Acclaimed author Monica Potts, who wrote the New York Times bestselling book “Forgotten Girls,” says life in rural America is far more complicated than many people portray it to be.
“Even though there are some kind of generalities we can say about rural America – in general, it’s older and whiter than the rest of the country – all of the rural places in the U.S., which covers a lot of geographical areas in the country, all those places are diverse,” she said. “They have different problems. They have different potential solutions to their problems, and they have different populations that they’re worried about and thinking about.”
Potts will be among the speakers at this year’s Switchyard at Mayfest hosted by The University of Tulsa. This is the second year for the event, which will be held May 9-11 in the Tulsa Arts District.
Less than 20% of Americans live in rural regions of the country, Potts noted.
Rural Americans are “facing a lot of hardships that are misunderstood or don’t rise to the sort of national conversation as much as some other issues might,” she said. “You see all these small towns across America: They’re isolated. They’re in the middle of nowhere. They tend to not have a lot of resources. They suffer from what is often called the brain drain, which is when young people who are college-age tend to leave for careers and education elsewhere, and they don’t always come back.”
Potts, who hails from rural Arkansas and wrote about her experiences, will discuss resilience in rural America with UTulsa Presidential Professor Ted Genoways, editor of Switchyard magazine.
Among the other panelists will be renowned climate activist Bill McKibben, who said he is interested in talking about the possibilities for change in the nation’s energy systems – relying much more on sun, wind, and batteries – and what that could do to empower rural areas to use such systems.
The festival, which is tied to Switchyard magazine and podcast, includes seven events over four days with 13 speakers as well as four concerts, which will be held at Tulsa’s historic Cain’s Ballroom. Tickets for events start at $10 per person, per session. A limited number of VIP passes are available for $100-$150.
2024 Switchyard at Mayfest Schedule
An evening with Bill McKibben and Andrea von Kampen
6 p.m. Thursday, May 9
OKPOP Museum, 422 N. Main St.
Switchyard at Mayfest kicks off with a night of music and conversation. Singer-songwriter Andrea von Kampen begins the evening with an acoustic performance and then will join McKibben and Ted Genoways, Switchyard magazine’s editor, for a lively conversation about how people can take action to address the new era of climate change.
A Screening of “No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas”
12 p.m. Friday, May 10
OKPOP Museum, 422 N. Main St.
Switchyard welcomes Academy Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott and C.J. Janovy, an award-winning writer and director of content-journalism at KCUR, to screen and discuss their documentary.
Lost Promise and Resilience in Rural America
2 p.m. Friday, May 10
OKPOP Museum, 422 N. Main St.
Monica Potts engages in a captivating discussion with Ted Genoways about the heart of rural America’s challenges and discover rays of hope for the future.
Exposing the Ku Klux Klan in America
6 p.m. Friday, May 10
OKPOP Museum, 422 N. Main St.
Timothy Egan, author of New York Times bestseller “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them,” engages in a riveting conversation with Kevin Willmott, the director and Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman.”
A Journey into the Heart of America
10 a.m. Saturday, May 11
Cain’s Event Room, 423 N. Main St.
New York Times bestselling author and esteemed journalist Jeff Sharlet and acclaimed political activist Jane Kleeb delve into the heart of America’s complex political landscape and explore the power of community as Americans navigate through uncertain times together and discover how ordinary citizens are becoming catalysts for change, forging a path toward unity and cooperation in the face of adversity.
Thrilling Tales from Rural America
1 p.m. Saturday, May 11
Cain’s Event Room, 423 N. Main St.
Switchyard at Mayfest concludes with an edge-of-your-seat writers’ salon. One of America’s hottest crime fiction writers, S.A. Cosby, and bestselling Rocky Mountain gothic fiction writer Kali Fajardo-Anstine read from their most recent novels and then join award-winning fiction writer and translator Jennifer Croft and American Studies academic Karen Roybal for a riveting roundtable discussion about rural crime, gothic fiction, and class, race, religion, and sex in rural America.