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Making our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: In-person at Birthplace of Country Music Museum; virtual via YouTube
Cost: Free and open to the public
Join us on Tuesday, September 9 for a Speaker Session with Emily Hilliard. In this Speaker Session, folklorist Emily Hilliard talks about the future-focused and collaborative approach to cultural work she explores in her book, Making our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia. From diverse examples such as the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike, non-professional women songwriters, hot dogs, and the tradition of independent pro-wrestling, Hilliard paints a picture of folklore as a unifying concept that puts diverse cultural forms in conversation and creates a framework that helps us understand our past and shape our future.
Emily Hilliard is a Folklorist at Berea College and the former West Virginia State Folklorist and Founding Director of the West Virginia Folklife Program. Her book, Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia (UNC Press, 2022) was named a finalist for the 2022 Weatherford Award in nonfiction for books “best illuminating the challenges, personalities, and unique qualities of the Appalachian South.” She is also the co-founder and co-owner of the feminist record label SPINSTER. Find more of her work at emilyehilliard.com.
