Jul 21 2023 49 mins
On this episode of What Dreamers Do, host Carla Gover talks with Appalachian Author Bobi Conn about her work, her writing process, overcoming trauma, and offering a counter-narrative to stereotypical, pop-culture representations of the region. The two friends also riff about their personal experiences with healing and success, encouraging listeners to find their own path and express their best selves to the world.
The episode wraps up with a discussion about Bobi’s two existing books as well as her upcoming novel, which all explore universal themes and Bobi’s lived experiences and struggles, with a focus on women's lives.
Biography
Bobi Conn was born in Morehead, Kentucky, and raised in a nearby holler, where she developed a deep connection with the land and her Appalachian roots. She obtained her bachelor’s degree at Berea College, the first school in the American South to integrate racially and to teach men and women in the same classrooms. After struggling as a single mother, she worked multiple part-time jobs at once to support her son and to attend graduate school, where she earned a master’s degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing.
In 2020, she released her first book, an elegiac account of survival despite being born poor, female, and cloistered. In her honest and vulnerable memoir, we find a testament of hope for all vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls caught in the cycle of poverty and abuse.
Bobi's second book, a novel called "A Woman in Time," was published in 2022 and draws inspiration from the true stories of her great grandparents. It portrays a woman who challenges the constraints of life in Prohibition-era Appalachia in this sweeping and richly rewarding novel about endurance, survival, and redemption.
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