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A YOUNG GIRL. AN EPIC JOURNEY. AN ERA NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN. In 1874, fourteen-year-old Louise Ratliff lives a simple life on her family’s farm in the heart of Kentucky’s Big Sandy Valley. But when spring rains rise and the rivers swell, her world is about to change forever. Follow Louise and the Ratliff family as they face the hard work, close calls, and unforgettable adventures of the logging era. From the excitement of the big catch to the danger of river jams, from friendship and family to a trip that will test their courage — this is a story of determination, faith, and the bonds that carry us through. Based on the recollections of the author’s great-great-grandmother, Louise Ratliff, this heartwarming tale captures the spirit of the “good ol’ days” along the Big Sandy River — where life was tough, but the people were tougher. SOFTBACK VERSION (172 PAGES) By John "Butch" Neal -
The 2026 Jesse Stuart Writers Workshop, an immersive writing event, took place April 17-18 at the Delta Marriott Hotel in Ashland. The workshop was well-attended and brought together acclaimed authors, educators, and literary professionals for engaging sessions designed to inspire, educate, and support writers of all levels. As a further benefit to workshop attendees, the JSF decided to publish an anthology of poetry and prose from workshop registrants, staff, volunteers, and sponsors. Thirty-nine authors submitted a total of 57 pieces in general categories of poetry, essays, articles, and short stories that comprise our current anthology, Song of Life: Poetry & Prose from the 2026 Jesse Stuart Writers Workshop. This collection shares the work of both experienced and beginning writers, and we are pleased to be able to present this absorbing book that introduces poetry and prose as dynamic and diverse as Kentucky itself. SOFTBACK VERSION (190 PAGES) -
When Jesse Johnson loses his Quaker wife, Nancy, just minutes after she gives birth to their second child, he has no idea how he can tend his farm and care for two helpless, dependent children. He knows he will never love again, yet his children need a mother and he needs a housekeeper. When Nancy's cousin, Nancy Anne, steps in to help, Jesse proposes a marriage of convenience, determined to honor his wife's memory. However, Nancy Anne's steadfast devotion and gentle spirit begin to awaken feelings Jesse never thought he could have again. Can a man who fears that loving again dishonors the past find the courage to embrace the future? Will Nancy Anne's patient love be enough to heal a heart that has been broken by loss? Set in the hills of North Carolina and eastern Kentucky, The Johnsons of Appalachia: What the Heart Endures is a historical romance of sacrifice and second chances that reminds us that, even after profound loss, love can bloom again. SOFTBACK VERSION (390 PAGES) By Pamela Hall -
John McCauley has assembled a fascinating collection of unpublished essays by Jesse Stuart, a very prolific writer in many genres. There emerges from this collection an informative view of Stuart’s relationship with the land and people of Appalachian Kentucky. This book makes the work of a world famous author more accessible to today’s readers. —James M. Gifford SOFTBACK VERSION (164 PAGES) Compiled and edited by John W. McCauley -
“Jerlene Rose is a well-respected community journalist, having served as publisher of the Clay City Times and on the KPA Board. Her look back at the past 50 years of community journalism and how it has changed is based on her well-founded experience in this industry she loves and has served so well. Perhaps no industry has changed as much as the newspaper business in the last 50 years and Jerlene documents it well in her look back.”—David Thompson Kentucky Press Association
SOFTBACK VERSION By Jerlene Rose -
First published in 1940, James Still's masterful novel has become a classic. It is the story, seen through the eyes of a boy, of three years in the life of his family and their kin. He sees his parents pulled between the meager farm with its sense of independence and the mining camp with its uncertain promise of material prosperity. In his world privation, violence, and death are part of everyday life, accepted and endured. Yet it is a world of dignity, love, and humor, of natural beauty which Still evokes in sharp, poetic images. No writer has caught more effectively the vividness of mountain speech or shown more honestly the trials and joys of mountain life. SOFTBACK VERSION By James Still -
With the same emotional generosity and effortlessly compelling storytelling that made All Over But the Shoutin’ a beloved bestseller, Rick Bragg continues his personal history of the Deep South. This time he’s writing about his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, a man who died before Bragg was born but left an indelible imprint on the people who loved him. Drawing on their memories, Bragg reconstructs the life of an unlettered roofer who kept food on his family’s table through the worst of the Great Depression; a moonshiner who drank exactly one pint for every gallon he sold; an unregenerate brawler, who could sit for hours with a baby in the crook of his arm. In telling Charlie’s story, Bragg conjures up the backwoods hamlets of Georgia and Alabama in the years when the roads were still dirt and real men never cussed in front of ladies. A masterly family chronicle and a human portrait so vivid you can smell the cornbread and whiskey, Ava’s Man is unforgettable. SOFTBACK VERSION (259 PAGES) Rick Bragg -
A When you read this book, you will not find stories about Joe Bates, Terry McBrayer, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jesse Stuart, Don Gullett or dozens of other Greenup Countians who have achieved fame and prominence. This book is about the county’s hidden heroes, the everyday folks whose hard work and public responsibility have made Greenup County successful. These hidden heroes are representative figures. They represent thousands more whose daily lives improve the quality of life in Greenup County. For the last two decades, Greenup County has suffered several major economic misfortunes. In response to these difficulties, Greenup Countians displayed courage and character, and today the county is not just surviving—it is thriving, and that’s a tribute to the county’s hard-working, caring, responsible people. Their stories need to be told for their legacy matters to present and future generations.—James M. Gifford
SOFTBACK VERSION (320 PAGES) Compiled and edited by James M. Gifford and Linda Harbison -
As with his novels, many of Robert Morgan’s short stories let characters, often women, tell their own stories. Morgan’s earliest publications were short stories, and over six decades he has continued to produce short fiction, along with novels, poetry, essays, and biographies. He has said the short narrative is the most challenging genre, requiring the concision and precision of a poem with the drama and implied character insights of longer fiction. These stories reflect the distinctive features of his poetry, vivid, lyrical, evoking a particular place. Morgan has found the culture and land of the southern Appalachians especially suited to expression in poetry and short fiction, the beauty of the ridges and valleys, the unique history, the laconic speech of the people, intense bonds of family and community, the storytelling gifts, and long memories. Gathered from five previous volumes of short fiction, Uplands proves greater in impact than the sum of its individual pieces. HARDBACK VERSION (320 PAGES) Robert Morgan -
Smoke and Silence: The Lives of Ol’ Mort is a folk epic memoir built from memory, myth, and the stories passed down across generations in eastern Kentucky. Told in the voice of Mort’s great-great-grandson and rooted in tales shared by Mort’s grandson, this is the story of a man who lived hard and loved quietly—who survived a world war, outran federal agents, raised his family from the land, and became something larger than life without ever asking to be. Through battles, bartering, backwoods stills, and front porch wisdom, Mort's story unfolds in a series of vivid, true-to-place chapters that feel more lived than written. Whether he was lifting wagons, dodging revenuers, or writing letters for dying men in the trenches of France, Mort carried himself with a strength that didn’t need explaining. SOFTBACK VERSION Tanner Willis -
God’s Oddling is a book I wanted to write all my life. It is about my father, Mitchell (Mick) Stuart, who was unable to read or write anything except his own name. He was a great man — great in spirit and great in his influence upon others. I loved and respected him. When I set out to write this book I discovered that I had been writing it all my life, for I had already published poems, stories, and articles about my father. The title of this book, God’s Oddling, comes from something my father used to call me. For years he called me “oddling” because I had gone away to college and become a writer, and because I didn’t smoke the tobacco we grew or drink the mountain liquor brewed nearby. I was recovering from my heart attack when my father died. During those last days he often visited me at my house, and he still called me “oddling.” It was then, just before he died, that I realized my father was one of God’s oddlings, not me. He was a proud, independent gentleman who made his own decisions and went his own way.—Jesse Stuart, Greenup, 1960
HARDBACK VERSION Jesse Stuart -
Kentucky Is My Home is a new collection of Jesse Stuart's previously unpublished poetry. Compiled and edited by John W. McCauley and published in 2025, it is a book that will continue to give life to Stuart’s poetry and his legend as a world-famous author, a far-sighted conservationist, and a respected spokesman for the people of Appalachia. HARDBACK VERSION Jesse Stuart
