Join us for a book launch celebration and discussion of Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia. This new oral history collection is out now from Voice of Witness and Haymarket Books, edited by Virginia Tech professor Katrina Powell with a foreword from poet-activist Nikki Giovanni.

Appalachia has been a place of movement and migration—for individuals, families, and entire communities—for centuries. This book brings together oral histories of refugees, migrants, and generations-long residents that explore complex journeys of resettlement. In these stories, Appalachia—despite how it’s popularly portrayed—is not simply a monolithic region of white poverty and strife. It is a diverse place where belonging and connection are created despite displacement, resource extraction, and inequality.

Taken together, the narratives present a nuanced look at life in contemporary Appalachia, expand our ideas of who belongs, and add to the growing body of works that counter damaging myths of the region.