Gurney Norman was born in Grundy, Virginia in 1937. He grew up in the southern Appalachian Mountains and was raised alternately by his maternal grandparents in Southwest Virginia and his paternal grandparents in East Kentucky in several towns, but primarily in the small community of Allais, near Hazard, in Perry County. While a sophomore at Stuart Robinson School in Letcher County, Kentucky, his older brother was killed in an automobile accident, which deeply affected his life. Norman attended the University of Kentucky from 1955-1959 graduating with a degree in journalism and English. In 1960, he received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing at Stanford University where he studied with literary critic Malcolm Cowley and the Irish short story writer Frank O'Connor After Stanford, he spent two years in the U.S. Army. Norman returned to eastern Kentucky in 1963 to work as a reporter for his hometown newspaper, The Hazard Herald. Leaving newspaper work to concentrate on his fiction writing, Norman took a job with the U.S. Forest Service as a fire lookout in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon in the summers of 1966 and '67. In 1971, his novel Divine Right's Trip was published in The Last Whole Earth Catalog and subsequently by the Dial Press and Bantam Books. Norman was one of the founders of the Briarpatch Network in 1974, with Richard Raymond and Michael Phillips. In 1977, his book of short stories Kinfolks, which received Berea College's Weatherford Award, was published by Gnomon Press. In 1979, he joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky as an Associate Professor of English. He currently serves as Director of the English Department’s Creative Writing Program. In 1996 Norman's work as a fiction writer, filmmaker, and cultural advocate was honored at the Fifteenth Annual Emory and Henry College Literary Festival, which celebrates significant writers in the Appalachian region. In 2002 he was honored by the Eastern Kentucky Leadership Conference for outstanding contribution to the advancement of regional arts and culture. In 2007 the Appalachian Studies Association awarded Norman the Helen M. Lewis Community Service Award, which recognizes exemplary contributions to Appalachia through involvement with and service to its people and communities. Norman serves as Senior Writer-in-Residence at Hindman Settlement School's annual Appalachian Writers Workshop. Norman was selected to serve as the 2009-2010 Poet Laureate for the state of Kentucky, and was officially installed as Laureate on Friday, April 24, 2009. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
Divine Right's Trip follows DR Davenport and Estelle, a pair of hippie stoners who leave California for eastern Kentucky, where they settle on a farm raising rabbits. The novel was originally serialized in The Last Whole Earth Catalog.
Kinfolks is a book of short stories concerning young Wilgus Collier and his relationships with his family members.
1987 - "Time on the River" - A historical look at the important role the Kentucky River played in the settlement of the state. KET production.
1989 - "From This Valley" - Explores the Big Sandy region of Eastern Kentucky, including its trails, people, history, and literary heritage. KET production.
1991 - "Wilderness Road" - Retraces the route of the famous pioneer trail from Kingsport, Tennessee to Boonesborough, Kentucky. KET production.
Based on Norman's work
2000 - "The Wilgus Stories" - Dramatization of three Norman short stories--"Fat Monroe," "Night Ride" and "Maxine"--by filmmaker Andrew Garrison.
Book One From Crazy Quilt: A Novel in Progress (Monterey, KY: Larkspur Press), 1990.
Divine Right's Trip: A Folk-Tale (New York: Dial Press), 1972. ISBN 0-917788-42-7
Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories (Frankfort, KY: Gnomon Press), 1977. ISBN 0-917788-07-9
Nonfiction
An American Vein: Critical Readings in Appalachian Literature with Danny Miller and Sharon Hatfield (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press), 2005. ISBN 0-8214-1589-1
Confronting Appalachian Stereotypes: Back Talk from an American Region with Dwight B. Billings and Katherine Ledford (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky), 1999. ISBN 0-8131-2099-3