Latch-uh or Lay-shuh?
In this edition of No Elegy Needed, we promote our new episode, tell you about our exciting new book club, and share with you some musings for you to noodle on.
The great pronunciation debate
Hell hath no fury like an Appalachian scorned.
Throughout the 3+ years we’ve been doing this show, we've touched on several controversial topics (see: Episode #31: Chili v Sauce), but nothing - and I mean NOTHING - has ever stoked more controversy, vitriol, or downright hatred toward fellow kinfolk than the debate over how to pronounce “Appalachia.”
We decided it was finally time to call upon the experts in order to navigate this proverbial minefield, so we spoke with Dr. Kirk Hazen this week. Dr. Hazen is the director of the West Virginia Dialect Project, and he gave us his thoughts on pronunciation and so much more. We hope you check it out!
We started a quarterly book club
And we made our first pick this past week!
We plan on choosing books from across genres, books that will spark discussion, and sometimes books that challenge our own view of Appalachia. For each pick, we will have a weekly set of discussion questions to help you engage with what we’re reading along the way and an Appodlachia/Read Appalachia crossover podcast episode at the end of each quarter to discuss the book.
You can sign-up to join Appalachian Bookshelf here!
Our Winter 2023 pick is Demon Copperhead by legendary author and Appalachian, Barbara Kingsolver.
We’re excited about this pick, and so is the author!
More to come
We are planning more original content on here this year, and are excited to be posting more regularly on substack!