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Feb 28

Love’em or Hate’em: Shelby Lee Adams’ Exhibit Heads to Louisville, Chicago

Matt Frassica of The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) published a preview today of  Appalachian photographer Shelby Lee Adams’ three-month exhibit at the Paul Paletti Gallery in Louisville, showing from March 1-May 31, and from May through June in Chicago. The prominent photographer is best known for his black and white environmental portraits of multi-generational Appalachian families living in isolated, rural areas. Described by some as documentary and others as Gothic and exploitative, most viewers and critics agree Adams’ body of work is compelling. Read more

Feb 27

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Chatting with Scholar, Author Emily Satterwhite

By Niki King

We here at The HillVille can’t get enough of Emily Satterwhite’s thought-provoking book Dear Appalachia: Readers, Identity, and Popular Fiction since 1878, in which she examines how readers receive best-selling Appalachian fiction. We recently caught up with Satterwhite for a quick, follow-up conversation about the new release.  Read our review of the book here.

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Feb 16

Follow-up: “I Love Mountains Day” News Round Up

By Beth Newberry

Photo contributed by DL Duncan

Tuesday, Feb. 14, marked the annual I Love Mountains Day lobbying event, march and rally at the Kentucky State Capitol. Sponsored by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, a state-wide citizens’ group focused on social change, the event drew between 1,000 and 1,300 attendees from within the state and from citizen and environmental groups in neighboring states. Read more

Feb 16

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Making Mountain Music: Sam Shinault is Back Home Proud

Welcome to another installment of our “Back Home Proud” series, a re-occurring feature in which Apps and Ex-Apps tell us, in their own words, what their Appalachian identity means to them. Today we hear from Sam Shinault, a photographer, guitarist and mandolin player for the Two Dollar Bill Band, an old-time, bluegrass and newgrass band in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.     Read more

Feb 13

Who Doesn’t Love Mountains? (I Love Mountains Day Preview)

By Beth Newberry

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 14, is “I Love Mountains Day,” at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., a community organizing event and lobbying day sponsored by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC). KFTC is a statewide citizens’ group working for social change on a grassroots level. Read more

Feb 6

Kudzu Forever: Photographer captures beauty and malice of ‘Mile-a-Minute’ Vine

By Beth Newberry

The beauty and strength of kudzu was not lost on me when I first moved to Harlan Co., Ky. as a child. At the bottom of the mountain where we lived was a no-name convenience store. From its parking lot, I could toss my head back and see the skyscraper-high trees covered with long braids of Kudzu. Read more

Feb 6

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Dear Appalachia: New Book Explores Readers’ Reception of Appalachian Literature

By Niki King

Where do Appalachian stereotypes come from? It’s a question that gives rise to seemingly easy, immediate answers—movies, television shows and news media. Read more