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The documentary follows the history of Portsmouth during its big industry boom in the first half of
In the present day, with its many addiction recovery programs, Portsmouth is now a beacon of hope
This is the story of my town, and that night, Portsmouth residents saw themselves and their communities
No singular voice could have told Portsmouth’s complex history, to truly show the bigger picture that
It’s a diverse region with over 25 million residents, not including the members of the extensive diaspora (
But when I mention where I’m from, I receive a wide array of facial expressions from
At dinners, parties, or holidays, I gird my loins for questions about this book
I don’t have the answer, and with election day for Vance’s senate race in Ohio
Turner and Elizabeth Catte to poets laureate Crystal Wilkinson (Kentucky) and Kari Gunter-Seymour (Ohio), Appalachian writers have
Not to mention that some people don’t even know that incredibly famous authors like bell hooks
But even without big names or extensive coverage in the press, Appalachian authors are writing about life
And just this year, Neema Avashia’s Another Appalachia, a memoir about her life growing up as
So regardless of how a person views Vance’s memoir, it shouldn’t be held to such
People from Appalachia don’t need help explaining who we are
We’ve been telling the wider world about the many different Appalachian cultures in these mountains for
That night in Portsmouth when the lights went up and director Amanda Page came on stage to
So many people came together to work on this documentary and show the community’s struggles and
It was a celebration of Portsmouth that I didn’t realize I desperately needed
I want the region, and its incredible literature, to be understood and appreciated for all of its
For more Appalachian literature, check out 15 Books About Appalachia to Read Instead of Hillbilly Elegy and then 15