…is the motto of Berea College, which was founded in Berea, Kentucky in 1855 as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, and which today contains some of the nicest people in any geographic region, including Loreal Bell (far left) and Vicky Hayes (second from the right) of the college Learning Center: 
They invited Abby Beckel and me to lead their first annual publishing conference this past weekend in conjunction with Women’s History Month. Rounding out the bill was Affrilachian poet Bianca Spriggs, reading from her chapbook How Swallotails Become Dragons and her book Kaffir Lily and speaking on her experiences as a working class writer:
We spent the morning discussing independent publishing in general and Rose Metal Press in particular, and the afternoon hearing pitches, including this one for a collaborative novel. Note the beautiful foothills in the background: 
The audience gamely let me take their pictures…
…while they sat in the dark on account of the PowerPoints we were showing them:
Thanks to all the Berea students and community members for your time and enthusiasm, and to Loreal and Vicky for introducing us to the most true and functioning utopia we’ve ever seen in real life.