UACC Blog
The Implications of an Appalachian Diaspora
by Mike Templeton Writing about urban Appalachian culture for the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition has given me the opportunity to speak with people all over the country, from New York City, rura...
The Enduring and Enchanting World of Jack
By Mike Templeton The storyteller is a central figure in Appalachian folklife, one that remains alive to this day. There are a few people within the orbit of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition ...
UACC’s Kith and Kin Exhibits featured Fall 2025 at the CHPL Main Library Huenefeld Story Center
By Pauletta Hansel We are excited to announce that our partner organization, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, will host the Urban Appalachian Kith and Kin Exhibit, October-December 2...
Woven Branches’ “Land Matters” at Roebling Books & Coffee
By Mike Templeton A primary way that the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition carries the message about the role and centrality of urban Appalachians in our local culture is through the arts. Poets, ...
Poetry Night at Sitwell’s to be Taken Over by Appalachian Poets with Jackie Ison Kalbli and Barbara Marie Minney
By Mike Templeton While the poetry of urban Appalachians often evokes ideas and images that are distinctly Appalachian, both urban and rural, our poets also speak from the full range of what makes us ...
Appalachian Literacy and Reading Programs for Prison Inmates
BY Mike Templeton The Central Appalachian region has a disproportionately high incarceration rate, and it is also an area with some of the highest concentrations of prisons. Economic conditions drive ...
Restoring the Appalachian Trail After Hurricane Helene
The Appalachian Trail suffered major damage from Hurricane Helene, with over 430 miles impacted. Urban Appalachian writer Michael Templeton explores the trail’s significance, the ongoing restoration...
The Kentucky Folk Center Features a New Exhibit of Photographs of Appalachian Kentucky
By Mike Templeton Part of telling the story of urban Appalachians involves remaining acutely aware of how Appalachia is represented by contemporary photographers. Our story is complex, and some of the...
“Magenta,” The Appalshop Archives after the Thousand Year Flood
By Mike Templeton People in Eastern Kentucky and other parts of the Appalachian region are still digging out, rebuilding, and trying to make sense after the devastating floods of 2022 which will leave...
“In These Hills,” A New Exhibition on Urban Appalachian Life at the Over-the-Rhine Museum
By Mike Templeton The Over-the-Rhine Museum has put out a call for stories & artifacts to help shape “In These Hills” – A New Exhibition on Urban Appalachian Life in Over-the-Rhine. This exh...
Home Shores Creative Writing Workshop with Cincinnati Poet Laureate Richard Hague and Carnegie Artist in Residence Sherry Cook Stanforth
By Mike Templeton On Saturday, July 26 from 2-4 pm at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum, you will have a rare opportunity to hone your writing and poetic craft with two of urban Appalachia and ...
Hopes for the Return of the American Chestnut Tree
By Mike Templeton On any given weekend, you might find a good many of us with the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition in the woods around greater Cincinnati. Given time, most of us will head back to...
A Celebration to Honor Richard Hague as the Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate for 2025-2027
By Mike Templeton The Mercantile Library of Cincinnati just announced that long-time Cincinnati writer, poet, and urban Appalachian Richard Hague has been awarded the honor of the Cincinnati and Merca...
Through Their Eyes, a New Film from the Appalachian Media Institute
By Mike Templeton The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition embraces the fact that Appalachian people comprise the full range of humanity. We are not a singular bunch of folks. Like everyone who calls...
Introducing Urban Appalachia in a Great New Article by Thomas E. Wagner and Phillip J. Obermiller
By Mike Templeton Sometimes the most important thing we need to do in urban Appalachian advocacy is make it known just exactly who and what we are. It is easy for us within the circle to see it all as...
Mark Mussman Takes the Helm at Your Store of the Queen City
By Mike Templeton We have offered numerous stories on the progress of Meiser’s Fresh Grocery & Deli because it operates in the historically urban Appalachian neighborhood of Lower Price Hill, wh...
“Somewhere Over the Holler” at this Year’s Cincinnati Fringe Festival
By Mike Templeton This year’s Cincinnati Fringe Festival will include something quite close to our hearts at the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition. Local theater and dance company Pones Inc. wil...
Earth Ships in Appalachia
By Mike Templeton For all the ways technology has brought tremendous blessings to human life, there is a trade-off that can make us wonder if the blessing is really worth the cost. The Urban Appalachi...