What’s it like living as a liberal in a ruby red state, or a fantasy writer who’s also an English teacher at a time when books are being banned in some states?
Terry Bartley is a journalism, literature, and English teacher at Scott High School in Madison, West Virginia, and writer of the upcoming collection of short stories, "Tyranny of the Fey."
Terry is the host of the podcast “Most Writers are Fans,” about the intersection between writing and fandom. He has professionally written for the Coal Valley News and Screenrant. He’s won awards for writing and broadcasting from the West Virginia Associated Press, the National Broadcasting Society, and MarCom.
Terry has a B.A. in English from the University of Phoenix and an M.A. in English Education from Western Governor’s University.
Living in West Virginia, Terry is an unabashed liberal who worked for the Obama Campaign in 2012. He’s done a lot of community and economic development work in Southern West Virginia, as well. So, what's that been like?
Here are some points we discussed in our conversation:
Q. What’s it like being a liberal in conservative, Trump loving West Virginia?
Q. What did you do for the Obama campaign? What was that like?
Q. You’re a fantasy writer. Is it a fantasy to think that Joe Manchin will ever vote like a Democrat? Is he vulnerable in WVA?
Q. Tell us about your community and economic development work in Southern WVA.
Q. Let’s talk about your podcast. What’s it all about?
Q. Now let’s talk about "Tyranny of the Fey." Tell us about it.
Q. What is there about colonization and institutional oppression that prompted you to write this book?
Q. When will it come out and where will people be able to find it?
Q. What are your thoughts about the effort by Ron DeSantis and others to restrict what books can be carried in school libraries and courses that can be taught in school?
Q. Is it Trump or DeSantis in West Virginia? Or somebody else?
Q. If Trump is convicted and sent to prison, would he still carry West Virginia?
Q. West Virginia is a pretty religious state, right? How do those fundamentalists justify in supporting this man?
Listen to the episode:
View the episode: https://youtu.be/TQNhwt964Uw