Ginseng Diggers: A History of Root and Herb Gathering in Appalachia wins Appalachian Studies Association award

Ginseng Diggers: A History of Root and Herb Gathering in Appalachia is the winner of this year's non-fiction Weatherford Award, given by Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association. Author Luke Manget's debut book presents a new take on Appalachian history: "It is the first of its kind to unearth the unique relationship between Appalachia and the global trade of medicinal plants. This release provides an extensive addition to the understanding of land use and gathering commons, medicine, capitalism, and the beginnings of the pharmaceutical industry," the award announcement says.

It's an absorbing history of people and plant: "The harvesting of wild American ginseng (panax quinquefolium), the gnarled, aromatic herb known for its therapeutic and healing properties, is deeply established in North America and has played an especially vital role in the southern and central Appalachian Mountains. Traded through a trans-Pacific network that connected the region to East Asian markets, ginseng was but one of several medicinal Appalachian plants that entered international webs of exchange." Ginseng Diggers also received the 2023 James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award in the Consumer/Popular Category. Luke Manget is an assistant professor of history at Dalton State College in Dalton, Ga.

Runners-up in the nonfiction category were Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore & Everyday Culture in Appalachia by Emily Hilliard, Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia, and Something in These Hills: The Culture of Family Land in Southern Appalachia by John M. Coggeshall.

The fiction award goes to Barbara Kingsolver, author of Demon Copperhead. Beth Macy, author of "Dopesick," described this work: "Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” Fiction Finalists were Ashley Blooms for Where I Can’t Follow and Patricia Hudson for Traces: A Novel.

The Weatherford Awards honor books that “best illuminate the challenges, personalities, and unique qualities of the Appalachian South.” They commemorate W.D. Weatherford Sr., a pioneer and leading figure in Appalachian development, youth work, and race relations, and of his son, Willis D. Weatherford Jr., who was president of Berea.