Dr. Ted Olson of ETSU has co-edited a book of essays, James Still: Critical Essays on the Dean of Appalachian Literature, published last month by McFarland & Co.
The volume is a compilation of 27 scholarly essays exploring Still’s literary legacy.
The first published book-length scholarly study to explore the writings of Still, whom author Hal Crowther called “the last – and least known – of America’s ‘Greatest Generation’ of writers,” the work features contributions from leading scholars and writers.
The book is devoted to the full range of Still’s literary interests, with chapters devoted to his acclaimed novel, River of Earth, as well as his short stories, poetry, folkloric works, and literature for children.
While Olson was a graduate student at the University of Kentucky, he met Still at the 50th anniversary of the publication his novel. A few years later, Still discussed his work for Olson’s students, and, during his talk, Still mentioned that his poetry had never been fully compiled. Olson decided to undertake that task, with Still’s encouragement. The resulting work, Still’s final book, From the Mountain, From the Valley: New and Collected Poems, received the Appalachian Book of the Year Award from the Appalachian Writers Association in 2002.
Olson, an associate professor in the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, was recently awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar grant to lecture and conduct research at the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain next spring.
Among Olson’s other published works are Blue Ridge Folklife, Breathing in Darkness: Poems, and the forthcoming Impossible Wind: The Formative Years of Robinson Jeffers. With country music historian Dr. Charles K. Wolfe, Olson co-edited the award-winning scholarly study entitled The Bristol Sessions: Writings About the Big Bang of Country Music, and he and Dr. Anthony Cavender, professor of Sociology and Anthropology, co-edited a forthcoming volume, A Tennessee Folklife Sampler: The Best of the Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin.

Author