Many of the contributors to Z. Zane McNeill's Y'all Means All are also found in this special issue, and for good reason. Their scholarship in both venues provides a much-needed critical eye toward Appalachian studies and Appalachia more broadly, especially in considering how the construct of Appalachia functions as a queer space.
McNeill incorporates a significant amount of history on Appalachian representation in the introduction, citing well-known foundational works by Harry Caudill and Dwight Billings as well as more recent scholarship by Brian Gilley, Mary Gray, Colin Johnson, Elizabeth Catte, Hillery Glasby, Sherrie Gradin, Rachael Ryerson, Adam Denney, and Rebecca Scott, in order to explain how Appalachia is often othered and how such othering connects to queerness. Importantly, though, this collection does not center solely academic, scholarly voices. Many contributors to the collection are activists, artists, and non-academics whose lived experiences at the intersections of Appalachia and queerness reflect important...
