This week I wanted to continue thinking about what it means to be from somewhere and its connection to genetic memory – memories that become coded in our DNA and get passed down through generations over time – in order to think about what it means and can look like to value and preserve ruralContinue reading “Building Our Worlds Again: Part 2”
Category Archives: Rural Identity
Why We Need More Rural Voices In Publishing
I recently finished Monica Roe’s recently published novel AIR. It’s excellent for so many reasons, and I’ll get to that a little bit later in this post, but first I wanted to address the bone I have to pick with Kirkus as a way to illustrate why we need more rural voices across all areas and aspects ofContinue reading “Why We Need More Rural Voices In Publishing”
Building Our Worlds Again: Preserving Rural Stories and Culture
I recently had the immense honor of being a guest teacher in a rural classroom in Arkansas (thanks, Zoom!). And it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. My lesson was a writing workshop on folk writing and how we can use family stories to inform our writing across genres and disciplines. Continue reading “Building Our Worlds Again: Preserving Rural Stories and Culture”
The Whippoorwill Book Award for Rural YA Literature
For those of you following along, you may know that I am ecstatic to have recently become a member of the Whippoorwill Book Award selection committee. When I saw this award come on the scene a few years ago, I was so excited that there was someone out there finding Rural YAL and taking itContinue reading “The Whippoorwill Book Award for Rural YA Literature”
Our First Guest Contribution!
This week’s blog post is a special one: It’s LIP’s first GUEST CONTRIBUTION (!) and it’s from our volunteer-extraordinaire – Anna Grace. In it, she discusses and details her continued efforts to define what it means to be rural. After recalling a story from her high-school days, Anna walks us through her experiences as anContinue reading “Our First Guest Contribution!”
What Is (My) Rural Language Variety?
First, I’ll preface this post with the fact that I am not a trained linguist or sociolinguist. But, I am a speaker of a rural English variety. One that has always been at odds with the Standard Mainstream Upper/Middle-Class English valued in learning spaces. One that I worked hard to unlearn and keep out ofContinue reading “What Is (My) Rural Language Variety?”
Imagining (a) Home
In July, I returned home. For months leading up to that trip, I stared out my kitchen window thinking about it. Because my heart constantly calls for home. Even when doing the dishes. I’ve been thinking a lot about what home is and means and the privilege I have in being able to return toContinue reading “Imagining (a) Home”
“Can I be your friend?”
A City Exchange A while back, my dad visited me in Austin. Because of our love for Texas singer/songwriters and Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues,” the Texas Chili Parlor (and a Mad Dog Margarita) was a necessary excursion. We decided to make the three-block trip on foot in the heat of August. Now, Dad has aContinue reading ““Can I be your friend?””
Out-Migrant
How do you describe someone who has left one kind of population for another when there are no international borders crossed? How do you name and categorize that movement? This question and predicament always reminds me of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. In it Anse Bundren describes knowing that God didn’t intend for men toContinue reading “Out-Migrant”
What is rurality?
I’m obsessed with my work. It’s all my favorite things – research, reading, writing, and place-connected people. Which means that I talk about it…a lot. One of the things that always strikes me is the number of folks who ask me about the definitions of some of the terms that I use. I guess becauseContinue reading “What is rurality?”
Am I Still Rural?
If this is where I’m from…. And this is where I live now… Am I still rural? It’s this question that started this whole project. Spoiler alert – I don’t know the answer. What I do know is that I’m constantly grappling with it. I am uncertain how to define myself. I feel more ruralContinue reading “Am I Still Rural?”