Letter From The Editor

Issue 3

Dear Readers,

I will never forget the first time that I heard Lee Smith read her work; there is simply nothing like it. This particular reading occurred at an Appalachian Studies Association conference in Boone, North Carolina, in 1998. I had already read most of Smith's novels and short stories by the time I attended the conference and admired her storytelling and her unique narrative voice. But when she started reading aloud from Saving Grace, I felt as if I were encountering her work for the first time. I was immediately transported to Gracie's world. When she finished, I stood in line and bought a copy of Saving Grace, waiting somewhat impatiently to speak with the author of this book, a book that I soon learned was both wonderfully written and a challenge to examine myself and my beliefs. Today, when I read Saving Grace, I can still hear Smith's voice, new layers of meaning being added with each reading.

Lee Smith never fails to capture my imagination with her talent for crafting a story told from multiple points of view; Oral History, in which she presents the reader with not one or two but multiple narrative voices, remains one of my favorites. Whether I am following the thoughts of Granny Younger, the novel's sharp-witted and equally sharp-tongued granny woman/midwife, or Richard Burlage, the young man from the big city who goes to the mountains to teach the mountain children and leaves having learned some lessons, though precious few, from them, the voices in this book are all rich and unique. Smith employs this narrative technique effectively in other books as well; in The Devil's Dream, for example, she uses no less than seventeen voices to tell her story.

Smith uses other techniques equally as well. She handles the difficult narrative structure of the epistolary novel with ease in Fair and Tender Ladies. Ivy Rowe is one of Southern literature's most distinctive characters; her voice is strong and her story compelling. Told in the form of Ivy's letters written throughout her life, Fair and Tender Ladies takes readers on Ivy's journey through the difficult terrain of her life from her girlhood in turn- of-the-twentieth century Appalachian Virginia to just before her death. Writing about this book, Anne Rivers Siddons says, "Lee Smith has one of the truest and keenest ears for the secret voices of the human heart I have ever encountered." Certainly Ivy's heartbreaking honesty and clear voice still resonate with me today. Siddons's statement sums up for me one of the many reasons that I love this book. It also addresses Smith's appeal as a writer and a strong voice for the American south.

These novels are just a sampling of Smith's work. In her most recent novel, On Agate Hill, Smith introduces us to Molly Petree, who has been orphaned by the Civil War and whose story is told in a collection of diary entries, newspaper clippings, lists, letters, and other documents. In "How I Got Hooked on History," Smith explains how she became intrigued by the Civil War, which had never really interested her before, and how this newfound interest led her to tell Molly's story. Once you read Smith's article, I'm sure that, if you have not yet read it, you'll be eager to find a copy of On Agate Hill to read more about Molly and her story.

Also included in this issue, you will find other articles, book reviews, and features of interest. Dr. Dale Brown continues his series of conversations with southern writers in the first part of his conversation with Lee Smith. You will also find the second in a three-part series on Appalachia's Melungeons by Dr. Katherine Vande Brake. Vande Brake examines the shared experiences of Melungeons that bind them to each other and to their heritage. This issue also includes, for the first time, short fiction with the publication of Dr. Ted Olson's story "The Legend of Frank Johnstone." I hope you enjoy reading this issue. If you have never read Lee Smith, you are in for a treat!

Kim Holloway
Editor Southern Writers