500 Followers on Instagram!
Thank you all SO MUCH for 500 followers on Instagram! To celebrate I thought I would do an intro post to introduce myself and answer some FAQs!
Meet the Appalachian! 👋🏼
Hello! My name is Kendra Winchester, and I’m the creator of Read Appalachia.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
As my day job, I am the Executive Director and Co-founder of Reading Women, a podcast with Lit Hub Radio that features books by or about women. I also write about audiobooks for Book Riot.
WHERE IN APPALACHIA ARE YOU FROM?
For the last several generations, my family has been jumping back and forth across the Ohio River, so if there was ever such a thing as dual citizenship, we’d have it. My generation grew up on the Ohio side (tri-state region of OH/KY/WV), which created plenty of awkward situations during basketball season when we showed up to the OSU vs UK game all decked out in blue. Now, my family is back in Kentucky where my niece and nephew are the newest generation of Ohio-Kentucky Appalachians.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW?
I moved to the South Carolina upstate (which is still part of Appalachia) for college, but I just recently moved to the SC Lowcountry. It’s been quite the adjustment, but I already have my Appalachian Lit collection set up in my living room.
HOW DO YOU READ?
I have a genetic condition that causes my collagen to fail at it’s job in a lot of different ways. Part of that means that I have chronic daily headaches and migraines that prevent me from reading text most of the time, which is why I read solely via audiobook. Being a disabled Appalachian has made me passionate about the need for better healthcare, especially in the region. But my disability also means I can’t read Appalachian titles that don’t have audiobooks. If you’d be interested in writing a post about an Appalachian book that’s only available in print, feel free to send me a DM!
DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?
I have a Corgi named Dylan (@thebookcorgi), but he would most certainly protest being called a “pet.” 😆😂
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Do you all have any other questions for me? Feel free to ask them in the comments!
