COME IN AND STAY AWHILE

Stories

Virginia poet Sharon Ackerman's Appalachian verses capture Carolina wrens, bloodwort meadows, and climate change in evocative poetry that bridges generations and landscapes.

The Berry Behind the Brambles

Ackerman’s verses—rich in the landscapes of the Blue Ridge—bridge our generations, from a rickety shelf stacked with jelly jars to climate-anxious meadows.

The Hero in the Motel Lounge

Meet Robert Lee Coleman, a son of Macon, Georgia, and a pioneer of Southern soul and funk music, who vows never to put down his guitar.

The One Who Walked Away From Elkins

How an Appalachian disowned by his family reckons with loss and belonging

No Son of Mine…

Too many Southern children lose their homes because their parents can’t abide their sexual orientation or gender. This week, we get an inside look.

We’re Just Here

Two poems steeped in prismatic New Orleans imagery, creeping up from memories of a complex past.

Little Boys Hiding in Closets

An excerpt from “No Son of Mine,” author Jonathan Corcoran’s memoir of growing up gay—and disowned—in Appalachia

Lover

Love is one form of salvation. Louisville’s unsung master of the short narrative poem guides us through a scene showing just that.

What a Lovely Weekend

That’s not a statement about the current weather, because it’s gray where we are. It’s about a weekend of love (and, naturally, football).

Chippendales, Winnie the Pooh, and Mississippi Corduroy

What he learned as a child in Mississippi left him unable to come out to his family—or even to himself—until he was thirty-one years old.

Preservation

Old ways of preserving food run deep in the culture of Appalachia. It turns out that preserving life requires the same principles.

Every Story Is a Confession

Is renewing an old friendship always the right thing to do? Maybe not.

Myrtle’s Malapropisms

A writer remembers pickling beans with her grandmother, “the Appalachian Gothic version of Yogi Berra.”

Sacred Bones

“Hold tight to history,” Appalachian poet E.J. Wade writes, so we might be awakened.