Albert Stewart Papers

Albert Stewart spent most of his career in eastern Kentucky as a teacher, author, editor, and mentor to other authors. A native of Knott County, Stewart entered Hindman Settlement School at the age of five, where he became a protégé of Lucy Furman, novelist and teacher. Stewart began to write while attending Berea College, then completed his MA at the University of Kentucky. At Morehead State University he took over a writing workshop and founded a student literary magazine, Inscape. After three years in the Navy during World War II, he compiled his poems as The Untoward Hills. He returned to Hindman Settlement School to start a writing workshop, later known as the Appalachian Writers Workshop. In late 1972, Stewart founded and edited the journal Appalachian Heritage at Alice Lloyd College, where he was then teaching. The magazine eventually moved to Berea College, continuing to publish new fiction, poetry, and articles by Appalachian writers. Stewart donated the homestead that his grandfather had claimed in 1859 and the 118-year-old cabin on it to the University of Kentucky, on condition that the trees and land be preserved. Stewart also published The Holy Season: Walking in the Wild. He was named a Berea College Distinguished Alumnus in 1993, and received the Appalachian Treasure award in 1995.