Appalachian Flooding in Fact and Fiction

In “Appalachian Flooding in Fact and Fiction,” Nico Zegre, Ph.D., explores how floods work, what flooding looks like in Appalachia, and why floods are changing. He will discuss how the region’s steep topography, narrow valleys, and limited flat land for development contribute to significant flood risks, as well as how flooding connects Appalachian communities through space and time.

Literary scholar Jessica Cory, Ph.D., examines representations of flooding in Appalachian literature, from early works to contemporary depictions in twenty-first-century texts, including the recent anthologies Had I a Dove: Appalachian Poets on the Helene Flood, edited by Hilda Downer, and Troublesome Rising: A Thousand-Year Flood in Eastern Kentucky, edited by Melissa Helton. Through mapping literary floods across the region, Cory explores how water connects us, even in disastrous ways.

This event is free and open to the public; however, registration is encouraged. Register Here

“Appalachian Flooding in Fact and Fiction” is the third event in the “Rising Waters: Writing Place and Environment” Thomas Howerton Professorship lecture series presented by the UNC Asheville English Department. This three-year series features humanities scholars in conversation with natural sciences scholars about issues affecting us all.

Jessica Cory

Jessica Cory, Ph.D., is a settler scholar and the editor of Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, published since 1972 at Appalachian State University. She holds a PhD in Native American, African American, and environmental literatures from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is also the editor of Mountains Piled upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene (WVU Press, 2019) and the co-editor (with Laura Wright) of Appalachian Ecocriticism and the Paradox of Place (UGA Press, 2023). Her chapbook, Disposable, was published in 2026 with Sheila-Na-Gig editions. Cory’s scholarship and creative writing have appeared in the North Carolina Literary Review, ISLE, North Dakota Quarterly, Still: The Journal, and many other venues. Born and raised in the foothills of southern Ohio, she now calls western North Carolina home.

Nico Zegre

Nicolas Zegre, Ph. D., is a professor of forest hydrology and director of the Mountain Hydrology Lab and River Conservation & Management Program at West Virginia University. His research and teaching focus broadly on freshwater security at the intersection of landscape, people, and climate in the Appalachian Mountains. He is committed to developing meaningful, accessible, and actionable knowledge, data, tools, and applications that inform adaptation, enhance public discourse, and promulgate policy. Zegre uses tools such as field measurements, experiments, models, and technology to explore how watersheds work. Likewise, he uses participatory action and community-engaged research approaches that aim to expand participation in knowledge generation and resilience planning. He sees our world through the lens of water shaped by a lifetime of river exploration. Zegre holds a PhD in forest engineering with a focus on hydrology from Oregon State University.

Accessibility

UNC Asheville is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. If you have any questions about access or would like to request reasonable accommodations that will facilitate your full participation in the film screenings, please contact Stephanie Bullick, Director of Accessibility, at accessibility@unca.edu.