Emily Hilliard is the folklorist at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, the co-founder and co-owner of the feminist record label SPINSTER, and co-host of The Female Bob Dylan podcast. She holds an M.A. in folklore from the University of North Carolina, and a B.A. in English and French from the University of Michigan. Her book, Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia (UNC Press, 2022), based on her previous work as the West Virginia State Folklorist, was named a finalist for the 2022 nonfiction Weatherford Award for books “best illuminating the challenges, personalities, and unique qualities of the Appalachian South.”
Her writing and media work have been published by NPR, Oxford American, Southern Cultures, The Journal of American Folklore, The Bitter Southerner, Jacobin, and Dissent, among others. She also serves on the Advisory Council of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Hilliard's wide-ranging work in vernacular music, laborlore, foodways, and craft explores the visionary potential of traditional arts and cultural practices.
Please join us for A Celebration of Women in Old Time Music from March 5-8, 2026