Art and Activism program documents the 2022 Eastern Kentucky flood

The Farmer and the Crow band are rehearsing for Troublesome Rising which is being held at Southgate House Revival in Newport. The band performs Americana traditional music and original music with an old-timey bluegrass flavor.

Writers and Appalachian poets whose work is published in a new anthology documenting the 2022 eastern Kentucky flooding will present their work. Musician Dale Farmer said even though he and his band members live in Ohio and Northern Kentucky they’re honored to be part of this event.

“All four of my grandparents were from the mountains of Kentucky. And my whole world has been shaped by my Appalachian heritage, the way I think, the way I create. I feel a real connection with the folks down there. And when something catastrophic happens, we don’t feel the pain they feel, we don’t feel the loss but we feel part of the grief and we feel like we’re connected with that. And playing music is something that we can do,” explained Farmer.

The Troublesome Rising anthology documents the One-thousand-year flood in Eastern Kentucky and includes work of sixty writers and photographers in 300 pages. Melissa Helton is the literary arts director at Hindman Settlement School in Knott County. Two years ago, she attended the annual Appalachian writer’s workshop when the flood hit. Helton says the University Press of Kentucky asked her to edit an anthology about the flood. Helton shares a small part of the introduction she contributed to the book.

“I hope this collection helps the community metabolize some of the trauma. I hope it shows the tremendous generosity and courage of ordinary people. Our flood stories are unique, and also, taken in aggregate, they’re not. When disaster hits, from tornado to drone strike, people rise up to save each other. In the end, all our differences fall away, and humans help each other. The people of this region, as they always have and always will, rose up to save each other during and after this terrible flood. I want this collection to honor that -the searing, common humanity of the people of eastern Kentucky and the surrounding community who came to our aid in our dire need. It is a big story. And I want this collection to honor the part that happened to Hindman Settlement School, our writers, and our neighbors,” read Helton.

Writer Pauletta Hansel co-organized Troublesome rising: an evening of art and activism.

”Troublesome Rising: An Evening of Art and Activism is organized by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition, Hindman Settlement School. and Roebling Books.” said Hansel.

She said the evening of September 7th will be packed with entertainment from four bands and several writers featured in the new anthology.

“The intention of Troublesome Rising on September 7th is to raise awareness of the issues that are continuing to affect people in Appalachian communities, to celebrate the arts and resilience of the Appalachian community as evidenced in the anthology Troublesome Rising as well as in the performances that happen. And also to raise attention and to raise support for the non-profit organizations who are both presenting the event and also doing work in Appalachian communities and urban Appalachian communities in our area," said Hansel.

Eastern Kentucky bookstore owner and writer Mandi Fugate Sheffel has been instrumental in helping her Appalachian neighbors rebuild since the 2022 flood. She wrote a piece that appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader and is included in the anthology. She shares a few lines from What Water Can’t Erase.

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“At what is a hundred-year flood not a hundred-year flood? At what point do we acknowledge the effects of climate change or its existence? When streets in the UK melt under record heat waves, when our coastlines continue to chip away because of rising water levels, when the frequency and severity of storms continue to increase exponentially. For me, it’s when my home, eastern Kentucky, experiences a hundred-year flood once a year as we sit idly by and accept this as our new normal," read Fugate-Sheffel.

The anthology Troublesome Rising: A Thousand Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky was published through the Fireside Industries Imprint from the University Press of Kentucky. Writer Pauletta Hansel says copies of the new anthology will be available at the Troublesome Rising event on September 7th.

Hear more as Cheri Lawson talked with Melissa Helton ,editor of the new anthology Troublesome Rising A Thousand -Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky...

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