In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene inundated western North Carolina with record rainfall that caused catastrophic flooding and mudslides, leading to more than a hundred storm-related deaths, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Residents were without electricity and internet for days, if not weeks, and without drinkable water for almost two months. In the hurricane’s aftermath, residents gathered at Firestorm Books in Asheville, leaving supplies for those in need and information about where to find more. Without access to the internet, and with the roads leading out of the city rendered impassable, they sought assistance—and community—at the bookstore.
Members of the Warren Wilson College community begin the long recovery process after Hurricane Helene in September 2024. (Credit: Caleb Whitaker)
As Alyson Sinclair, publisher of the Rumpus, witnessed this heartening scene, she felt an uncertainty similar to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “When we had COVID, we had no community, but we had basic utilities and ways to reach one another,” she says. “Now we have community, but the infrastructure is messed up.” During a dark time for the region, the literary community has been a beacon of support.
In the town of Marshall, the French Broad River crested at over twenty feet, destroying almost all fifteen thousand books at the local used bookstore French Broad Exchange. The windows were shattered, the floor coated with thick mud. Owner Jamey Smith did not have flood insurance, so he launched a GoFundMe; lovers of the store from as far as Australia donated more than $8,000 in total. He hopes to reopen in the spring. “The community has been wonderful,” he says. “They ask, ‘Are you coming back?’ The answer is yes.”
Story Parlor, a multidisciplinary arts space in Asheville, had to close because of water damage and a lack of power and water—but Erin Hallagan Clare, founder and artistic director, was able to reopen the building in early December. Clare recalibrated programming for the first month back to encourage writers to express their complex emotions in the wake of the hurricane. The first event in December was an open mic on the theme of resilience; later in the month, writers and musicians came together to share work on the topic of grief. Those early events also raised money for artists directly affected by the hurricane.
In Swannanoa, east of Asheville, Warren Wilson College was damaged by flooding, as was the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly Retreat Center in Black Mountain, where biannual gatherings for the college’s low-residency MFA program for writers are held. Emergency governmental assistance from FEMA helped the college welcome back undergraduates within a month. As for the MFA program, the January session was made virtual, and the July 2025 session is slated to be held on campus while the Blue Ridge Assembly continues to rebuild.
Punch Bucket Lit, a nonprofit that hosts readings and other events, put on its first literary festival, in Asheville, a week before the hurricane. After Helene, executive director Rachel M. Hanson canceled events and scaled down plans for the 2025 festival. Hanson needs donations to support events and pay honorariums, but the money she raised immediately after the hurricane went toward purchasing supplies for those in need, and she still doesn’t feel comfortable soliciting funds from locals, many of whom will be struggling for years. In lieu of donations, she is encouraging out-of-town visitors to attend the upcoming festival, which will be held September 19–20. The tourism dollars will not only help Punch Bucket, she says, but also help bring Asheville back to life.
Writers, including those themselves navigating life without electricity and running water, stepped up to help others in their communities in creative ways. Niina Pollari, a poet and literary translator in Marshall, created Poets for Appalachia with a few friends, including Sampson Starkweather, Brooklyn, New York–based poet and cofounder of the poetry press Birds, LLC. The organization directed donations to three charities embedded in the community; anyone who gave at least $30 in the last two weeks of October received a book donated by one of twenty-one presses. Pollari received $5,500 in receipts from all over the country. “Overall, it’s small potatoes,” she says, “but it represents a lot of individuals who care.”
Andrew Mack, the founder of Loblolly Press in Asheville, published a digital zine called Understory, with all proceeds benefiting BeLoved Asheville, an on-the-ground organization offering food, water, and health care as well as finding housing for the displaced. Mack put out a call for submissions in early October; ultimately, a total of eighty-seven writers, artists, and photographers contributed pieces to the 191-page zine, which was released on November 22. It sold for $10 on Loblolly’s website and raised more than $2,000.
“Putting together this project has been healing for me,” Mack says. “I see there really is a literary community here, and we show up for each other.”
Author Tessa Fontaine fled Asheville with her husband and toddler as soon as a road out was cleared but could not stop worrying about the people who remained. She returned alone, first filling her van with bottled water, shelf-stable food, diapers, and baby food. She posted on Facebook and Instagram to ask who needed supplies and was inundated with requests via direct message. She spent five long days making deliveries. To help defray the cost of the supplies, Fontaine reached out to her writing community, asking for donations—and quickly received $10,000 in contributions.
Though western North Carolinians have their highways and utilities back, many have left permanently, and rebuilding will take years. Fontaine and poet Jessica Jacobs offered a free workshop in January for locals to write about the storm and other traumatic events, and Fontaine plans on continuing that community-centered work.
Throughout, Fontaine has been inspired by the groundswell of volunteers coming from across the political spectrum. Despite disturbing polarization across the United States, the relief efforts have been an instance of collective hope.
“People’s desire to help was as intense or more intense than the need for help,” she says. “In this political moment it feels amazing to see this generosity.”
Jonathan Vatner is the author of The Bridesmaids Union (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) and Carnegie Hill (Thomas Dunne Books, 2019).
Thumbnail credit: Valerie Gliem