Writings

I began my writing life at an early age, passing short stories back and forth with a friend who lived around a corner and up a dirt road.  I wrote poetry throughout my teen years more as therapy than artful expression and have always felt a little uncomfortable writing poetry given my name.

I took a playwriting class in graduate school, and that encouraged me to write plays for the next decade or so. I  have several scripts available.  These plays have been produced and the rough edges smoothed out.  Some are original and some are adaptations of folklore and world literature. They include:  

• The Odyssey
• Beowulf
• MotherSongs: the Story of Witchcraft from the Paleolithic to the Present
• The Burning Times: a Study of the Continuing Inquisition
• Carolina Folk Tales: Haints and Boogers
• The Blue Bird (an adaptation of the Maeterlinck classic)
• Three Sisters (an adaptation of Chekhov’s work)
• Moby-Dick
• Leviticus: the Fifth Book of Moses

Now I write nonfiction – books mostly. I have published seven and am editing number eight. My books are predominantly concerned with Appalachian folkways, which is my practice as well as my study.