In the final post for #UPWeek 2023, the University Press of Kentucky is pleased to spotlight Mandi Fugate Sheffel, owner of the Read Spotted Newt. As an independent bookseller in eastern Kentucky, Mandi values the importance of sharing stories and diverse voices in the region. In this powerful guest post, Mandi expresses her love of books, language, and her devotion and commitment to serving and representing the Appalachia region.
The first novel I fell in love with was Catherine Marshall’s Christy. Originally published in 1968, my copy was a mass-market paperback with Kellie Martin as Christy on the cover. It’s a TV tie-in rereleased for the 1994 CBS television series. As a thirteen-year-old girl living in eastern Kentucky, it wasn’t the book protagonist Christy Huddleston that I could relate to most. I knew nothing about being a missionary in Appalachia. I’d never attended a one-room school or experienced mountain life during the turn of the century. But I knew Cutter Gap, the fictional town that was the backdrop for the story. The vivid descriptions of the landscape felt like home. I understood the people of Cutter Gap and their deep faith and mountain traditions. I took comfort in the language of the rich mountain dialect. Christy was my first real experience as a reader with what I now know as Appalachian or Southern lit, and it changed the trajectory of what I wanted to read.
Christy is one of the few books set in Appalachia that made it into mainstream media. Books published by the “big five” shy away from Appalachian and Southern lit. I was fortunate to grow up in Kentucky. Along with its basketball, horse racing, and bourbon, we have a rich literary tradition. After Christy, I started digging into James Still, Gurney Norman, Jesse Stuart, and Verna Mae Slone. My grandmother was an educator, and she had a bookshelf that I loved to pilfer through. I wanted to read everything I could get my hands on that came out of the mountains. I didn’t know it then, but something inside of me changed. Reading about other Appalachians, even though it was often from a different time, gave me a sense of pride and a deeper understanding of the place I was from. And to me, that’s what good literature does. It makes us empathic and broadens our worldview.
Now, I can introduce others to the myriad of voices that often go unheard or buried in the publishing world. When I decided to open an independent bookstore in Hazard, Kentucky, I knew what I wanted the primary focus to be. Bookstores in eastern Kentucky were few and far between when I was growing up. And the chance to meet and share spaces with writers was even more of a challenge. My dream for Read Spotted Newt was to create a space where readers and writers could come together and share their love of books. By providing a space, a literary community would form on its own organically. My passion for Appalachian literature is evident when you come into the bookstore. I wanted young readers to find books at Read Spotted Newt with characters they could see themselves in. Characters like I found in Christy. I wanted them to understand their lived experiences importance and connection to place.
The cornerstone to curating a collection that highlights all the themes important to me as a bookseller is independent presses, specifically university presses. My relationship with the University Press of Kentucky has many facets—one as a bookseller and one as a writer. On July 27th, 2022, I was offered a publishing contract from the press. I was on the campus of the Hindman Settlement School, attending the annual Appalachian Writers’ Workshop. It’s a magical week. I look for ways to replicate that space and time throughout the year. But it’s nearly impossible to recreate. Something about that week is sacred. The night of July 27th would be a turning point for eastern Kentucky. Historical flooding would ravage Hindman and the surrounding counties. Immediately, my attention was turned elsewhere, and the University Press of Kentucky staff offered nothing but support and compassion. Our conversations were no longer about contracts but about what I needed going forward. The time to use my energies to help my community recover and rebuild. My relationship with the press became one rooted in trust. I trusted that they would give my story room to unfold, and the bottom line was never of their concern. Appalachian stories are complex, and the story I wanted to tell is complex. Still, I knew from experience years of reading books published by the University Press of Kentucky that I need not worry about my words being manipulated for commercial success.
And that’s what a university press does. It gives a platform for complex, diverse stories—voices that are often overlooked by the larger market. Their commitment to amplifying rural and Appalachian voices was cemented with Fireside Industries, an imprint created in collaboration with the Hindman Settlement School. As a bookseller in eastern Kentucky, these are the stories that are important to my customers. Literature continues to come under attack in the current climate, so it’s important to me to provide books that push back against the powers that be.
Whether I’m in contact with someone at the University Press of Kentucky about my manuscript or arranging a book signing for other writers at Read Spotted Newt, I know that all parties involved are there for their love of language. Putting a book into the world takes time and great care if it’s done right. And the University Press of Kentucky is doing it right. I take comfort in knowing that independent presses are fighting the good fight so readers, young and old, see themselves in literature and understand their story is one important enough to tell.
Mandi Fugate Sheffel owns and operates Read Spotted Newt, a bookstore in Hazard, Kentucky. She was born and raised in Red Fox, Kentucky, and graduated from Eastern Kentucky University.
The University Press of Kentucky 