Twenty years ago, Silas House was a young mail carrier in rural Laurel County. He dreamed of being a full-time writer but didn’t dare to imagine it would come true.
The publication of his first novel, Clay’s Quilt, changed all of that.
The book became a New York Times bestseller, an international phenomenon and a staple of Appalachian literature. As of 2021, it has been continuously in print for 20 years. House called its breakaway success an anomaly, a bestseller that gained recognition solely by word of mouth.
In an August interview at Berea College, where House is the NEH Chair in Appalachian Studies, he shared his inspiration for writing the novel and its lingering impact.
Around 2000, Appalachian writing was gaining national recognition and validation. But House noticed many of these books were set in previous time periods or reflected people living in an antiquated fashion.
House wanted to read a book about his family, his friends, his life—so he wrote the first novel about Generation X in the region. “Clay’s Quilt forces readers to look at modern Appalachia,” he said. “The characters listen to an eclectic mix of music, from rap to bluegrass, and live in a global world.”
The book reflects one of House’s continuing themes. While it contains social justice issues that some would call political, such as a failing economy and drug addiction, it doesn’t come across as preachy. For House, the human story is always front and center. “It is not a perfect book, but the story really holds up,” he said. “The family is endearing, authentic and easy to love.”
As House reflected on the 20th anniversary, he said the most amazing thing about Clay’s Quilt for him is the way it resonates with people all over the world. He wrote a local story, set in southeastern Kentucky, that reflects a strong mountain culture. But the core of the story—about family, storytelling and the ripple effects of violence—touches everybody.
“Readers from the Ukraine and Nigeria have told me about the similarities between cultures that, on the surface, look so different,” he said.
More Than a Novelist
One of the things that helped develop House’s writing career was the Appalachian Writers’ Workshop at Hindman Settlement School. He first attended five years before Clay’s Quilt was published and felt embraced by the community. Lee Smith became a mentor for him, and Sharon McCrumb helped him navigate the business side of writing.
“The Appalachian Writers’ Workshop is totally foundational to my being a writer,” House said. “I have found the only way to sustain a life as a writer is with a community.”
While House is best known for novels like Clay’s Quilt, his published oeuvre spans almost the entire breadth of writing genres. He has four published plays—all commissioned—two of which were staged at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He has a couple of poems out in the world, although he admitted to feeling unqualified as a poet.
House has had numerous essays, creative nonfiction, and opinion pieces published. Some have been featured in The New York Times and The Atlantic. One of his most-read pieces is a reflection on Appalachian food for Gravy magazine. His essay on pickled bologna was selected for a Best American Food Writing collection. The story is evocative of family and childhood but is about more than the pleasures of comfort food. “It allowed me to write about class,” he said.
House is less known for his journalism, even though it is a significant part of his work. He is one of Nashville’s most in-demand music writers, a fame that can be traced to Clay’s Quilt. The novel has 75 music references, which House uses to frame the time period and provide a cultural touchpoint. Two characters in Clay’s Quilt share an affinity for singer Lucinda Williams. A music magazine editor asked House to write a profile on Williams for an upcoming album release as the novel was gaining in popularity.
But House feels most comfortable writing novels. “I have a deep desire to write. I am not happy unless I am working on a novel,” he said. “It is my form of meditation, my way to be still. It is really a selfish thing.”
A Thoroughly Kentucky Writer
House considers himself lucky to have found a cadre of generous established writers when he was starting out, and he pays it forward by nurturing other regional writers. He is a professor at Berea College and teaches at Spalding University’s School of Creative and Professional Writing. He often returns to serve on staff at the Appalachian Writers’ Workshop.
One of his newest contributions is as part of a team that selects books for an imprint of the University Press of Kentucky. He serves as the editor, which gives him the opportunity to nurture and champion the works of new writers. Chef Ouita Michel’s cookbook, Just a Few Miles South, and Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle’s Even as We Breathe are two of those.
Something that has remained constant in House’s writing career is a sense of being a representative of the region, even as the settings for his books have expanded to include Key West and Ireland (his next book—look for it soon!). As anyone who has heard an interview with him knows, his home is obvious as soon as he opens his mouth. For many who attend his readings, House is the only person from Appalachia they have ever met.
“When I am on book tour, 50 percent of what I talk about is Appalachia. I am treated like an expert,” he said. “The best service I can show this place is to represent it in a complex way, to show how it contains multitudes of people.”
One of the ways he does that is just by being himself. His identities include rural, working class, academic, Appalachian, person of faith and gay. “It freaks people out to put all of those together, but it is just who I am,” House said.
Clay’s Quilt has had an impact on people in the Appalachian region. House loves when high school students relate that it was the first book they ever read entirely. “It is about a young person trying to find out who they are,” he said. “I love that it is reaching people in that way.”
A newly released 20th anniversary edition of Clay’s Quilt includes an introduction by singer/songwriter Tyler Childers. Childers wrote about how the book affected how he thinks about home and his relationship to it: “Too many teachers and mentors, with the best of intentions, had left me feeling my ‘east Kentucky-ness’ was a thing that I’d need to be shed of in order to get further in this world. The further from home I got, the more I realized it was the only thing that would keep me pointed north … Through Clay’s tight-knit network of family and friends, the outsider is given a glimpse of life within these hills and the spirit that settled them. For the young Appalachian writer searching for his or her own voice, it sits among the finest as an inspiration to take what is and shine it outward.”