The Highland Summer Writing Conference (HSC), held each summer along the banks of the ancient New River at Radford University's Selu Conservancy, brings together and inspires writers as they participate in the communal art of creating and sharing. Over the years, many prestigious Appalachian authors have taught workshops to like-minded students, many of whom became published authors in their own right. This book, a celebration of the HSC, is a collection of reflective essays, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction contributed by 41 authors and student-authors who have taken part in the conference over a span of 43 years.

"Time and the River is about freedom and slavery, hope and betrayal. It tells the story of people who don't own their own land or time, or even their own bodies. Leah Lawson is the daughter of a slave owner and a slave woman in Belize (the former British Honduras). In dreaming of a better future Leah must make some difficult choices. Her life takes drastic turns, changing her from slave into mistress, and forcing her to take the lives of her family and best friend into her own hands."--Jacket.

The Highland Summer Writing Conference (HSC), held each summer along the banks of the ancient New River at Radford University's Selu Conservancy, brings together and inspires writers as they participate in the communal art of creating and sharing. Over the years, many prestigious Appalachian authors have taught workshops to like-minded students, many of whom became published authors in their own right. This book, a celebration of the HSC, is a collection of reflective essays, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction contributed by 41 authors and student-authors who have taken part in the conference over a span of 43 years.

Buffalo River Writers is a group of Perry County Tennessee, residents who meet regularly to share their words with each other, and now through this special collection of stories, poems, and essays, with the public. All proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the Perry County Arts Council.

Within these pages are bits and pieces of the lives of the members of the COA River House Writers. These clever ladies and gentlemen have met in the Council on Aging's St. Augustine River House every Wednesday morning at ten o'clock for the last four years. Under the guidance of journalist Peter Guinta, we share mostly memoirs, but also a few other types of writing, even fiction. We read our writings aloud and then the group makes comments and suggestions. The sharing is exhilarating, funny, sad, and deeply satisfying. We each have learned much about the art and craft of writing from each other and from Peter, our mentor. Several of our members have put together books of their own memoirs which their family and friends have enjoyed reading.