By Mike Templeton
On Sunday, November 2, from 4 to 6 PM the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition presents the Appalachian Flow Moving Stories Showcase at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum. Join us for an afternoon of storytelling, spoken word, poetry, folk music, historical reflection, visual and traditional folk arts through the lens of journey and home place. This event will feature some of the finest literary and artistic talent in the region who will gather in the spirit of celebrating our shared history and cultural legacies. The event will feature music, food, and art.
The phrase “moving stories” might be seen as defining features of urban Appalachian cultural life: movement and migration. For this event we are teaming up with the Harriet Beecher Stowe House to hear voices who can represent the stories of the Great Migration of the millions of African American families who left the South during the period of 1910-1970. Of course, many of these African American migrants were also Appalachian migrants, and countless others who came to Cincinnati would have crossed paths with both white and black urban Appalachians. All who carry the legacy of the Great Migration have much to share.
Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour will present at the Appalachian Flow Moving Stories Showcase. Kari is a ninth-generation Ohio Appalachian, and her rural experiences bring a unique sensibility to poetry and storytelling. She will offer her thoughts on the experience of being an Ohio Appalachian and her compelling mentorship for poetry and storytelling. Kari will also offer a pre-showcase creative writing workshop at the Carnegie from 1-3 pm. (Details below.)
Members of UACC’s Place Keepers, a collective of creative young adults stirring arts and cultural inspiration all around the Greater Cincinnati area, will also be present to participate and share with everyone their own unique approaches to “moving stories” through literature, visual art, zine-making, and family folklore. Place Keepers organizer Sherry Cook Stanforth emphasized that “the Place Keepers is built on the exchange of intergenerational wisdom,” that people learn from each other across generations, and this is a crucial feature of how we maintain vibrant and living cultures over time. It is genuinely exciting to welcome a newer Place Keeper, Alexandria Montgomery, who will offer her interpretations and renderings of Moving Stories which will center on her Black and Native American roots. Montgomery said she is especially drawn to UACC’s commitment to the land, oral history, and remembrance, things that speak powerfully to her own experiences and commitments. “I believe we are made of memories and stories, and cultural spaces of this type allow for regional memory to take root and take new life among all who participate. This memory is not monolithic, but instead kaleidoscopic: ongoing, across generation, race, political affiliation, etc. It is the messy truth of a place.” This messy truth is perhaps the kernel of what all artists, poets, and story tellers wrestle with to convey experiences that are both unique and that cross cultures and generations.
The Showcase also features Sherry Cook Stanforth, Artist-in-Residence at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum and UACC Core member; award-winning Multi-Media Artist, Michael Thompson; Cincinnati Poet Laureate Emeritus Pauletta Hansel; Spoken Word Artist MoPoetry Phillips; and Cincinnati’s current Poet Laureate Richard Hague. This is a rare gathering of some of the most important figures in urban Appalachian literature and art in our region. These are the people who can offer insights into some of the most crucial aspects of contemporary urban Appalachian and African American cultural life.
UACC is grateful to the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, our supporting partner, for its help in making this connection between the Appalachian migration and the Great Migration of Black people from the American south. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is an important historical site right here in Cincinnati. It preserves the history and legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family, offering tours, historical lectures, and onsite lessons. By partnering with this great institution, UACC is able to bring to the table historical legacies and oral histories that deepen the themes of moving and migration. Christina Hartlieb, Executive Director of Harriet Beecher Stowe House said: “Migration is an integral part of people’s lives and community building. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s movement enabled her to have the experiences which led to the writing of the antislavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Many of the residents of the Edgemont Inn (an earlier name of what is now the Harriet Beecher Stowe House) moved during the Great Migration to carve out a better life. Our history and cultural heritage are woven into the ideals of moving stories and creating something new.” It is important to remember both similarities in the experience between African American and white migrants, and equally important to bear in mind the crucial differences that define these experiences. All of this certainly points to future work and collaboration between UACC and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.
UACC’s Appalachian Flow Moving Stories Showcase promises to be a one-of-a-kind event in which participants will learn from each toward mutual understandings that can only come from sharing experiences that are both unique and common. This afternoon of storytelling, spoken word, poetry, folk music, historical reflection, visual and traditional folk arts will be held on Sunday, November 2, from 4 to 6 PM at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum, 3738 Eastern Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45226. There is a “pay as you can” registration, ranging from $5-15.
Creative writers at any level of experience are also welcome to register for Moving Stories Creative Writing Workshop, also on November 2 from 1-3 PM, with a fee of $25. This supportive circle will be led by Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour and Sherry Cook Stanforth and offer inspiring prompts, rich cultural heritage reflection, and sharing.
More information and registration for both events are available at the website: https://www.thecarnegiecenter.org/artist-in-residence.
Please direct questions and requests to Sherry Cook Stanforth at [email protected]
Michael Templeton is a writer, and independent scholar. He is the author of The Chief of Birds: A Memoir published with Erratum Press and Impossible to Believe, published by Iff Books. He is also the author of Collected Apoems, forthcoming from LJMcD Communications, The Ohiomachine, forthcoming from Dead Letter Office/Punctum Books, and Nod: On Digital Exile forthcoming with Erratum Press, the Academic Division. Check out his profile in UACC’s Cultural Directory. He has published numerous articles and essays on contemporary culture and works of creative non-fiction as well as experimental works and poetry. He lives in West Milton, Ohio with his wife who is an artist.