Appalachian Writer's Association
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History of the AWA

Our appreciation goes to Barbara Eberly for preparing the bulk of the following material.

The Appalachian Writers Association (AWA) grew from programs at East Tennessee State University in 1982-83. On July 23, 1983, there was an "Official/Unofficial" business meeting at East Tennessee State University.

The minutes read: Appalachian Writers Association Official/Unofficial Business Meeting--East Tennessee State University, July 23, 1983. Jay Robert Reese presided,
explaining that ten people had agreed to serve as an advisory board to AWA for the coming year, and that a board meeting would be called early in the fall.

Items to be considered would be drawing up a constitution for the 1984 conference, AWA tax deference, how the next conference would be financed, its site, etc. Reese said that the organization should be independent by 1984. He read names of persons who had agreed to serve on the advisory committee, and it was noted by a male AWA member that ninety percent of those chosen were male.

The following list was suggested by Reese, some persons to be contacted about serving: Jim Nicholl, Bill Best, Mark Leziac (Appalachian Arts), Tom Lee, Charlotte Ross, Barry Buxton, Delmar Baxter, Jim Wayne Miller, Garry Barker, Parks Lanier, Sidney Farr, Sharon McCrumb, Patricia Shirley, Benny Lee Sinclair, and Barbara Smith.

Executive directors were to be Jay Reese and Joe Muncey. Reese suggested that AWA set up a bank account separately from the Appalachian Council for the Arts. AWA dues have been $10/year, and Reese said it should be kept to that amount in the future, if possible.

[NOTE: Dues were raised many years later in July 2007 to $20.00 for regular membership and $10.00 for students. "Students" includes those in high school, technical schools, and universities.]

Reese said the advising board should tackle the stability of the conference (i.e., should it be moved around to UT, Berea, North Carolina? He said most of the AWA member were from eastern Kentucky and East Tennessee). The conference, so far, has been self-supporting, according to Reese. He planned to submit a grant proposal for AWA to the National Endowment for the Arts.

We have learned over the years that it is desirable to have some continuity in the conferences, so we have evolved a pattern of holding a conference at one university for several years.  It has been agreed that the ideal time is three years. It is also desirable to have the program chairman/chairmen moved into position of Executive Officer (President) to provide a continuity of experience and advice. We also like to plan ahead, so if you would like to volunteer for 2008-2011, please contact Dr. Christina D. Walton, President at c.walton@moreheadstate.edu.

--Barbara Eberly

The Appalachian Writers Association has held its conferences at the following sites (AWA presidents are listed with years of service noted parenthetically):

  • East Tennessee State University (1983-1984)--J. Robert Reese
  • Morehead State University (1985)--Garry Barker
  • Virginia Tech (1986)--Sharyn McCrumb
  • Western Carolina University (1987)--Jim Nicholl
  • Berea College (1988)--Bill Best
  • Cumberland College (1989)--Tom Frazier
  • Radford University (1990-1994)--Parks Lanier
  • Western Carolina University (1995-1996)--Clyde Kessler
  • Western Carolina University (1997-1998)--Steve Eberly
  • East Tennessee State University (1999)--D. Newton Smith
  • East Tennessee State University (2000)--Thomas Alan Holmes
  • East Tennessee State University (2001)--Theresa Lloyd
  • Cumberland College (2002)--Kim Kidd
  • Cumberland College (2003, 2004)--Silas House
  • King College (2005)--Kim Holloway
  • King College (2006, 2007) Juli Hale

Keynote Speakers for the conferences were:

  • Harriette Arnow (1985)
  • George Ella Lyon (1986)
  • Jim Wayne Miller (1987)
  • Denise Giardina (1988)
  • Bennie Lee Sinclair (1989)
  • Jim Wayne Miller (1990)
  • Bill Brown and Malcolm Glass (1991)
  • Dr. Jay Robert Reese (1992)
  • Donald Secreast (1993)
  • Sharyn McCrumb (1994)
  • Scott Weidensaul (1995)
  • Garry Barker (1996)
  • Charlotte Ross (1997)
  • James Alexander Thom (1998)
  • Robert Morgan (1999)
  • Jo Carson (2000)
  • Lee Smith (2001)
  • Jeff Daniel Marion (2002)
  • Gwyn Hyman Rubio (2003)
  • Ron Rash (2004)
  • Silas House (2005)
  • Robert J. "Jack" Higgs (2006)

AWA was originally coordinated by an Advisory Board of authors from seven states. Current members of the board are: Darnelle Arnoult, Garry Barker, Bill Best, Barbara Walters Eberly, Steve Eberly, Sidney Farr, Kathleen Hellen, Mona K. Helper, Dot Jackson, Clyde Kessler, Parks Lanier, Sharyn McCrumb, Judy Miller, James R. Nicholl, Rita Quillen, Jay Robert Reece, Charlotte Ross, Bettie Sellers, Patricia A. Shirley, Bennie Lee Sinclair, Barbara Smith, D. Newton Smith, Bernice (Stevie) Stevens, Bess Watson. During the AWA 2000 business meeting, AWA members determined that the organization had matured to the point where the Advisory Board could be dissolved.

The association is unincorporated, is not officially affiliated with any institution, and is a totally volunteer effort, funded through dues, donations, and conference fees. The annual conference is AWA's major project. 

At the business meeting in 1998, the membership voted to ask East Tennessee State University Archives to house a collection of AWA materials. They have agreed to do so and some materials have already been turned over to them. This collection will include any materials relating to AWA. If you have anything which should be included in this collection, or if you know of a library where AWA materials have been kept in the past, please contact Juli Hale. We would like to fill
in some of the gaps in our history and have a display of these materials available for future conferences.