On October 16-17 the Writer’s Association of Northern Appalachia (WANA) held its annual conference in Wheeling, WV. One hundred and sixty two writers and aspiring writers attended from nine states. There were 28 sessions and 20 vendors (Allegheny Independent Media included).
The keynote speaker was Amy Jo Burns. She grew up in Mercer County, PA and writes about her experiences growing up there. State senator Ryan Weld from the Wheeling area also spoke. At the end we were serenaded by musician Ananga Martin and a Mandolin player. You can see it in the video above.
Another session that was filmed was the writing group called Madwomen of the Attic. It was a group of eight women reading their prose and poetry. One of the women speakers was Kara Hollsopple who is the host of the Allegheny Front radio program on WESA FM.
The rest of the conference was a hodgepodge of fiction, nonfiction and poets from all genres. The first night of the conference they held a poetry open mic night. There they announced that the Writers Association was purchasing Bottom Dog Press to give more publishing opportunities to writers in Northern Appalachia.
Last fall Allegheny Independent Media attended the Writer’s Conference of Northern Appalachia at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA. It is run by a different group of people from WANA. The next conference will be on February 26 & 27 with Keynote speaker Emily Hillard at St. Francis University. The turnout was close there but we were not allowed to record any of the proceedings. They are welcome to watch our videos.