Celebrating Heritage, Changing Lives
We are improving lives by addressing critical issues surrounding literacy, food insecurity, and access to traditional arts.
MEETING THE CHANGING NEEDS OF Central Appalachia
Literary & arts magazine
The WINTER 2024 issue of untelling includes work from 27 poets, 9 prose writers, and 18 artists from Appalachia and beyond!
Who We Are
Honoring the past, improving the present, and planning for the future of central Appalachia.
Since our founding in 1902, Hindman Settlement School has evolved to meet the changing needs of the region. The Settlement’s work today includes education and service programs that address the critical needs of youth and families while promoting the rich traditional arts of Appalachia.
Stay Informed!
Subscribe to our monthly eNewsletter for the latest news from the Settlement.
Get Social with Hindman
You can still subscribe (or order single issues) and receive our Winter 20204 Issue of Untelling, the Settlement’s literary and arts magazine! In this issue is a prose piece, The Gas Station., from Willie Carver Jr.
Willie Carver Jr. is a minoritized youth advocate and KY Teacher of the Year. His Gay Poems for Red States is a Stonewall, Whippoorwill, American Library Association, Read Appalachia, and Book Riot award recipient. His novel, Tore All to Pieces, arrives in 2026. He writes from Appalachia and believes everyone’s story matters.
Read this work (and others) at bit.ly/3Wc8aYZ!
Thank y'all for sharing this! I can't wait to get my copy! 💙💙💙💙
We are happy to announce the winners of our second annual Oak Ledge Residency contest! Winners have each won a week stay to work on a writing project in the Oak Ledge cottage on campus (built in 1924 by Lucy Furman and commonly referred to as Mr. Still’s house). Our winners this year are Ashley Bunton, Sarah Ratcliffe, and Alicia Wright.
Ashley Bunton is an award-winning journalist and writer currently based in Appalachia. Her work has been published by numerous outlets and nationally recognized in research and development with a focus on community resiliency, including environment and culture. A former Horace Mann Fellow at Antioch College, she regularly contributes to storytelling and news projects nationwide and her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Samantha Ratcliffe is an MFA candidate and graduate instructor at the University of Kentucky. Her work has been featured in Untelling, Pegasus, Yearling, and Discarded: A Rural Anthology. She is the recipient of the 2025 King Library Press Broadside contest. She is an editorial intern with the University Press of Kentucky, an editor with the New Limestone Review, and Broadstone Books. She works to build community through her writing workshop, Hill Writers Collective. Find out more about her songwriting and poetry by visiting SamanthaRatcliffe.com or @SamanthaRatcliffePoetry on Instagram.
Alicia Wright was born and raised in Appalachia. She holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University, where she worked for Mid-American Review. Her work has appeared in Thimble, Eunoia Review, The Crawfish, Kestrel, and elsewhere. She currently lives and writes in the Mid-Ohio Valley region of West Virginia.
Congratulations!
Congrats to you both! So proud of you Samantha Renee Ratcliffe!!!
Congratulations to all! Best news!!!
Congratulations to all! So excited for you Ashley Bunton! 🤩
Congratulations!
Yaaaaay!!!! Congrats!
Congrats friend!
Yes!!!🔥🔥
We’re hiring a Community Agriculture Education AmeriCorps Member! If you have a passion for local foods and making agriculture accessible to children and families, we’d love to talk to you!
Learn more and apply by January 28 at www.hindman.org/careers!
Returning this summer to the Workshop to lead two afternoon sessions on
"The Right to a Voice" and "Welcome to Picture Books" is former Kentucky Poet Laureate George Ella Lyon.
Lyon, a former Kentucky Poet Laureate, is the award-winning author of more than fifty books for children and adults. Among her poetry collections are Back to the Light, Voices of Justice, Many-Storied House, She Let Herself Go, Voices from the March on Washington (Cybils Award for Poetry), and Catalpa (Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year). Her poem “Where I’m From” is featured in the PBS series The United States of Poetry and has become a model for teachers around the world. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
Submit your application by March 1st at Hindman.org/workshop!
#AppalachianWritersWorkshop #AWW25 #HindmanSettlementSchool
Hindman Settlement School will be closed Monday, January 20 in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
We look forward to serving you again when we re-open on Tuesday, January 21.
It’s a great day in America!
Robert Gipe makes his return to Hindman this summer to lead one of our two novel sections.
Gipe won the 2015 Weatherford Award for outstanding Appalachian novel for his first novel Trampoline. His second novel, Weedeater, was published in 2018. His third novel, Pop, was published in 2021. All three novels are published by Ohio University Press. In 2021, the trilogy won the Judy Gaines Young Book Award. From 1997 to 2018, Gipe directed the Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College Appalachian Program in Harlan. Gipe is founding producer of the Higher Ground community performance series, and has served as a script consultant for the Hulu series Dopesick and a producer on the feature film The Evening Hour. Gipe resides in Harlan County, Kentucky. He grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee.
The application period for the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop 2025 is now through March 1st. Be sure to apply at Hindman.org/workshop!
#AppalachianWritersWorkshop #AWW25 #HindmanSettlementSchool
Do you want to join a nationwide community of writers for an epic creative challenge for 2025? The Stafford Challenge sets a goal to write a poem a day for a year, and it starts this Friday, January 17. Sign up through the Stafford Challenge website, and sign up through us for bonus monthly emails, zoom gatherings, and more.
Sign up at bit.ly/4akQgcp and bit.ly/40iW4yp!
Applications are now being accepted through March 1 for the 48th annual Appalachian Writers’ Workshop!
Make plans to join us July 20-25, 2025 at the forks of Troublesome Creek for the Mountain South’s premier literary gathering. This week-long residency welcomes published and unpublished writers alike, all learning alongside one another in a supportive environment guided by the region’s unique tradition.
Learn more, explore scholarship opportunities, and apply today at bit.ly/4bcQX7x!
Winter Burrow is our literary and arts conference happening December 13-15. Along with sessions led by our keynote speaker, featured artist, and featured writer, this Winter Burrow schedule will be filled with engaging discussions, performances, and workshops.
Like in one of Saturday’s concurrent sessions: Mandi Fugate Sheffel will read from her forthcoming book, The Nature of Pain, a memoir about addiction, loss, and recovery. And Trent Guillory will perform Topographic Alteration, a reading of his poetry that explores his experiences moving from Louisiana into Appalachia.
To view the entire Winter Burrow schedule and register, click: bit.ly/3rUElAi
