Celebrating "Testament" in Eastern Kentucky
Belle Townsend (Backwoods Literary Press) & Stacie Fugate (Appalachians for Appalachia)
Centering Eastern Kentucky: Backwoods Literary Press & Rural–Urban Exchange
Backwoods Literary Press was grateful to receive support through Kentucky Rural–Urban Exchange for an artist-led project generating economic impact in Eastern Kentucky. This grant allowed us to travel, host events, and create accessible programming that supported the release of Testament: A Rural Anthology while directly investing time, resources, and visibility back into the region that has shaped so much of this work.
Eastern Kentucky is, in many ways, at the heart of this press. Many of the writers involved in Backwoods Literary Press and in Testament are from or currently live in the region, and centering Eastern Kentucky as a place to promote the book and gather artists felt essential. The RUX grant made it possible to do this work in person, thoughtfully, and with care.
Through this support, we were able to travel for events that generated local economic activity alongside fundraising for the book’s release. Testament is sold through independent bookstores and community spaces, which allowed those host venues to make money directly from sales. Several events also drew attendees traveling from out of town, bringing people into Eastern Kentucky who spent money locally—eating at nearby restaurants, shopping at small businesses, and visiting places they might not otherwise have experienced. The book is currently being mailed out to supporters, and the momentum generated through these events has been invaluable, building excitement, visibility, and long-term sustainability for both the press and the artists involved.
As part of this project, we hosted a reading at CoffeeTree Books in Morehead, Kentucky, featuring contributors to Discarded, our first anthology, and sharing the ongoing vision of Backwoods Literary Press. We also offered a series of virtual, pay-what-you-can workshops designed to be accessible to writers isolated by geography or resources. These workshops served a dual purpose: helping fundraise for the book while sharing creative tools and community across distance. The virtual workshops included The Voice of the Poem: A Generative Workshop taught by Marianne Worthington and Poetics of Disbelief taught by Olivia Dudding-Rodriguez.
In Eastern Kentucky, we were honored to teach In Your Own Handwriting at the Hindman Settlement School’s Winter Burrow, led by Belle Townsend and Shiloh Stump. This workshop focused on memory, place, and reclaiming personal narrative, and it was deeply meaningful to offer it in a region where those themes are lived every day. We also hosted an Afternoon Tea with Backwoods at The Pond in Whitesburg, Kentucky, which took the form of a gathering centered on discussion, journaling, and reflection on the year—an accessible, welcoming space for artists and community members.
We look forward to our final event later this January in Hazard, Kentucky, continuing to center Eastern Kentucky as a place of gathering, creativity, and exchange. We encourage folks to follow Backwoods Literary Press on social media for details.
This project reflects what we value most as a press: creating space for rural artists, building connection across distance and difference, and investing directly in the places that make the work possible. The support from RUX allowed us not only to promote Testament, but to offer tangible resources, opportunities, and care to artists—many of whom are from Eastern Kentucky and whose stories continue to shape the direction of this press.
Testament: A Rural Anthology is available through Backwoods Literary Press at backwoodsliterarypress.com. In addition to standard sales, we offer a Buy One, Give One option, which allows readers to purchase an extra copy that is donated to community spaces—including mutual aid hubs, cultural centers, and other gathering places, often in contributors’ hometowns. This model helps keep the book circulating beyond individual ownership and ensures that rural stories remain accessible in the places they come from.
We are deeply thankful for the support of Kentucky Rural–Urban Exchange and for the opportunity to center Eastern Kentucky through this work. Being able to promote Testament while showing up for artists and communities in the region has been one of the most meaningful parts of this project, and we look forward to continuing this work in the months ahead.
—Belle Townsend (Backwoods Literary Press) & Stacie Fugate (Appalachians for Appalachia)
The Kentucky Intercultural Microgrant Program is a seed grant to support two or more individuals or organizations collaborating across distance, difference, or sector on projects that celebrate and connect Kentucky's people and places. Our 2025 funding partners included Kentucky Arts Council, Fund for the Arts, Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kentucky Waterways Alliance, EarthTools, and individual donors. Learn more at kyrux.org/microgrants