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Readings and conversation with scholars bell hooks and Bill Turner Sept. 19 at Berea College

9/12/2008
Event celebrates summer 2008 issue of APPALACHIAN HERITAGE quarterly focused on African Americans in Appalachia

Scholars bell hooks and Bill Turner will be the featured authors Friday, Sept.  19 at a celebration of the 2008 issue of Appalachian Heritage quarterly, focused on writing by and about African Americans in Appalachia.

Sponsored by the Berea College Appalachian Center and the Department of English, Theatre and Speech Communication, the event in the Appalachian Center Gallery will begin at 7:30 with refreshments, followed by readings and conversation at 8 p.m.  Admission is free and all are welcome.

hooks and Turner are among many African American writers and photographers to have their work published in the Summer 2008 issue. They will read from their own works and engage in a conversation about African American scholarship and presence in the region.  Turner also took, or contributed from his collection, many of the photographs included in the special issue.

bell hooks, a Kentucky native, is Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College. She is the author of over thirty books, many of which have focused on issues of social class, race, and gender. Her latest book, to be published in November 2008 from Routledge, is titled “Belonging: A Culture of Place.”

Dr. Bill Turner was the first to combine interests in the fields of African-American and Appalachian Studies, having been the first Director of African American Studies at Notre Dame (1969) and publishing a book titled simply Blacks in Appalachia (1985), along with many articles in numerous publications. Dr. Turner was appointed (Visiting) Goode Professor of Black & Appalachian Studies at Berea in 1988 and has been NEH Chair of Appalachian Studies since August 2007.  He has held positions in teaching, research, and administration at several colleges and universities.

APPALACHIAN HERITAGE strives to keep readers abreast of the visual and literary arts of the Southern Appalachian region by presenting a mix of well-established writers and artists as well as fresh new voices.  Founded in 1973, Appalachian Heritage is a program of the Berea College Appalachian Center and has been published since 1985 by Berea College.  Summer 2008 issues, as well as back issues, will be available for sale at the Sept. 19 celebration.  For more information, visit www.berea.edu/appalachianheritage or call (859) 985-3559.
CONTACT:

Deborah Thompson, programming director
Appalachian Center (859) 985-3257