James Still

The chance of material prosperity lures a poor farming family into mining, but uncertainty and poverty persist in their lives.

River of Earth

Contains a collection of sayings and expressions the novelist gathered over a forty-year period from his Appalachian neighbors, plus an interview

A Record of Appalachian Life

The Wolfpen Notebooks

In language both spare and colorful, sure in its command of Appalachian dialect and poetic in its evocation of mountain settings, James Still's stories reveal the lives of his people -- lives of privation and struggle, lived with honesty as well as humor. With a foreword by Cleanth Brooks and an afterword by the author, The Run for the Elbertas features thirteen stories from one of America's masters of the short story. Enjoyable and enriching, Still's stories sparkle with wisdom and joy.

The Run for the Elbertas

Early Recollections and Life of Dr. James Still

A collection of riddles and other witticisms from the Appalachians of Kentucky.

Appalachian Riddles & Rusties

Way Down Yonder on Troublesome Creek

James Still first achieved national recognition in the 1930s as a poet. Although he is better known today as a writer of fiction, it is his poetry that many of his essential images, such as the "mighty river of earth," first found expression. Yet much of his poetry remains out of print or difficult to find. From the Mountain, From the Valley collects all of Still's poems, including several never before published, and corrects editorial mistakes that crept into previous collections. The poems are presented in chronological order, allowing the reader to trace the evolution of Still's voice. Throughout, his language is fresh and vigorous and his insight profound. His respect for people and place never sounds sentimental or dated. Ted Olson's introduction recounts Still's early literary career and explores the poetic origins of his acclaimed lyrical prose. Still himself has contributed the illuminating autobiographical essay "A Man Singing to Himself," which will appeal to every lover of his work. James Still, the first poet laureate of Kentucky, recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and many other awards and honors, is the author of numerous works, including his masterful novel River of Earth. Ted Olson, associate professor of Appalachian studies and English at East Tennessee State University, is the author of Blue Ridge Folklife and the editor of CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual.

New and Collected Poems

From the Mountain, From the Valley

Le colline ricordano

"A multimedia play that combines videotaped interviews with Holocaust survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with live actors recreating scenes from their lives during World War II"--Back cover.

Remembering the World of Anne Frank

And Then They Came for Me

"A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters passionately and compassionately wrestles with the question: "How does faith both unite and divide us?" and explores the often invisibility of faith, how we make unconscious assumptions about one other based on religion, and how often those assumptions are wrong. Inspired by oral histories, community events, and the circular structure of Schnitzler's play La Ronde, the play's 10 scenes include a Native American woman who teaches ESL to a class of immigrant senior citizens; two astronauts in crisis far away from home and searching for common ground; a man who meets the woman who received his mother's transplanted heart; and a journalist who interviews a family whose son has been killed in Iraq. A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters traces a joyous, restless and surprising path through a wide-open spiritual and American landscape. It is both intimate and epic--an expansive panorama that stages an interlocking chain of unexpected encounters between contemporary communities of faith. This play was the final play in Los Angeles-based Cornerstone Theater Company's nationally acclaimed four-year Faith Based Theater Cycle." -- Publisher's website.

A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters

"As one critic wrote about Searching for Eden: "In the beginning--and throughout the play--here was laughter. And the audience found it good." More than a hundred years after Mark Twain wrote his own short stories about Adam and Eve, James Still combines those stories for Act One of Searching for Eden, and then imagines Adam and Eve in the present day for Act Two to create this completely original and contemporary play about the world's first love story. Act One takes place at the dawn of time in the Garden of Eden. In the imaginations of Still and Twain, the Garden of Eden is a place where the battle of the sexes begins, where language is deliciously invented, and where loneliness and heartbreak are poignantly discovered. After intermission, we jump forward to the present day--but Adam and Eve have only aged into their 40s and are dealing with middle age and the distractions of high-power careers. Adam has surprised Eve with this trip back to Eden (a last-minute vacation package Adam found on the Internet) as an anniversary gift. The "first couple" returns to present-day Eden (now an upscale resort simply called "E") in an attempt to recapture the primal passions of their youth. While Act One is about childhood, discovery, and new love--Act Two is about middle age, rediscovery and trying to make old love new again. At its heart, Searching for Eden is about the pleasures and terrors of knowing one person--and being known by that person--for a long, long time."--Publisher's website.

The Diaries of Adam and Eve

Searching for Eden

The people of the Kentucky mountains and the southern Appalachians preserved a language alive with colorful turns of phrase and whimsical wit and for their amusement they created a rich vein of oral lore -- songs, tales, and games. James Still presents a varied and entertaining collection of riddles, whimsies, and verbal pranks, gathered through his long association with the mountain people of eastern Kentucky. This book includes in one volume two earlier books -- Way Down Yonder on Troublesome Creek and The Wolfpen Rusties -- that have been unavailable for several years. It contains the complete text of the original editions, including Still's explanatory notes for archaic or obscure expressions. Also included are the original lively illustrations by the noted artist Janet McCaffery.

James Still

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