GLENVILLE, WV – Glenville State University Professor of English Dr. Marjorie Stewart will present at the upcoming Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia (WCoNA). The two-day conference will be held Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11 at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The program features 20 workshops and presentations on writing topics including poetry, voice, developing a sense of place, marketing your book, Appalachian heritage and history, historical fiction, and memoir.
Stewart’s presentation is scheduled during the second day of the conference and is entitled, “From Yinz to Y’all: Writing the Move from Urban to Rural Appalachia.” The session discusses Stewart’s move from Pittsburgh to rural West Virginia and how she wrote of the cultural and personal challenges that move created. One of her ongoing efforts is a small collection of poetry that tells the story of that move and the years that followed. At approximately 20 poems, the chapbook discusses driving, dogs, religion, weather, and other cultural markers that changed her life for good, bad, and in between. The session will also discuss ways in which we can all acknowledge the very varied life of Appalachia.
The WCoNA annually brings together writers and others interested in the region’s literature to honor their work and enhance the craft of its authors. Organizers call the event a catalyst to inspire more novels, poetry, essays, history, memoir, and drama that represent, in some way, northern Appalachia, and so create and promote a canon of writers and writing of northern Appalachia.
For more information, visit www.wcona.com.
