
SCC to Host Arnow Conference on April 11
The 12th annual Harriette Arnow Conference on Appalachian Literature and Culture will
be held on Friday, April 11, 2014 at Somerset Community College. It will begin in
the Harold Rogers Student Commons on the Somerset Campus North, located at 808 Monticello
Street, Somerset, with registration at 8 a.m. The theme of the 2014 conference is
"Talking Appalachian."
The conference schedule is as follows:
8 a.m. - Registration amp; Refreshments
8:45 a.m. - Welcome
9 a.m. - Keynote Address
oAmy Clark, Wise Virginia, author of Talking Appalachian
10 a.m. - Readings by Gwyn Hyman Rubio, author of Icy Sparks and The Woodsmans Daughter
and Christina Lovin, author of What We Burned for Warmth
11 a.m. - Fiction Workshop with Gwyn Hyman Rubio and Poetry Workshop with Christina
Lovin
12 p.m. - Book Signings amp; lunch
12:30 p.m. - Mitch Barrett amp; Kevin Dalton, singer-songwriters
1:45 p.m. - Anne Shelbys one-woman show Aunt Molly Jackson
2:45 p.m. - Songwriting Workshop and Poetry Workshop with Christina Lovin
3 p.m. - Celebrating Harriette Arnow
4 p.m. - Wrap-Up amp; Open Mic (A time for participants to share their work and impressions
of the day)
About the presenters
Amy Clark
Amy Clarks articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times and her writing
has been featured on the NPR program With Good Reasons. She co-edited Talking Appalachian:
Voice, Identity, and Community. A recipient of many awards, Amy is also the founding
director of the Appalachian Writing Project, a non-profit organization that supports
rural teachers in their research, writing, and teaching about writing. She teaches
at The University of Virginia's College at Wise, VA.
Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Gwyn Hyman Rubio grew up in south Georgia in the small town of Cordele, not far from
Plains. Her father was a writer and published the bestseller No Time for Sergeants
in 1954 when he was only 31 years old. It was adapted for stage and a film starring
Andy Griffith. Upon graduating from Florida State University with a B.A. in English,
Gwyn joined the Peace Corps serving in Costa Rica and working as a village preschool
program coordinator and teacher. For many years, Gwyn avoided writing, believing that
her fathers early death from a heart attack was associated with the stress of his
writing career. Oprahs Book Club wrote of its selection of her book Icy Sparks that
the novel is a funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains
of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950's.
Christina Lovin
Christina Lovin is the author of two volumes of poetry, ECHO and A Stirring in the
Dark, and three chapbooks: What We Burned for Warmth, Little Fires, and Flesh (all
published by Finishing Line Press). Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in
over a hundred journals and anthologies in the United States and abroad. Having studied
creative writing at Harvard Universitys summer writing program, she holds an MFA in
Creative Writing from New England College and teaches at Eastern Kentucky University.
Kevin Dalton
Kevin Dalton studied at SCC before getting his B.S. from EKU. From a musical family,
Kevin has played guitar since he was nine, and has distinguished himself as not only
an excellent musician but a songwriter of great range and depth. He and his band Faubush
Hill (named after an area near Mill Springs National Cemetery where Kevin makes his
home) have played at Master Musicians Festival, ROMP in Owensboro, The Listening Room,
and the iconic Tootsies on Broadway in Nashville. Rich with imagery, Kevins songs
exemplify musical storytelling at its finest.
Anne Shelby
Anne Shelby s the author of ten books, including childrens books, plays, social commentary,
and poetry. She is a master storyteller whose opinion pieces have been gathered into
a collection called Can a Democrat Get into Heaven? She has been an activist who has
worked on behalf of responsible environmental regulation, particularly in the area
of water quality and mountain-top removal mining techniques. She has preformed her
one-woman show "The Lone Pilgrim: Songs and Stories of Aunt Molly Jackson" at various
venues and her work, focusing on Kentucky, has been published widely.
Mitch Barrett
Mitch Barrett is a singer songwriter and storyteller who lives in Berea and focuses
his keen storytelling skills on the Appalachian mountains and people he loves. Recognized
twice for his songwriting and performing at the prestigious Merlefest Music Festival,
Mitch was also named a Telluride Troubadour and continually shares the stage with
the likes of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Claire Lynch. He is very active through
the Kentucky Arts Council with workshops in the public schools and is an advocate
against domestic violence, and his music artfully confronts the spiritual and political
issues facing the region, from race to the environment to the dangers of unchecked
consumerism.
The cost for the conference is $10 if registration is received prior to April 1. After
April 1, the cost will be $20. Registration fees includes lunch.
To register, mail check and name, address and email to: Somerset Community College, ATTN: Sherry Crabtree, 808 Monticello Street, Somerset, KY 42501.
For more information about the Harriette Arnow Conference, contact Wanda Fries at wanda.fries@kctcs.edu.