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Who Are You?

Hello there! I’m Kendra Winchester, a disabled Appalachian living in the South Carolina Upstate. I write and podcast about all things books, audiobook, and disability.

I’m a Contributing Editor for Book Riot where I write articles about all things nonfiction and co-host their mystery thriller podcast, Read or Dead. I review audiobooks for AudioFile Magazine and appear as a regular contributor for their podcast Behind the Mic.

From 2016 to the end of 2021, I served the Co-founder/Executive Director of Reading Women, a podcast with Lit Hub Radio which featured books by or about women. My most recent passion project is Read Appalachia, a bookish multimedia platform that celebrates Appalachian Literature & Writing, which received the 2023 e-Appalachian Award from the Appalachian Studies Association.

What is this newsletter about?

Winchester Ave has always been my creative space, my tiny corner of the internet where I could unravel my thoughts out onto the page and try to make sense of them. But after I hit my head back in 2023, I haven’t been able to write much.

Earlier this year, my spouse and I were driving back from visiting my parents for the holidays when the topic of my writing plans for 2025 came up. He said, (my paraphrase) why don’t I bring folks along on my experience of trying to write with a brain injury? Why don’t I share the ins and outs of trying to create with a befuddled brain, even when my writing is going to suck?

So let’s do it. At first, we’re going to be looking at gathered snippets, tiny moments from local coffee shops and my tiny library. But, hopefully, I’ll also be explaining my process of pulling together memories for my memoir project and giving an inside look at what recovery from a TBI looks like as we go along.

Will there be Corgi content?

Of course!