“Like Eating Butterbeans,” by Barbara Presnell
Jul19

“Like Eating Butterbeans,” by Barbara Presnell

Posted on Jul 19, 2013

When I was growing up in North Carolina, summers were hot and busy with work of all kinds. Mid-July meant somebody from a nearby farm would bring us a bushel or more of butterbeans, and we’d shell until our fingers were yellow, filling large pans then putting up pints and quarts for winter. Butterbeans were beautiful to look at, in their waxy light green delicate skins, but when cooked, they were dull, mushy, pulpy things that tasted...

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Kettle Bottom by Diane Gilliam
Jun01

Kettle Bottom by Diane Gilliam

Posted on Jun 1, 2013

Diane Gilliam, AROHO’s 6th Gift of Freedom Award Winner, has been widely recognized for the voice of honesty, beauty, and resilience  that she has given to Appalachian culture and history–among the many other subjects of her writing. Her second book, Kettle Bottom, is a collection of poems written in the voices of people living in the coal camps at the time of the 1920-21 West Virginia Mine Wars. Kettle Bottom has won...

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