Raft is part of a team awarded a grant from Grant for the Web. The project, Web Monetization for the Arts, seeks to survey classical musicians and performing arts groups about their digital content strategies, including if and how they make money from them.
Critical Read is becoming Raft
Critical Read is now publishing at Substack, under the name Raft Magazine. Calls for submission can still be found at Critical Read’s Submittable page.
This change is part of Critical Read’s evolution. Our organizational structure is changing, AND our small staff has been overwhelmed by the demands of maintaining our own website. Publishing to email via Substack is a great new option for us.
Appalachia Book Company receives grant from West Virginia Humanities Council
We were thrilled to receive a minigrant from the West Virginia Humanities Council. The grant will fund the development of a podcast series on the topic of Appalachian murder ballads.
'The One About the (Dead) Baby' published in Tahoma Literary Review
My short story, The One About The (Dead) Baby, was published in the March 2021 issue of Tahoma Literary Review. You can purchase the issue here.
A recording of the story can be heard on TLR’s Soundcloud page. My friend, the actor Chance Kelly, reads the story.
Appalachia Book Company awarded literary arts grant
Good news! The Appalachia Book Company is a recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Literary Arts Emergency Fund. Read all about the fund and the other recipients here.
We're thrilled and honored to be recipients and we will be putting the funds to good use. Stay tuned!
Critical Read launches Art Is Essential essay series
Critical Read has launched a new flash essay series, Art Is Essential. For these 3-00-word essays we ask writers to describe the works of art they are turning to now, during these uncertain times.
A new collection of essays is published each month at Critical Read. See our page at Submittable for submission guidelines. There is no submission fee.
Critical Read adds reported stories
Critical Read has updated its submission guidelines. We are now accepting reported story pitches. These stories should not be tied to the publicity cycle. See our page at Submittable for the complete details. Pitches are accepted year round.
Porch Talk at the App storytelling workshop series begins January 2020
The Appalachia Book Company, in partnership with the Appalachian Center for the Arts and UK Extension - Pike County Fine Arts, will offer a series of writing and storytelling workshops in January and February. These workshops are designed to help writers develop material for the Porch Talk at the App live storytelling series. The first performance of Porch Talk at the App is Feb. 18, 2020. For more information, see our Facebook page.
Hugo Sperger Art Exhibit at McCall Art Gallery
The Appalachia Book Company has curated a retrospective of the late works of artist Hugo Sperger. Hugo Sperger: Folk Art Exhibit is now on view at the McCall Art Gallery of Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg, KY. A reception will be held January 23 at 3:30 pm EST.
Natalie Earns MFA
After five years of work and a lot of procrastination, I finished my MFA degree. I started the program in 2014 in nonfiction and moved into fiction a year or so later. My thesis is a collection of short stories and essays. I called it People Get Hurt because . . . . people do get hurt.
Early in my work with mentor Leslie Daniels — who was a tremendous teacher and inspiration, I could not have done the work without her — I wrote her that I think people should get hurt. In fiction, and in life. If you’re not getting hurt, you’re not being open, you’re not taking chances. Onward!