In celebration of the Center for Appalachian Studies’ 30th anniversary and Appalshop’s 40th anniversary, the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University will be present a number of different events this week. Our favorites are listed below. Ann Pancake is the voice behind our multi-media presentation on mountaintop removal, Appalachian Treasures. And Tom Hansell and Appalshop have been producing great documentaries about Appalachia. Check them all out!

Monday, September 14, 7:00pm
IG Greer Auditorium
Featured Speaker Ann Pancake
“Voices from Under the Mine: A Reading from the Novel: Strange as This Weather Has Been & Book Signing

Published in 2007, “Strange As This Weather Has Been” is her first novel. It features a southern West Virginia family devastated by mountaintop removal mining. Based on interviews and real events, the novel was one of KirkusReview’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2007, won the 2007 Weatherford Award, and was a finalist for the 2008 Orion Book Award.

Wednesday September 16 7pm
Premier of Tom Hansell’s “The Electricity Fairy”
Belk Library Room 114

“They reach out and flip the switch and the light comes on. Well, there’s not a magic electricity fairy. That electricity comes from a power plant that feeds on coal.”
– Eugene Mooney, former head of the Kentucky Department for Natural Resources

The Electricity Fairy is a documentary that examines America’s national
addiction to fossil fuels through the lens of electricity. Appalshop
Filmmaker Tom Hansell follows the story of a proposed coal-fired power
plant in the mountains of southwest Virginia, connecting the local
controversy to the national debate over energy policy. Present day
documentary footage is remixed with old educational films, connecting
past policy to America’s current energy crisis.