Six Poets from the Mountain South

In the most extensive work to date on major poets from the mountain South, John Lang takes as his point of departure an oft-quoted remark by Jim Wayne Miller: "Appalachian literature is — and has always been — as decidedly worldly, secular, and profane in its outlook as the [region's] traditional religion appears to be spiritual and otherworldly." Although this statement may be accurate for Miller's own poetry and fiction, Lang maintains that it does not do justice to the pervasive religiou...