Convener

Silas House will be convening this session of three of his best students, all Appalachian Studies minors at Berea College

Manganese-Iron Phosphate Nodules at the Groken Site, Gale Crater, Mars

The MSL Curiosity rover investigated dark, Mn-P-enriched nodules in shallow lacustrine/fluvial sediments at the Groken site in Glen Torridon, Gale Crater, Mars. Applying all relevant information from the rover, the nodules are interpreted as pseudomorphs after original crystals of vivianite, (Fe2+,Mn2+)3(PO4)2·8H2O, that cemented the sediment soon after deposition. The nodules appear to have flat faces and linear boundaries and stand above the surrounding siltstone. ChemCam LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectrometry) shows that the nodules have MnO abundances approximately twenty times those of the surrounding siltstone matrix, contain little CaO, and have SiO2 and Al2O3 abundances similar to those of the siltstone. A deconvolution of APXS analyses of nodule-bearing targets, interpreted here as representing the nodules’ non-silicate components, shows high concentrations of MnO, P2O5, and FeO and a molar ratio P/Mn = 2. Visible to near-infrared reflectance of the nodules (by ChemCam passive and Mastcam multispectral) is dark and relatively flat, consistent with a mixture of host siltstone, hematite, and a dark spectrally bland material (like pyrolusite, MnO2). A drill sample at the site is shown to contain minimal nodule material, implying that analyses by the CheMin and SAM instruments do not constrain the nodules’ mineralogy or composition. The fact that the nodules contain P and Mn in a small molar integer ratio, P/Mn = 2, suggests that the nodules contained a stoichiometric Mn-phosphate mineral, in which Fe did (i.e., could) not substitute for Mn. The most likely such minerals are laueite and strunzite, (Fe2+,Mn2+)3(PO4)2·8H2O and –6H2O, respectively, which occur on Earth as alteration products of other Mn-bearing phosphates including vivianite. Vivianite is a common primary and diagenetic precipitate from low-oxygen, P-enriched waters. Calculated phase equilibria show Mn-bearing vivianite could be replaced by laueite or strunzite and then by hematite plus pyrolusite as the system became more oxidizing and acidic. These data suggest that the nodules originated as vivianite, forming as euhedral crystals in the sediment, enclosing sediment grains as they grew. After formation, the nodules were oxidized—first to laueite/strunzite yielding the diagnostic P/Mn ratio, and then to hematite plus an undefined Mn oxy-hydroxide (like pyrolusite). The limited occurrence of these Mn-Fe-P nodules, both in space and time (i.e., stratigraphic position), suggests a local control on their origin. By terrestrial analogies, it is possible that the nodules precipitated near a spring or seep of Mn-rich water, generated during alteration of olivine in the underlying sediments

Convenor

Convening the session. I will introduce each panelist and then moderate the Q&A after their presentations

A Little Fire in Me: Southernmost by Silas House

In this session I will read selections from my latest novel, SOUTHERNMOST, and discuss LGBTQ issues in contemporary Appalachia, particularly how Appalachia is a microcosm for the rest of the nation on this issue, how we are further along than many want to give us credit for, and how we have much further to go in making sure everyone is treated equally. The session will also explore other LGBTQ writing in the region as well as music that was an inspiration for my novel exploring this theme

Keynote Address: Our Secret Places in the Waiting World: Becoming a New Appalachia

Silas House is the nationally bestselling author of five novels, three plays, and a work of creative nonfiction. His writing has been published multiple times in the New York Times as well as in publications such as Newsday, Narrative, Oxford American, Paste, and many others. He is the winner of the Storylines Prize from the New York Public Library, the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Appalachian Writer of the Year, the Kentucky Novel of the Year (twice), the Audie, the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature, the Award for Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the Parents Choice Award, and many other honors. He is a former commentator for NPR\u27s All Things Considered . House is also an in-demand writer for the country music industry, having worked with artists such as Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Tim O\u27Brien, Nickel Creek, and many others. For his social justice work he has been awarded the Helen Lewis Award for Community Service and the Intellectual Freedom Prize from the National Council of English Teachers. House is the founder of the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival at LMU and has been on the staff of the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School for the last 12 years. House is a native of Eastern Kentucky and now lives in Berea, Kentucky where he serves as the NEH Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College. He also serves on the fiction faculty of the MFA in Creative Writing at Spalding University. He has just completed his sixth novel

Same Sun Here

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/evethur_awards/1002/thumbnail.jp

Chinaberry

Celebrated as the “Dean of Appalachian Literature,” James Still has won the appreciation of audiences in Appalachia and beyond for more than seventy years. The author of the classics River of Earth (1940) and The Wolfpen Poems (1986), Still is known for his careful prose construction and for the poetry of his meticulous, rhythmic style. Upon his death, however, one manuscript remained unpublished. Still’s friends, family, and fellow writer Silas House will now deliver this story to readers, having assembled and refined the manuscript to prepare it for publication. Chinaberry, named for the ranch that serves as the centerpiece of the story, is Still’s last and perhaps greatest contribution to American literature. Chinaberry follows the adventures of a young boy as he travels to Texas from Alabama in search of work on a cotton farm. Upon arriving, he discovers the ranch of Anson and Lurie Winters, a young couple whose lives are defined by hard work, family, and a tragedy that haunts their past. Still’s entrancing narrative centers on the boy’s experience at the ranch under Anson’s watchful eye and Lurie’s doting care, highlighting the importance of home, whether it is defined by people or a place. In this celebration of the art of storytelling, Still captures a time and place that are gone forever and introduces the reader to an unforgettable cast of characters, illustrating the impact that one person can have on another. A combination of memoir and imagination, truth and fiction, Chinaberry is a work of art that leaves the reader in awe of Still’s mastery of language and thankful for the lifetime of wisdom that manifests itself in his work. James Still (1906–2001) was the author of several works of fiction and poetry, including River of Earth, The Wolfpen Poems, and From the Mountain, From the Valley. Silas House is the bestselling author of Clay’s Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, The Coal Tattoo, Eli the Good, and Something’s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal. House is NEH Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College. “Chinaberry is the capstone of James Still’s extraordinary career. It is brilliant—dark and hilarious by turns, beautiful and chilling, perhaps the most original coming of age story ever written, with a mystery lodged right in the heart of it.”—Lee Smith, author of Saving Grace “Superbly edited by Silas House, Chinaberry is further confirmation that James Still is not only a great Appalachian writer but a great American writer.”—Ron Rash, author of One Foot in Eden To some it may seem the recent surge of fiction and poetry in and about the Southern Appalachians is a phenomenon appearing from a vacuum. But as any reader of James Still’s writing knows, there is a long and distinguished foreground to this contemporary revival. James Still was a consummate artist of poetry, short fiction, and the novel. His fans will be excited to have this new work, Chinaberry, expertly introduced and edited by Silas House. New readers will be thrilled to discover the range and depth of this classic master. —Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek Chinaberry, named for the ranch that serves as the centerpiece of the story, is Still\u27s last and perhaps greatest contribution to American literature. A combination of memoir and imagination, truth and fiction, Chinaberry is a work of art that leaves the reader in awe of Still\u27s mastery of language and thankful for the lifetime of wisdom that manifests itself in his work. —Lee Smith, Mountain Echo James Still is a master . . . one who in execution is virtually flawless, in touch and ear so nearly perfect that the difference does not matter. --Wendell Berry There are small nostalgic pleasures to be found in reading this simple story of America. --Publishers Weekly -- Publishers Weekly Chinaberry is a masterfully written story about the complexities of love, relationship, childhood, and memory. --Lexington Herald-Leader -- Tom Eblen Fact or fiction--or a combination of the two--Still\u27s final work speaks of a way of life since passed, and does so in a language and style that captures a reader with its rhythm and clarity. --Chevy Chaser Still tells of birth, death, and courtship--tenderness, discovery, and love with its holding on as well as letting go. . . . The genius of the writing serves up darkness and humor, the savory and the sweet--as satisfying and full of goodness as \u27Sunday dinners back home.\u27\u27\u27--Louisville Courier-Journal Make room in your library; the \u27Dean of Appalachian Literature\u27 has returned. . . . Through recollection and creativity, Kentucky\u27s raconteur weaves a yarn about a place he once knew and loved, so universally poignant that it could be everyone\u27s story. --Kentucky Monthly Chinaberry will hopefully be perceived as a perfectly pitched ending notes in a life-spanning overture, if not as a haunting requiem for the man who cared to write it. --Anniston Star It\u27s a singular book. House says it\u27s Still\u27s greatest work. He may be right. --Atlanta Journal-Constitution Beautiful. . . . Chinaberry does justice to Still\u27s literary legacy--and to House\u27s. A decade after his death, one of the most important Kentucky writers of the twentieth century has capped, well into the twenty-first, a remarkable career with a moving, gorgeously written work of art. --Chapter 16 Offers us an opportunity to reconsider and retrieve the mostly forgotten work of one of our century\u27s greatest stylists. . . . Fact, fiction, or a blend of both, the story stands on its own considerable merits as a deftly told tale of obsession and loss. --Oxford American Nobody has come up with a definitive explanation that nails down the common qualities of Appalachian Literature, but few would argue that the late James Still is one of its icons. --Knoxville News-Sentinel There\u27s a lot to like about this book. Still\u27s fans will want to have it because it is his last work. Those who appreciate the history of literature will be able to ponder the many unanswered questions that remain about the author and this manuscript. Then of course, there is Still\u27s writing, and this book may contain some of his very finest. --Modern Mountain Magazine A moving story. . . . Chinaberry, the name of the ranch and of the novel, also represents the magical environment of one\u27s coming of age. --Ashville Citizen Times “Chinaberry, a novel, might be Still’s best writing yet.” --Cincinnati Magazine Chinaberry\u27s greatest merit is James Still\u27s ability to capture the essence of a world that no longer exists . . . I responded to this little novel as a kind of fantasy \u27with ticks and chiggers.\u27 -- Smoky Mountain News In this tale of a young boy who travels from Alabama to Texas to work on a cotton farm, Still artfully addresses the meaning of family and the impact that one person can have in the lives of others. -- Paintsville Herald The memory of an Appalachian who can never completely let go of his Alabama home. --Now and Then Chinaberry preserves a time and place of vast cotton fields, free range cattle on huge ranches, and a different kind of life in which the characters and relationships make one wish for more. Highly recommended. -- Frances M. Ramsey -- Frances M. Ramsey [. . .] Still’s readers will appreciate and perhaps even treasure [this book]. -- West Virginia Historyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_literature/1015/thumbnail.jp

Something\u27s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal

Like an old-fashioned hymn sung in rounds, Something’s Rising gives a stirring voice to the lives, culture, and determination of the people fighting the destructive practice of mountaintop removal in the coalfields of central Appalachia. Each person’s story, unique and unfiltered, articulates the hardship of living in these majestic mountains amid the daily desecration of the land by the coal industry because of America’s insistence on cheap energy. Developed as an alternative to strip mining, mountaintop removal mining consists of blasting away the tops of mountains, dumping waste into the valleys, and retrieving the exposed coal. This process buries streams, pollutes wells and waterways, and alters fragile ecologies in the region. The people who live, work, and raise families in central Appalachia face not only the physical destruction of their land but also the loss of their culture and health in a society dominated by the consequences of mountaintop removal. Included here are oral histories from Jean Ritchie, “the mother of folk,” who doesn’t let her eighty-six years slow down her fighting spirit; Judy Bonds, a tough-talking coal-miner’s daughter; Kathy Mattea, the beloved country singer who believes cooperation is the key to winning the battle; Jack Spadaro, the heroic whistle-blower who has risked everything to share his insider knowledge of federal mining agencies; Larry Bush, who doesn’t back down even when speeding coal trucks are used to intimidate him; Denise Giardina, a celebrated writer who ran for governor to bring attention to the issue; and many more. The book features both well-known activists and people rarely in the media. Each oral history is prefaced with a biographical essay that vividly establishes the interview settings and the subjects’ connections to their region. Written and edited by native sons of the mountains, this compelling book captures a fever-pitch moment in the movement against mountaintop removal. Silas House and Jason Howard are experts on the history of resistance in Appalachia, the legacy of exploitation of the region’s natural resources, and area’s unique culture and landscape. This lyrical and informative text provides a critical perspective on a powerful industry. The cumulative effect of these stories is stunning and powerful. Something’s Rising will long stand as a testament to the social and ecological consequences of energy at any cost and will be especially welcomed by readers of Appalachian studies, environmental science, and by all who value the mountain’s majesty—our national heritage. Silas House is a bestselling novelist of Clay’s Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, and The Coal Tattoo, whose nonfiction has been published in Newsday, Sierra, The Oxford American, No Depression, and elsewhere. In 2008 he won the Helen Lewis Award for Community Service for his efforts in the fight against mountaintop removal. Jason Howard is the editor of We All Live Downstream and has written for such publications as Equal Justice Magazine, Paste, Kentucky Living, The Louisville Review, and many others. He is a graduate of the George Washington University and lives in Eastern Kentucky, where he was born and raised. Something’s Rising will be an important tool in the fight against mountaintop removal as well as important documentation of the ravages caused by the practice. -- Melissa Walker, author of Southern Farmers and Their Stories: Memory and Meaning in Oral History This revelatory work is a challenging tocsin shouting out the effects of poverty and exploitations of the Appalachian people by strip miners and other corporate pirates. I am reminded of the fighting spirit of the Eastern Kentuckians when I visited these embattled pioneers in their hills and hollers. Here, Jean Ritchie and others speak out in the fighting tradition of the 1930s and 1960s. It is oral history at its best. -- Studs Terkel Not only will these stories resonate among Appalachians, they will also help non-Appalachians to identify with the plight of the region and to understand that national energy policy has severe human as well as economic and environmental consequences. -- Ronald D. Eller, author of Uneven Ground: Appalachia since 1945 Something\u27s Rising will be an inspiration for younger activists and should galvanize people to defend our mountains. The book provides a complete primer on mountaintop removal, then goes beyond that: it thoroughly humanizes an environmental catastrophe. Something’s Rising is a one-of-a-kind book that will make an invaluable contribution to the literature of Appalachia. -- Ann Pancake, author of Strange As This Weather Has Been Silas House and Jason Howard know how to write, but more importantly, they know how to listen. They both come from coal mining families, and their book is filled with the powerful, passionate, and authentic voices of men and women who share their heritage, and their outrage. My hope is that others will listen to these voices as well. -- Steven V. Roberts, author of My Fathers\u27 Houses: Memoir of a Family and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller, From This Day Forward Something’s Rising is the testimony of two sons of the Kentucky coal country, novelist Silas House and activist Jason Howard, who have placed themselves at the center of a grassroots movement to fight mountaintop removal and the hegemony of the coal barons. Their own stories, their eloquent argument and the formidable array of witnesses they assemble---writers, musicians, community organizers and backroads sages with long memories---will kindle hope in the breast of the most exhausted cynic. -- Hal Crowther, author of Gather at the River and Cathedrals of Kudzu All 12 eco-heroes are mesmerizing, informative, and motivating as they articulate their moral and spiritual convictions, love for the land, and pride in Appalachian culture, while calling for responsible mining and respect and protection for all of life. -- Booklist These oral histories will give readers a sense of what’s at stake on a personal level. . . . This important collection illuminates the ongoing betrayal of the American mining town. -- Publisher\u27s Weekly This book takes you into the hearts and minds of some of Appalachia’s most committed citizens and helps you understand their moral outrage at the destruction of their homeland. -- Charleston Gazette In this volume, the authors give voice to the people trying to save their mining towns. The people of Appalachia affected by the destruction of their region have begun to rise against the coal companies. -- Southern Living The tales are told with the passion and determination typical of the hearty people of the mountains and contributors’ stories remind audiences sometimes living in excess has more than just a monetary cost. -- Cleveland Daily Banner The voices rising in this fine and essential collection gathered by novelists Silas House and Jason Howard each sings their own song of the people and land protesting the violence being done to it by energy companies and their practice of mountaintop removal...strip mining with a vengeance. Each of their voices and stories is well worth the listening and ultimately inspiring. The book’s mission is clearly to move the public to action, to create a public outcry by building a concrete awareness. It is a long overdue and healthy gathering shared here. -- Larry R. Smith -- Red Room Blog A non-fiction condemnation of the controversial style of coal mining practiced in Eastern Kentucky and elsewhere. -- Lexington Herald-Leader Something’s Rising presents a series of poignant testimonies from 12 diverse people whose lives have been touched by mountaintop-removal mining. The citizens in the collection hail from Appalachia, providing inside perspectives on the events taking place. -- Middlesboro Daily News In Something’s Rising, we read about children playing on creek bottoms coated with carcinogens and in streams full of dead fish. But we also hear about ordinary Appalachian people overcoming fear and fatalism to stand up for their homes and for God’s creation. -- Sojourners Something’s Rising will raise your consciousness as you hear the voices of the mountaineers rise from a murmur to a wail. -- Louisville Courier-Journal A humble call to those who believe that man is capable of all things, stating that the beginning of wisdom is a respect for creation, the rightness of place, and the order of being. -- Washington Times Mr. House and Mr. Howard strike at [mountaintop removal] with cool, measured fury. -- Washington Times Takes you into the hearts and minds of some of Appalachia’s most committed citizens and helps you understand their moral outrage at the destruction of their homeland. -- PopMatters A window into traditional Appalachian values and culture, and their attachment to a beautiful and rugged landscape that is quickly disappearing beneath coal-company bulldozers. -- PopMatters Gives a stirring voice to the lives, culture, and determination of the people fighting the destructive practice of mountaintop removal. -- Joseph Beth Booksellers A landmark of oral history. -- Louisville Courier-Journal Readers clearly hear the voices of 12 Appalachians fighting for their heritage and homes against the coal industry. -- Louisville Courier-Journal Stories of real people facing real adversity in Appalachia as it is being flattened by mountaintop removal mining. -- Earth Justice in Brief Something’s Rising gives hope that the mountains and streams of Appalachia will survive, if for no other reason than the people who are living there will simply not allow them to be destroyed. -- Earth Justice in Brief This important book paints compelling portraits of eleven courageous people with deep roots in the Appalachian coalfields who are resisting mountaintop removal coal mining. -- Appalachian Heritage Something’s Rising is an excellent and thoroughly insightful account of the confrontation between the resident mountaineer population and a newer destructive industry. -- Choice Something’s Rising presents a series of poignant testimonies, such to touch and inspire readers across the nation…House and Howard have created a compelling and readable narrative. -- Paintsville Herald This book takes you into the hearts and minds of some of Appalachia’s most committed residents and helps the reader understand the moral outrage at the destruction of their homeland. -- Billings Gazette Reading Something’s Rising is a fascinating and mind-opening experience. -- Multicultural Review Something’s Rising strikes a balance between interpretation and interview that allows its narrators to speak of their own communities’ struggles while also providing concrete details of mountain top removal’s general material costs in Appalachia. . . . The interviews bring a tangible humanity to the environmental destruction wrought by mountain top removal. -- Oral History Review Something’s Rising is a welcome addition to the growing canon of MTR literature.... This book can serve as a powerful call-to-arms, affirming those who take a stand against MTR, while encouraging more to speak out against this destructive practice. -- West Virginia History The profiles in this book make for reading that is at the same time disturbing, and oddly leisurely and engaging. They leave you with the sense of having visited and talked with the people portrayed. -- Journal of Appalachian Studies The book blends profiles and interviews of a dozen writers, activists, and singer/song-writers—natives of the region who are working to end this environmentally destructive form of mining. -- Journal of Southern History ...storytelling is clearly oriented as the true north of literary activism...Something\u27s Rising, edited by Silas House and Jason Howard, celebrates the capacity of story to illuminate the ways that individual lives and mountain landscapes are shaped by one another...Howard and House, both Kentucky natives and coal miners\u27 grandsons, have made this provocative testimony possible, suggesting that a new narrative of energy in Appalachia must emerge, one that accurately reflects the values of community, health, and working-class environmentalism...An activist text at home in the discourse and practice of environmental justice. [Something\u27s Rising] belongs in the good company of a movement which aims to illuminate the struggles of poor, minority, and indigenous communities against environmental hazards and seeks to redress the often egregious violations of public health and corresponding environmental degradation. [House and Howard] focus attention on Appalachia\u27s environmental justice movement in undeniable, effective ways. And they fill a gap in several of the leading texts on environmental justice...Seen in the context of social and environmental justice struggles Something\u27s Rising demonstrates not only that \u27Appalachian\u27s were born of social protest, but also that they have something powerful to contribute to national conversations about poverty, public health, the environment, and our shared energy future...[Something\u27s Rising] will surely spur readers to begin asking more questions about mountaintop removal, and that is one of the hallmarks of an activist text. -- Appalachian Journal According to House and Howard, the something that\u27s rising is the voice of the Appalachian people. The voices featured in this book are sometimes lyrical, sometimes gravelly, but always compelling. -- Now & Then House and Howard tell the stories of social protest in Appalachia, expressed by the efforts of twelve courageous and \u27ordinary\u27 citizens fighting to preserve their land against mountaintop removal. -- Denise Scheberle, author of Refusing to Bow to King Coal: Tales of Our Energy Future and Mountaintop Removal in Appalachian Coal Country A collection of testimonies from citizens from Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Virginia, the accounts included serve not only as a cry against mountaintop-removal but also as a reflection of the strong beliefs of the people involved and of aspects of Appalachian life that are slowly disappearing along with the mountaintops. -- The Paintsville Heraldhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_appalachian_studies/1023/thumbnail.jp

Traveling The Dark, Lovely Places: A New Appalachia in Words and Music

Presenters Sam Gleaves, Silas House, and Karen McElmurray look at the ways art can be used to accurately articulate the truths about diversity and unity (or lack of it) in our region by performing selections from their new novels and songs. All three presenters will explore the citizen of New Appalachia as a traveler not only of the global world but also as someone who is constantly trying to strike the balance of what it means to live in and work as an artist of New Appalachia. Through their work they will discuss issues of discrimination and unity, diversity and Otherness, as well as talking about the impact of religion and politics on the region. This session seeks to take a deep look into the complexities of being a citizen of New Appalachia, a region that is changing and varied in its degrees of unity and diversity. All three presenters will end with a conversation between themselves and the audience

Into the Hazel Wood: Being Gay in Appalachia

House will read the New York Times editorial in which he came out and talk about the impact of that on his writing life, in ways that were both freeing and hindering. He will also discuss the way the particular complexities of Appalachian culture held up his own coming out process and the way he continues to see those factors have an impact on the lives of the young people in his life