The Mountain Heritage Literary Festival
June 15-17, 2012

Jean Ritchie Fellowship

The 2012 Jean Ritchie Fellowship recipient is Amy Clark of Big Stone Gap, Virginia.

Amy is a native of Jonesville, Virginia. She is the author of Success in Hill Country (The Napoleon Hill Foundation, 2012) and co-editor of the forthcoming Talking Appalachian (The University Press of Kentucky, 2012). Her award-winning writing has appeared in numerous journals including Still, Appalachian Heritage, Blue Ridge Country, Now and Then, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Tampa Tribune, as well as the anthology Motif v2: Come What May (Motes Books, 2011.)

Amy is the founding director of the Appalachian Writing Project, a non-profit organization now entering its eleventh year, which supports rural teachers in their research, writing and teaching about writing. She teaches courses in writing pedagogy, Appalachian literature, rhetorical theory, speech and sociolinguistics at The University of Virginia's College at Wise.

Clark is currently at work on several projects including her first young adult novel and a nonfiction book about Appalachian women in multiple-generation families.  She plans to use her fellowship winnings to develop a website and teaching guide to reinforce her work to preserve and protect the Appalachian dialect.  She will be formally recognized at this year’s Mountain Heritage Literary Festival on June 16, during the event’s keynote banquet.

About the Jean Ritchie Fellowship

Through literature, a region tells stories to its citizens and the world. The Jean Ritchie Fellowship seeks to support, encourage and honor writers from the Southern Appalachians.

The fellowship is the first of its kind for the region's writers, and is committed to Appalachian voices.

Jean Ritchie of Viper, Kentucky, and Port Washington, New York, is a musician, author of prose and poetry, social activist, teacher, historian and folk music collector. The fellowship strives to support artists who, like Ritchie, create works of beauty and social relevance, while honoring traditional heritage and forging a new path.

Award amount: $1,500

Past Fellowship winners

2008 - Mindy Beth Miller from Hazard, Kentucky.
2009 - Larry Bingham of Portland, Oregon
2010 - Katie Perry of Austin, Texas
2011 - Tiffany Williams of McRoberts, Kentucky

Lincoln Memorial University
Cumberland Gap Parkway
P.O. Box 2005
Harrogate, TN 37752

Phone:
423.869.6432 or 800.325.0900, ext. 6432