Creative Kinship

BY SHANNON HOLBROOK

Early morning fog caresses the Smoky Mountains. Tall windows bathe the bright room in hazy, dust-specked light. Writers filter in with steaming mugs of coffee, nodding and smiling at each other as they find a comfy seat in the circle. Slowly, the gentle creaks of rocking chairs blend like a metronome, soothing and rhythmic, like the group’s collective heartbeat.

This is the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative (SAWC), a diverse mix of seasoned and new writers with Appalachian heritage. Gathering from across the region, these highly-awarded authors, poet laureates, professors, students, and aspiring storytellers embrace a mission to cultivate their literary spirit and Appalachian community values.

Clermont County, Ohio, native Sherry Cook Stanforth, Ph.D., the Creative Writing Vision Program Director at Thomas More College recalled her first experience with SAWC. “I’m deeply connected to my heritage, but I don’t often join literary organizations,” she said. “I just fell in love with the annual fall gathering — the writers in this unique group were so encouraging.”

Stanforth said, “The nature of the more established writers is familial. We speak and engage new writers as if they are already part of our circle. We encourage sharing and feedback in a way that promotes genuine literary support and curiosity.”

In 1974, SAWC was born from a group of writers and activists gathering at Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee, to promote an Appalachian regional identity and act on issues impacting Appalachian land and people.

“We have spoken very strongly on human rights, ecological value, poverty, and addiction,” said Stanforth, the managing editor of SAWC’s annual literary journal, Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel. “Our written pieces are sensitive and reflect care for humanity and community.”

SAWC members at the 2016 Appalachian Studies Conference in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Stanforth said SAWC’s founders valued simplicity. “It’s all volunteer and off-grid,” she said. “There are no sign-up sheets, no membership dues, and we’re not officially a nonprofit.”

Among them were Jim and Robb Webb, of Letcher County, Kentucky. They started the journal, named after their uncle’s quarry, because “the idea of the title is that the writing is new and some of it's kind of rough,” Jim said in 1990.

SAWC hosts annual fall retreats at Highlander Center, writers’ gatherings, regional readings, a panel at the Appalachian Studies Association conference, and publishes the journal that draws contributions from hundreds of writers.

“We hold a creative kinship cultivated by trust, collaboration, community-minded action, and great storytelling,” Stanforth added.

To learn more about the writers cooperative, visit sawconline.net.

We hold a creative kinship cultivated by trust, collaboration, community-minded action, and great storytelling.

— Sherry Cook Stanforth, Ph.D.

Drawing by Robert Gipe, robertgipe.com