Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. & Davis Shoulders in Conversation

Join for an evening with Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. and Davis Shoulders, who will be discussing their books Tore All to Pieces and Queer Communion. Willie and Davis will be signing books directly after their conversation.

Nestled in the mountains, in an out-of-the-way part of rural America, the fictional town of Mosely is home to ordinary people: proud, compassionate, and complex. Women serving biscuits at the gas station counter, kids listening to Loretta Lynn with their uncles, teenage boys flirting with one another at prom, and parents busy raising their children's babies. This community is woven together by family ties, church congregations, coal mines, and fast-food chains. In Mosely, the residents work hard to find belonging, love, and identity.
Tore All to Pieces is a fragmented novel that delves into the lives of Appalachian characters with similar struggles, backgrounds, and experiences and examines how people are often lonely despite these connections. Each narrative, presented in the form of a poem or short story, bends and weaves like the roads of Appalachia. Each character's voice is richly portrayed in gripping and lyrical language, uniting the stories in a quest for truth, genuine understanding, and respect.

Queer Communion is a collection of twelve essays, poems, and stories that follows and fractures the expectations surrounding LGBTQIA+ Appalachians and their religious beliefs. Gathered by Davis Shoulders, the pieces delve into themes of chosen family, loss, congregation, and alternative expressions of faith. Set against the backdrop of Christian cultural mores and a region considered to be deeply pious, these writings offer diverse perspectives on religion, queerness, and growth.
Queer Communion explores everything from the joy and excitement of worship to the complexities of navigating one's queerness and spiritual convictions in oppressive environments. The authors highlight their personal journeys, illuminating the ways in which folks find spirituality while confronting bigotry, loneliness, and fear. Queer Communion represents an act of creation, reclaiming and redefining faith in the face of changing beliefs and societal pressures.

Willie Carver Jr. is an LGBTQ+ youth advocate and KY Teacher of the Year. His Gay Poems for Red States (University Press of Kentucky) is a World Pride, Stonewall, Whippoorwill, ALA, Read Appalachia, and Book Riot award recipient. His novel, Tore All to Pieces, arrives 2026 (University Press of Kentucky). Willie writes from Appalachia and believes everyone's story matters.

Davis Shoulders is an indie bookseller from East Tennessee. They have previously worked at Politics & Prose in Washington, DC, and Union Ave Books in Knoxville, and they helped open Atlas Books in Johnson City, Tennessee. Their current bookselling residence is Read Spotted Newt in Hazard, Kentucky.

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