Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place
Anniversary edition with new content to celebrate the lasting impact of one of WVU Press’s best-selling books
When Neema Avashia tells people where she’s from, their response is nearly always a disbelieving “There are Indian people in West Virginia?” A queer Asian American teacher and writer, Avashia fits few Appalachian stereotypes. But the lessons she learned in childhood about race and class, gender and sexuality continue to inform the way she moves through the world today: how she loves, how she teaches, how she advocates, how she struggles.
Another Appalachia examines both the roots and the resonance of Avashia’s identity as a queer desi Appalachian woman, while encouraging readers to envision more complex versions of both Appalachia and the nation as a whole. With lyric and narrative explorations of foodways, religion, sports, standards of beauty, social media, gun culture, and more, Another Appalachia mixes nostalgia and humor, sadness and sweetness, personal reflection and universal questions.
In its first year, Another Appalachia was named one of New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2022 and Best LGBTQ Memoir of 2022 by BookRiot, as well as being a finalist for the New England Book Award, the Weatherford Award, and a Lambda Literary Award. It has gone on to sell over 10,000 copies. This 2026 anniversary edition features a foreword by award-winning author and editor Ed Simon and an afterword in the form of a conversation between renown Appalachian author Robert Gipe and Avashia herself. Also included is a comprehensive accounting of the awards, accolades, and reviews Another Appalachia has received.
