Hounds on the Mountain: Poems - Softcover

Still, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1950564223 ISBN 13: 9781950564224

Publisher: Fireside Industries, an imprint of University Press of Kentucky, 2022

Synopsis

First published in 1937, Hounds on the Mountain evokes James Still's personal experiences of eastern Kentucky through reflective folk poems describing Appalachian mountain life from birth through death. Written during the Great Depression, the collection emphasizes a collective reliance on the earth and the primacy of nature that Still observed from the seclusion of his thirty-acre home in Knott County, Kentucky.

Still, who became known as the "Dean of Appalachian Literature," describes the changing landscape of his community as a tale of personal and environmental erosion. As the poet pleads for his readers to better protect this fragile ecosphere, he plants the seeds for his rise to literary eminence. Still's focus on the self-made authenticity of regional community artisans also reminded American readers during the Great Depression that local economies needed support, the same as those at the national and global levels. Hounds on the Mountain allows today's audiences to appreciate Still's first published book as both literature and as a treasured cultural symbol of Appalachian life then and now.

About this title

About the Author

James Still (1906–2001) wrote several works of fiction and poetry including River of Earth, The Wolfpen Poems, and From the Mountain, From the Valley.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fireside Industries, an imprint of University Press of Kentucky
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1950564223
• ISBN 13: 9781950564224
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 74