Dale Neal
September 19, 2024 | 7 pm @ Tusculum University
GREENEVILLE– A writer with a deep understanding of the Southern Appalachian culture shares his wisdom and his words during an upcoming reading atTusculum University.
Dale Neal, a novelist, teacher and journalist, appears in Behan Arena Theatre Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. as part of the Fall Humanities Reading Series. He will read some of his works, answer questions and participate in further interaction at a reception in the Behan lobby afterward. The event is free and open to the public and the Tusculum family.
“We chose Dale to be the speaker because, as a prominent Appalachian voice, he is uniquely positioned to combat some of the myths of this part of the country and to praise its unique beauty,” said Dr. Josh Martin, assistant professor ofEnglishat Tusculum, who is organizing the event. “The region is amelting pot of culture, literature, cuisine and tradition, and Dale's work reflects all of these great attributes.”
Dr. Martin said Kelsey Trom, associate professor of English and the Harriett Reaves Neff ’21 Chair of Fine Arts at Tusculum, identified Neal as an ideal speaker. He wholeheartedly agrees with her assessment, calling him one of the more prominent writers in Appalachia.
“While many writers have reduced the region to something ‘corn pone,’ Dale has the unique gift of crafting a story firmly set in Appalachia, while also complicating the region,” Dr. Martin said. “Given the history of Appalachian stereotypes, Dale’s ability to describe the region in complex, nuanced ways is a sociocultural boon.”
In his bio, Neal describes how the mountains in North Carolina held a significant influence over him. Among his most vivid memories were high hemlock-covered ridges and his grandfather’s farm, which included a small tobacco allotment, vegetables, chickens and cows.
“I roamed his woods; explored the granite cropping of the Raven Rock; climbed Frozen Head Mountain; pocketed lucky, smooth nuts from the tree that gave Buckeye Mountain its name; and steered clear of Snake Mountain,” Neal said. “It was a place with specific names and stories I devoured as a boy.”
Neal later spent more time in the mountains when he served as a reporter for the Citizen Times in Asheville, North Carolina. In his bio, he uses the reference to the newspaper to drop the name of famous author Thomas Wolfe, who was from that city and was well-known for books such as “Look Homeward, Angel.”
Neal’s novels include “Cow Across America,” winner of the 2009 Novello Literary Award, and “Appalachia Book of the Dead,” finalist for the 2020 Thomas Wolfe Literary Award. He also wrote “The Half-Life of Home” in 2013.
“Too many Southern novels fall prey to the Gothic stereotypes of moonshine, front porch soliloquies and snake handling set in a nostalgic past,” Neal said. “I wanted to write about the people who live in an ancient land in our changing times. All my novels have been set in these woods, exploring modern dilemmas.”
His most recent novel is “Kings of Coweetsee,” which he summarizes this way:
“Birdie Barker Price keeps the history of her remote mountain county at the local historical society. Birdie still likes to sing the murder ballads of women wronged and even killed by their lovers. Coweetsee’s curse is that nothing ever changes, but Birdie suspects that may not be true. When Birdie finds a long-missing ballot box from a stolen election on her front porch, she opens a Pandora’s box of vote-buying, betrayals, child brides and suspicious deaths.”
Neal’s short fiction and essays have appeared in publications such as “Carolina Quarterly,” “Four Way Review” and “North Carolina Literary Review.”
He received his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. He earned fellowships at Virginia Center for the Arts, Hambidge Center and Weymouth House.During his 38-year, award-winning journalism career, he attained fellowships from the Gralla institute for Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and in religion reporting at the Knight Center at the University of Maryland. Neal teaches fiction writing at the Asheville Graduate Center of Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Dr. Martin said goals of the Humanity Series include bringing well-respected writers to Tusculum to foster a literary spirit and start the fall semester with an academic, student-focused activity.
“Bringing Dale to Tusculum's campus reflects another Humanities Series' goal of enriching our broader Appalachian community with important literary and cultural voices,” he said. “Cultural expectations and representations of Appalachia are often misleading, and we want the series to emphasize the complexity of the region.”
To learn more about Neal’s writings, visithttps://www.dalenealbooks.com/. Further detail about Tusculum’s English program is available athttps://site.tusculum.edu/english-2/. Additional information about the university can be accessed atwww.tusculum.edu.
Category: Literature