Appalachia holds a multitude of identities and experiences, and the Women of Appalachia Project's? Women Speak anthology speaks to the complexity of the region. The essays, poems, stories, fine art, and songs collected here bear witness to the lived experiences of Appalachian women while simultaneously speaking against the narratives dictated to us and about us: acts of God, the notion of what makes a good girl, where and how and when we deserve to be visible. Despite the structures designed to silence us, the women in these pages are fierce and unflinching in sharing their stories and their truths. These are our voices, our women. Hear us. - Savannah Sipple, Author of WWJD and Other Poems

Women Speak: Volume 5: Women of Appalachia Project

Literature & Fiction

Gunter-Seymour, Kari

Literary

Mountain State Press, Inc.

Deeply rooted in respect and compassion for Appalachia and its people, these poems are both paeans to and dirges for past and present family, farmlands, factories, and coal. 
Kari Gunter-Seymour’s second full-length collection resounds with candid, lyrical poems about Appalachia’s social and geographical afflictions and affirmations. History, culture, and community shape the physical and personal landscapes of Gunter-Seymour’s native southeastern Ohio soil, scarred by Big Coal and fracking, while food insecurity and Big Pharma leave their marks on the region’s people. A musicality of language swaddles each poem in hope and a determination to endure. Alone in the House of My Heart offers what only art can: a series of thought-provoking images that evoke such a clear sense of place that it’s familiar to anyone, regardless of where they call home.

Alone in the House of My Heart: Poems

Poetry

SWALLOW PRESS+

Twenty-five Appalachian female writers from throughout OH, WV and KY - poets, storytellers and musicians - know very well that it is not nearly enough to make loud denials concerning stereotype. "Women Speak," a product of the Women of Appalachia Project, does the best possible thing one can do with an impression: layer it in language, speak it, put it in a frame behind glass, and generally hang it out there so the sun shines all over it. The results are rowdy, mostly brilliant and a little rough around the edges. It is neither apologist nor placating.

Women Speak: Spoken word selections from throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

"I came to Athens for my undergrad and never left." "I first visited Athens when my high school marching band attended a halftime performance at an O.U. football game." "I live on the Westside, grow herbs and sweet potatoes in patio pots." "I left Athens after my undergrad studies and scratch my head as to why I so often think of my time there, daydream about returning someday. "Sound familiar? Athens, Ohio. Many who come, stay. Those who leave can never quite set aside the pull, the echo that reverberates no matter how far they roam - CASA, the Burrito Buggy, the Bike Path, New-2-You, bricks, church bells at noon, your favorite local or professor. Over one hundred poets, essayists, storytellers, songwriters and fine artists have come together in this very special collection. The work is raw, honest and steeped in all things Athens; from the foothills to the stadium, uptown to throughout the county. Join us as we celebrate all that is the heart and hearth of Athens, Ohio. - Kari Gunter-Seymour, Athens Poet Laureate

Essentially Athens Ohio: A Celebration of Spoken Word and Fine Art

Independently published

In a time of inflated posturing and relentless self-promotion, Kari Gunter-Seymour's poems offer quiet intensity. Her work provides a refuge where one's curiosity, intelligence, and awareness of the complexities of contemporary Appalachian female culture and the struggle to hold on to "old ways" while embracing the new, take shape. The work is firmly and unapologetically attached to the poet's home soil.More than merely commenting, Gunter-Seymour's work searches for meaning. It takes readers outside and indoors, into the world and into bodies and minds, a foray into the tangled bonds of family, weighted with memories. Her work speaks to a knowing that as the threads of our lives unravel, so too, gifts materialize. Here, relationship issues, trauma and disappointment are transformed into a journey of revelation, a testament to the complexity and power of love even as it contends with circumstances beyond its control. Each poem is earthy and rich, filled with imagery, exploring beyond the boundaries of feminism, science, and spirituality. There is specific cultural musicality of language and line, a strong sense of observation, giving readers a renewed sense of understanding and discovery of today's Appalachian woman.

A Place So Deep Inside America It Can't Be Seen: Poems

Sheila-Na-Gig Editions

"We tell our stories through art." This is the watchword of the Women of Appalachia Project, founded ten years ago to "address discrimination directed at women from the Appalachian region by encouraging participation from women artists of diverse backgrounds, ages, and experiences."In this 10th Anniversary edition featuring literary and visual artists associated with WOAP, the stories of women in Appalachia are loud and clear. Here, in this splendid collection, reside the stories, essays, songs, and images that combat the tired stereotypes that continue to plague our region. Here, 90 artists from nine states within the Appalachian region share their traumas, threats, and grief as well as their delights and celebrations. Here, stories of drug addiction sit next to religious ceremonies; destitution keeps company with the unconditional love of family; ecological damage surrenders to manicured backyard gardens, and anarchy and uprising keep house with cultural traditions and rituals. These schisms were well known to the audacious women who helped settle our region. In the pages of this special anniversary collection, women are still battling those contradictions, resisting stereotypes, and forging the way to a more equitable, benevolent, and diverse Appalachia. "We believe that all women are capable, courageous, creative, and inspired." This is another maxim of the Women of Appalachia Project, and this big-hearted collection of words and art proves that motto in action. We are the only ones who can tell our own stories. - Marianne Worthington, co-founder and poetry editor, Still: The Journal

Women Speak, 10th Anniversary Collection (Volume)

"The poems in Kari Gunter-Seymour's Serving are so tender, reading them hurts, but it's a sweet ache, the kind worth enduring. The collection begins with the speaker's memory of her son as a young boy, in 'Oshkosh bibs and tiny / red tennis shoes,' but in the next poem, he is a young adult, deploying with his 'tactical gear' and 'newly shaved head. Why isn't this juxtaposition jarring? Because that fierce, abiding love is a kind of umbilicus between a mother and her child, regardless of age or distance. The poems in Serving are so much about place, about home, whether Appalachia or Kandahar. As Gunter-Seymour shows us, poem after masterful poem, serving is not only about sacrifice, what those in the military do for our country. Serving is also what we do for one another, for the people we call home, no matter where they are." -Maggie Smith, Author of Good Bones (Tupelo Press). "Kari Gunter-Seymour's Serving is a heartbreaking and honest portrayal of the life of a war veteran's mother. Gunter-Seymour juxtaposes the horrors of combat with perfectly rendered images of childhood, domesticity, and home, allowing the reader to experience a perspective we don't often hear about. This collection is eye-opening, unapologetic, unforgettable, and absolutely necessary." -Logen Cure, Juror, 2016 Yellow Chair Review Chapbook Contest and author of Letters to Petrarch (Unicorn Press).

Serving

Crisis Chronicles Press

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