Friday, August 09, 2019

Quick hits: 'Why I stay in Appalachia,' rural noir fiction increasingly popular, book explores rural political cynicism

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

In "Why I Stay in Appalachia," an LGBT+ young adult talks about why they moved back to their rural hometown of Gadsden, Alabama, after graduating from Harvard University. Read more here.

When people think of noir fiction, they frequently call up images of hard-boiled urban detectives. But the growing popularity of rural noir, exemplified by books and films such as "Winter's Bone," is bringing new life to the genre, Laura McHugh writes for Crime Reads. Read more here.

"U.S. senators from states with large rural populations are pushing a bipartisan bill to research maternal mortality rates in rural America and develop solutions to improve care for pregnant women who live far from hospitals," Emma Coleman reports for Route Fifty. Read more about the Rural MOMS Act here.

A new book, We're Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America, zeroes in on a declining coal town in central Pennsylvania and explores why exasperated locals, tired of politicians' promises, were increasingly cynical about either party's ability to help their community. Read more here.

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