of people determined to help one another and who decided from day one to roll up their sleeves and rebuild.
That’s it for this week! You can find me over on my substack Winchester Ave, over on Instagram @kdwinchester, or on my podcast Read Appalachia. As always, feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com. For even MORE bookish content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot.
