University Press of Kentucky / “Silas House: Exploring an Appalachian Writer’s Work”“SILAS HOUSE: EXPLORING AN APPALACHIAN WRITER’S WORK” edited by Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt (University Press of Kentucky, 208 pages, $33).
“Storytelling is in our blood, as Appalachians,” says Silas House in an interview included in “Silas House: Exploring an Appalachian Writer’s Work.” “It is part of us. The act of telling a story is the act of preservation, so I often think of myself as a preservationist by being a writer. In a way that’s my ultimate goal.”
A native of Eastern Kentucky, House has gained a unique degree of respect and adoration among his fellow Appalachian writers for his luminous novels, prolific music journalism and theatrical works, as well as his activism. That activism led to “Something’s Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal.” Co-edited with his spouse, essayist Jason Kyle Howard, “Something’s Rising” contains essays and oral histories from the fight against exploitation of mountain communities and ecosystems by coal companies.
The essays collected in “Silas House” reflect the notably high regard in which House is held by his peers. Editor Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt has brought together a thoughtful group of Appalachian scholars and literary writers. Their detailed reflections and literary analysis provide a deep dive into House’s body of work.
Several of the essays, including Shurbutt’s opening chapter, focus on House’s Appalachian Trilogy, comprised of “Clay’s Quilt” (2001), “A Parchment of Leaves” (2002) and “The Coal Tattoo” (2004). These three novels follow a multigenerational story of two interconnected families in the Kentucky mountains.