Women Speak, 10th Anniversary Collection (Volume)

"We tell our stories through art." This is the watchword of the Women of Appalachia Project, founded ten years ago to "address discrimination directed at women from the Appalachian region by encouraging participation from women artists of diverse backgrounds, ages, and experiences."In this 10th Anniversary edition featuring literary and visual artists associated with WOAP, the stories of women in Appalachia are loud and clear. Here, in this splendid collection, reside the stories, essays, songs, and images that combat the tired stereotypes that continue to plague our region. Here, 90 artists from nine states within the Appalachian region share their traumas, threats, and grief as well as their delights and celebrations. Here, stories of drug addiction sit next to religious ceremonies; destitution keeps company with the unconditional love of family; ecological damage surrenders to manicured backyard gardens, and anarchy and uprising keep house with cultural traditions and rituals. These schisms were well known to the audacious women who helped settle our region. In the pages of this special anniversary collection, women are still battling those contradictions, resisting stereotypes, and forging the way to a more equitable, benevolent, and diverse Appalachia. "We believe that all women are capable, courageous, creative, and inspired." This is another maxim of the Women of Appalachia Project, and this big-hearted collection of words and art proves that motto in action. We are the only ones who can tell our own stories. - Marianne Worthington, co-founder and poetry editor, Still: The Journal