Redneck Press with Fried Chicken and Coffee

I should have known about these folks long ago, yeah? Some­where along the line I found out about them and for­got until recently, when Charles Dodd White told me about an anthol­ogy he'd be edit­ing with Page Seay. More on that at the end of this post. What I found most intrigu­ing was this list of char­ac­ter­is­tics of Appalachian working-class fic­tion. Have a look:

Com­piled by Larry Smith, BGSU Fire­lands College/ Bot­tom Dog Press

(With thanks to Edwina Pen­darvis, Laura Bently, Ann Pan­cake,
Mered­ith Sue Willis and  Phyl­lis Wil­son Moore for sug­ges­tions.
We are look­ing at adult fic­tion here. )

Gen­eral Char­ac­ter­is­tics of Working-Class Writ­ing and Art; not designed to be cri­te­rion but characteristics.

1) The writ­ing is based on lived expe­ri­ence and shows char­ac­ters as human per­sons in a lived space, depict­ing their daily life includ­ing their actual phys­i­cal work.

2) The writ­ing cre­ates space for peo­ple to speak and rep­re­sent them­selves, includes speech idioms and dialects, curses and blessings.

3) The writ­ing is com­mu­nal in nature. The indi­vid­ual "I" is speak­ing for the col­lec­tive "We."

4) Read­ers can rec­og­nize them­selves in the writ­ing; it gives val­i­da­tion to their own sto­ries and culture.

5) The writ­ing gives lan­guage to human suf­fer­ing and grief. Eco­nom­ics forces are rec­og­nized thus giv­ing val­i­da­tion to deep feel­ings often ignored by main­stream art.

6) The writ­ing (art) has agency in the world, is useful.

7) The writ­ing includes forces of social and polit­i­cal his­tory and their impact on human rela­tion­ship.
The writ­ing chal­lenges dom­i­nant assump­tions about aes­thet­ics… It breaks rules or con­ven­tions of form in favor of ver­ity of experience.

9) The writ­ing builds con­scious­ness of class oppression.…denial of rights, exploita­tive mar­ket­place, etc. and may lead to rebellion.

10) The writ­ing takes sides…"Which Side Are You On?" it asks and then declares.

[Source: Devel­oped in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Janet Zandy and her Hands: Phys­i­cal Labor, Class, and Cul­tural Work (Rut­gers Uni­ver­sity Press)]

Addi­tional Char­ac­ter­is­tics of Appalachian Working-Class Writing

1) The writ­ing reveals a deep appre­ci­a­tion of folk habits and cus­toms, fam­ily rituals.

Music, alco­hol and food are a major part of the life ritual.

2) Fam­ily extends back his­tor­i­cally and in a neigh­borly way to community.

3) Themes of sense of place abound; most are not about ‘escap­ing’ the working-class cul­ture but of going out for edu­ca­tion yet return­ing home to help. “Stay­put­ters,” "grounded," not mobile. "This is the story of a land shaped by the peo­ple, and a peo­ple shaped by the land,"-The Appalachi­ans (film)

4) Eth­no­cen­trism is present in fam­i­lies, towns, coun­ties. Dis­trust comes first till one is revealed as “one of us,” then wel­come is extended.

5) Often reli­gion is strong, emo­tion­ally and phys­i­cally intense…fundamental yet often given indi­vid­ual or fam­ily interpretation…"Free Willers."

6) The writ­ing reveals peo­ple find­ing ways of “get­ting by,” “mak­ing do,” “Do-it-yourselfers.”

7) Those liv­ing in poverty are not clearly sep­a­rate from working-class.
The writ­ing is marked by an inti­mate sense of community—though respect­ing unique­ness of char­ac­ter, it most often por­trays an inter­de­pen­dence of rela­tion­ships includ­ing home, fam­ily, town, work, and the land­scape and nat­ural world.

9) Rebel­lion comes when fam­ily or land is vio­lated, prop­erty rights must be respected.

10) Unions play a major role in the life and writing.

11) In the nar­ra­tive there is a fond­ness for mul­ti­ple points of view, either through many narrators

or the use of sub­nar­ra­tors, typ­i­cally in authen­tic dialect.

I can't find much to argue with, as this aptly sums up what kind of work I'd like to see here at FCAC. Check Bot­tom Dog Press out, buy their books, and shout out to Larry Smith for build­ing that incred­i­bly help­ful website.

And as I promised here's the details again on that anthology.

From Hill to Holler: Sto­ries of Con­tem­po­rary Appalachia
From Bot­tom Dog Press Inc.

Huron, OH

http://​smith​docs​.net

From Hill to Holler is an anthol­ogy about what it is to live and strug­gle in Appalachia today. The short sto­ries included will be sharp, vivid evo­ca­tions of a place and a cul­ture, fic­tions that chart new ter­ri­to­ries between the moutains, its val­leys and the peo­ple who inhabit them. We don't want sen­ti­men­tal treat­ments of Grandaddy's rock­ing chair. Think instead of the “mud, the blood and the beer” of the area—realistic, unspar­ing por­tray­als. Both North­ern and South­ern treat­ments of the Appalachian theme are encour­aged. Any style is accept­able, as long as it serves the story and the audi­ence. Send us your top drawer stories.

Edi­tors: Charles Dodd White and Page Seay

This book will be pub­lished as part of Bot­tom Dog Press's Work­ing Lives Fic­tion Series

Specifics:

Length: between 3,000 and 6,000 words.

Sub­mis­sions are open now. The read­ing will be ongoing.

Dead­line: July 1, 2010.

Email sub­mis­sions only. Send attached .rtf or .doc file to: fromhilltoholler@​hotmail.​com and make sure the word “Sub­mis­sion” is some­where in the sub­ject line.

Pay­ment: $50 and two copies

Reprints are accept­able in some cases. Please let us know where it’s been pub­lished and if the pub­li­ca­tion was print or online.

Simul­ta­ne­ous sub­mis­sions are okay as long as we are noti­fied imme­di­ately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

No mul­ti­ple sub­mis­sions, please. Pick your best story and send it forward.