In trying to develop a stronger Marshall community, the university recently recommended a history of Queer Appalachian literature and the memoir of a Salvadoran poet and activist for the Herd to read this academic year.

University representatives selected these readings in an attempt to align with the third year of the Higher Learning Commission’s Quality Initiative. Marshall’s website says the books were chosen to “support and stimulate conversation” about “Building a Stronger and More Inclusive Marshall Community,” the HLC’s theme this year.

For the Fall 2024 Semester, the university suggested “Doubly Erased: LGBTQ Literature in Appalachia” by Allison Carey. Carey serves as the chair of Marshall’s English department.

Her book “traces the tradition of LGBTQ literature in Appalachia starting in 1976 when the first publication by an openly LGBTQ Appalachian writer came out,” as she told Virginia Tech News in an interview.

Carey will present a reading of her book at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the Drinko Library Atrium.

For the Spring 2025 Semester, meanwhile, the university recommended “Solito: A Memoir,” an autobiography written by Salvadoran poet and activist Javier Zamora.

In this New York Times best-selling memoir, Zamora recounts his nine-week immigration journey through Guatemala, Mexico and the Sonoran Desert at the age of nine.

Zamora is also the author of the poetry collection “Unaccompanied,” and he has won awards such as the 2024 Whiting Fellowship and the 2022 LA Times Christopher Isherwood Prize. He holds several fellowships and volunteers with Salvavision, The Kino Border Initiative and The Florence Project.

Zamora will moderate two conversations on Thursday, March 6. The first conversation is an exclusive event for students, and the second event is open to the public. These events are part of the Marshall Artist Series’ Masters at Marshall Distinguished Speaker Series.

Both readings were selected by university representatives in an attempt to align with this year’s HLC initiative. Marshall’s website says the books were chosen to “support and stimulate conversation” about “Building a Stronger and More Inclusive Marshall Community.”

This is the third and final year of the university’s initiative. Since the fall of 2022, according to Marshall’s website, the university has worked toward three goals: increasing “students’ readiness to work and live in a global and/or otherwise diverse community,” increasing “access to the university by reducing barriers that disproportionately disadvantage people from undeserved communities” and promoting “student learning through outreach to the community and engagement in such high impact practices as community-based learning and research.”

Baylee Parsons can be contacted [email protected].