S03E12 - Rural Literature as Pedagogy and Whippoorwill Award, An Interview with Drs. Chea Parton and Erika Bass. In this episode of the Rural Voice, we interview Drs. Chea Parton and Erika Bass about their work with the Whippoorwill Committee, which recognizes outstanding rural literature. The episode is organized on two themes. The first is the need for voices in rural experience. We discuss how much rural literature uses negative stereotypes to present rural voices. The Whippoorwill Award seeks to highlight voices that juxtapose these voices within a shared narrative of empowerment and place. We discuss how teachers and students may be unaware of the significance of raising these voices in the common marketplace of fiction and nonfiction ideas. We discuss the diversity of voices and how rural identity changes over time. We discuss the importance of ELA teachers using books from a rural source to reflect student experiences through literature. The Whippoorwill Award provides a list of books sensitive to rural experience and how such work might empower students to see themselves as writers. We also discussed ways teachers can refer students to publish their work and be considered for the Whippoorwill Award. While it is an unusually long episode, there are several themes related to diversity of voice, stigma, and raising voices that complement the Whippoorwill Committee's goals. Whippoorwill information for teachers and writers: https://whippoorwillaward.weebly.com/ Twitter: @WhippoorwillCo1 Instagram:@WhippoorwillCommittee Facebook: @WhippoorwillAwardforYALiterature Bios Chea Parton Chea Parton grew up on a farm and still considers herself a farm girl. She has been a rural student, a rural English teacher, and is currently a visiting assistant professor at Purdue University where she works with future teachers through the Transition to Teaching Program. She is passionate about rural education. Her research focuses on the personal and professional identity of rural and rural out-migrant teachers as well as rural representation in YA literature. She currently runs Literacy In Place where she seeks to catalogue rural YA books and provides teaching resources, hosts the Reading Rural YAL podcast where she gives book talks and interviews rural YA authors, and co-chairs the Whippoorwill Book Award for Rural YA Literature selection committee. Her first book Country Teachers in City Schools: The Challenge of Negotiating Identity and Place is available through Rowman & Littlefield. You can reach her at readingrural@gmail.com. Reading Rural YAL Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reading-rural-yal/id1606560033 Social handles: Twitter: @readingrural Instagram and Facebook: @literacyinplace YouTube: @readingruralyal Erika Bass Erika Bass is assistant professor of English education at University of Northern Iowa. Her research is focused on preservice teacher education, rural education, and literacies; often those three areas intersect. She truly believes place and identity are deeply connected.