Melissa Newman

Appalachian writer and researcher. Three published novels, another in the works, one adaptation in progress. I love characters -- building them, growing them, pressing them to expand and explode. My three novels: Sister Blackberry, House of Cleaving, and Growing Up Wilder, are all southern gothic literature. In the south we grow up entrenched in family secrets and my characters are no different. From an intersexed child growing up in the 1950s to a foul-mouthed little girl growing up in the 70s among some pretty crazy women, my characters collectively paint the south in her true colors.
In addition to writing fiction, I have committed my career to making Kentucky’s Appalachia a better place to live, work, grow, and thrive.
My ongoing academic research is rooted in Kentucky’s Appalachia and studies methods of raising hope in communities through the erosion of negative stereotypes and reveals economic implications for individuals and regional populations.