Ep. 57 | The Appalachian Literary Arts Festival
In a special episode of Read Appalachia, Amy Le Ann Richardson and Andrew Preston give listeners a preview of the Appalachian Literary Arts Festival.
A special thank you to Gwenda Bond, Bernard Clay, Mandi Fugate Sheffel, and Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr for their selective readings. Another thank you to Doug Van Gundy for our theme music for this episode.
Things Mentioned
Books Mentioned
The Stone Catchers by Laura Leigh Morris
A Middle-Aged Woman Rages by Melissa Jørgenrud Helton
An Octopus Named Houdini by Zana Fraillon, Illustrated by Corinna Luyken
Guest Info
© Amy Le Ann Richardson
Amy Le Ann Richardson earned a Bachelor’s in English from Morehead State University (‘07) and an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University (‘09). She is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Make Believe Worlds We Built Together (Bottlecap Press, 2023) and Who You Grow Into (Finishing Line Press, 2024), as well as a full collection, Out of Places (Pine Row Press, 2025). Her work has been featured in journals such as Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Untelling, Kentucky Monthly, and Still: the Journal. She currently lives and works on her family farm in Carter County, Kentucky, where she writes, grows food, and engages with the community through both art and environmental advocacy.
© Andrew Preston
A.p. Harbor is the pen name / band name of Andrew Preston, writer and producer from Van Lear, Kentucky. He is the author of The Hum of a Dreaming Moon, a full-length, illustrated collection of lyrics and poetry. Preston has been a featured songwriter by the International Bluegrass Music Association, lecture faculty at the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop, and nominee for the 2020 Audioverse Awards. His lyrics and poetry have been published in Untelling Magazine and Discarded, a rural anthology. With works spanning eight albums and hundreds of performances across North America, Asia, and Europe, Preston and his bandmates have become mainstays of Appalachia’s burgeoning indie scene. In his other life, he sells books and coffee at The Fuzzy Duck Coffee Shop and CoffeeTree Books in Morehead, Kentucky, where he lives with his husband and two cats.
Theme Music: “Quincy Dillon’s High ‘D’ Tune,” trad. Performed by Doug Van Gundy. 2026”
