Born in Greenup County, Kentucky, in 1906, Jesse Stuart was a noted author, educator, lecturer, world traveler, farmer, and environmentalist. He was a prolific writer who published 2000 poems, 460 short stories, and more than 60 books. His works appeared in many regional and national journals and magazines. He served as Kentucky’s Poet Laureate in 1954-55.

In addition to being one of Appalachia’s best known and most anthologized authors, Stuart’s works have been translated into many foreign languages.

Stuart died in 1984 and is buried in Plum Grove Cemetery a few miles from his home place in W-Hollow, a little valley in Greenup County that became a part of America’s literary landscape through Stuart’s writings.

Autobiographical works by Stuart:

  • Beyond Dark Hills
  • Mr. Gallion’s School
  • The Thread That Runs So True
  • The Year of My Rebirth

Biographies of Jesse Stuart:

  • Jesse Stuart: An Extraordinary Life (by James M. Gifford and Erin Kazee)
  • Jesse Stuart: Immortal Kentuckian (by James M. Gifford)
  • Jesse Stuart Bibliography

Born in Greenup County, Kentucky, in 1906, Jesse Stuart was a noted author, educator, lecturer, world traveler, farmer, and environmentalist. He was a prolific writer who published 2000 poems, 460 short stories, and more than 60 books. His works appeared in many regional and national journals and magazines. He served as Kentucky’s Poet Laureate in 1954-55.

In addition to being one of Appalachia’s best known and most anthologized authors, Stuart’s works have been translated into many foreign languages.

Stuart died in 1984 and is buried in Plum Grove Cemetery a few miles from his home place in W-Hollow, a little valley in Greenup County that became a part of America’s literary landscape through Stuart’s writings.

Autobiographical works by Stuart:

  • Beyond Dark Hills
  • Mr. Gallion’s School
  • The Thread That Runs So True
  • The Year of My Rebirth

Biographies of Jesse Stuart:

  • Jesse Stuart: An Extraordinary Life (by James M. Gifford and Erin Kazee)
  • Jesse Stuart: Immortal Kentuckian (by James M. Gifford)
  • Jesse Stuart Bibliography
Videos on Jesse Stuart

From Western Kentucky University Archives:

Jesse Stuart at Home
Kentucky Heritage: Jesse Stuart’s Writing, 1969

Stuart Books

Short Story Collections

  • Head o’W-Hollow (1936)
  • Tim a Story (1939)
  • Men of the Mountains (1941)
  • Tales from the Plum Grove Hills (1946)
  • Clearing in the Sky (1953)
  • Plowshare in Heaven (1958)
  • A Jesse Stuart Reader (1963) anthology includes poetry & excerpts of novels
  • Save Every Lamb (1964)
  • A Jesse Stuart Harvest (1965)
  • Stories (1968)
  • Come Gentle Spring (1969)
  • Seven by Jesse (1970)
  • Come Back to the Farm (1971)
  • Dawn of Remembered Spring (1972)
  • 32 Votes Before Breakfast (1974)
  • Land of the Honey-Colored Wind (1981) anthology includes poetry
  • The Best Loved Short Stories of Jesse Stuart (1982)
  • Split Cherry Tree (1990)
  • New Harvest (2003)

SHORT STORIES BY TITLE (DOC)
SHORT STORIES INDEX (DOC)

Essays

  • Rebels with a Cause (1967)
  • My World (1975)
  • Honest Confession of a Literary Sin (1977)
  • Lost Sandstones and Lonely Skies (1979)
  • If I Were Seventeen Again (1980)

Pictorial Works with Introduction by Stuart

  • Tennessee Hill Folk (1972)
  • Up The Hollow from Lynchburg (1975)

Poetry

  • Harvest of Youth (1930)
  • Man with a Bull-Tongue Plow (1934)
  • Album of Destiny (1944)
  • Kentucky is My Land (1952)
  • Hold April (1962)
  • Autumn Lovesong (1971)
  • The World of Jesse Stuart (1975)
  • The Only Place We Live (1976)
  • Dandelion on the Acropolis (1978)
  • Songs of a Mountain Plowman (1986)

Autobiograghical

  • Beyond Dark Hills (1938)
  • The Thread that Runs So True (1949)
  • The Year of My Rebirth (1956)
  • Mr. Gallion’s School (1967) autobiographical novel
  • To Teach To Love (1970)
  • The Kingdom Within (1979)

Novels

  • Trees of Heaven (1940)
  • Taps for Private Tussie (1943)
  • Mongrel Mettle (1944)
  • Foretaste of Glory (1946)
  • Hie to the Hunters (1950)
  • The Good Spirit of Laurel Ridge (1953)
  • Daughter of the Legend (1965)
  • My Land Has a Voice (1966)
  • The Land Beyond the River (1973)
  • Strength from the Hills (1986)
  • Cradle of the Copperheads (1988)

For Young Readers

  • The Beatinest Boy (1953)
  • A Penny’s Worth of Character (1954)
  • Red Mule (1955)
  • The Rightful Owner (1960)
  • Andy Finds a Way (1961)
  • A Ride with Huey the Engineer (1966)
  • Old Ben (1970)
  • Come to My Tomorrowland (1971)
  • Bluetick Pig (2019) edited by Cathy Roberts

Biography

  • God’s Oddling (1960)
  • Huey the Engineer (1960)