I've recently received a metaphorical " kick in the pants" to actually write something for submission to a literary journal. As I was browsing Facebook last evening, I saw a post from my cousin regarding a call for literary & scholarly papers for The Northern Appalachia Review, an anthology of works from writers in & from the Northern Appalachian region.
The counties in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio & the West Virginia Panhandle definitely are considered part of Northern Appalachia.
It is true that most cultural studies of Appalachia and its people focus on the southern states-- especially southern WV, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. However, there is a whole Appalachian culture in the counties north of the Mason-Dixon Line that is underrepresented in both popular culture and scholarly/literary work.
I've not lived in the region of my birth for over twenty years, but the area is deeply embedded within my essence. Pensacola is home for me, but I cannot and wish to not forget my roots in Northern Appalachia.
The piece that I shall submit is a fictionalized account of a person's ride from the Pittsburgh Airport to her aunt & uncle's place in the Appalachians of Eastern Ohio. My character shall tell her story via mostly an internal monologue, with some dialogue with her aunt and cousin as they ride together in the car. There may or may not be some flashbacks of her Appalachian childhood.
Wish me good luck-- and please hold me accountable to finish this piece.
Be well,
Sarah
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