Late last month we celebrated our 47th annual Appalachian Writers’ Workshop with about 100 faculty, staff, guests, and students coming to campus from across the region and country to learn from celebrated writers and to enjoy being in community with each other. About 1/3 of the attendees were first timers and we were happy to welcome them into the Hindman writing family, and to welcome back those who have previously attended, some of our self-declared “old timers” having participated for decades.
Attendees had poetry, novel, short story, and nonfiction classes, and afternoon sessions were held covering a variety of topics, like songwriting, Appalachian literary history, and a publishing panel. Marianne Worthington was in conversation with Margaret Renkl as the keynote, and many workshop traditions continued, like the participant readings, taking turns on dish crew, and late night visiting and music on the porches.
This year, we had several new endeavors. We included a pre-workshop option of a mini-retreat led by Marianne Worthington where a dozen writers came to campus a day early and had classes and practiced writing several poetic forms. This seemed an engaging addition to our workshop schedule, and we hope to continue it in the future.
Also, three high school students who had attended our Ironwood Writers Studio this June were our first Ironwood interns. They audited classes, attended readings and evening sessions, and got to spend time getting to know some workshop attendees. This is a great opportunity for young writers to begin finding their home in the broader Appalachian writing community.
Another new addition happened during the cherished tradition of the night reading of Jim Wayne Miller’s “The Brier Sermon,” a long poem cautioning us all to be careful that when we leave our home place and home people we don’t lose the good parts of our heritage. Many years ago this tradition was created by workshop attendees, and last year, Robert Gipe added in a poem by Crystal Wilkinson titled “Motherland” which also speaks to honoring heritage. This year, Doug Van Gundy took leadership of the Brier Sermon reading, and in addition to Miller’s poem, he included a reading of Irene McKinney’s poem “Homage to Hazel Dickens.” It will be interesting to see if this new practice of adding in another modern poet’s work speaking on similar themes continues and becomes part of the yearly participant-led tradition.
Also, for the reading, Doug asked Traditional Arts Director Sarah Kate Morgan to lead the group in a square dance formation called “winding up the ball of yarn,” which brings everyone into a twisty spiral shape. This allowed people to be closer together, instead of in a large oval shape, which made it easier for everyone to hear the poem being read. Before leading the group into the formation, Sarah Kate explained that this figure is borrowed directly from indigenous tradition, being how the Cherokee friendship dance ends.
Workshop is definitely the busiest week of the year for us on campus, with much work building up to everyone’s arrival, and plans are already being made for next year’s gathering. It’s always a week to look forward to!
