Corey Day
asked
David Joy:
Hey David, I went to your reading for a class at WCU last week, and I ended up really enjoying it. I now have a desire to read some literature from Western NC, but after finishing your book, I won't know where to look next. Could you suggest some author with books set in the area that I should read?
David Joy
If you enjoy that type of darker story I'd suggest reading all of Ron Rash's work, particularly the short story collections (Chemistry, Burning Bright, Nothing Gold Can Stay), though I really like his novels as well, my favorite being The World Made Straight. If that's the type of story you're into, you might want to broaden to the rest of the South and read Larry Brown, William Gay, Barry Hannah, and Harry Crews, who I consider the godfathers of what I'm trying to do, their own writing being rooted in Faulkner and O'Connor and even McCarthy.
If you're wanting to stay within the North Carolina mountains, Charles Frazier and Wayne Caldwell are really great, but if we can open the conversation up to all of Appalachia the list gets really big. I love Silas House, especially his novel A Parchment of Leaves. As far as women, read Lee Smith and Darnell Arnoult and Pamela Duncan and Sharyn McCrumb.
There are a lot of really great young writers too, writers like Mark Powell and Charles Dodd White and Denton Loving and Sheldon Lee Compton. My favorite novel this year has been Robert Gipe's Trampoline, which is set in the Kentucky coal fields. There are just loads and loads of really talented writers in this region.
Also check out some anthologies like Degrees of Elevation, which collects a lot of these writers, with a new installment of that anthology series coming out this summer called Appalachia Now. There are also some really great journals like Still or Drafthorse or Appalachian Heritage that showcase a lot of emerging talent in the region. These journals are online, for the most part, and free to read.
If you're still reading this then that ought to keep your bedside table stacked up for a while. Hope that helps.
If you're wanting to stay within the North Carolina mountains, Charles Frazier and Wayne Caldwell are really great, but if we can open the conversation up to all of Appalachia the list gets really big. I love Silas House, especially his novel A Parchment of Leaves. As far as women, read Lee Smith and Darnell Arnoult and Pamela Duncan and Sharyn McCrumb.
There are a lot of really great young writers too, writers like Mark Powell and Charles Dodd White and Denton Loving and Sheldon Lee Compton. My favorite novel this year has been Robert Gipe's Trampoline, which is set in the Kentucky coal fields. There are just loads and loads of really talented writers in this region.
Also check out some anthologies like Degrees of Elevation, which collects a lot of these writers, with a new installment of that anthology series coming out this summer called Appalachia Now. There are also some really great journals like Still or Drafthorse or Appalachian Heritage that showcase a lot of emerging talent in the region. These journals are online, for the most part, and free to read.
If you're still reading this then that ought to keep your bedside table stacked up for a while. Hope that helps.
More Answered Questions
Barbara
asked
David Joy:
I hope that you can help me?. I received an e-mail telling me that I had won a copy of Where all light Tends to Go. I have been waiting for over a month to receive the book but still nothing. I went to the website to mark it as "no received" but it keeps showing that I received it. I don't know who to e-mail for help. I was so looking forward to reading it. Also looking forward to reading My Sunshine Away.
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