Award-winning West Virginia author will be the featured presenter for the 23rd annual Writers鈥 Series on Wednesday, November 9 and Thursday, November 10. The two sessions, free and open to the public, will offer participants opportunities to learn more about Pancake鈥檚 works, and fiction and nonfiction writing in general.
Pancake grew up in Romney and Summersville, West Virginia. Her works, centering on Appalachian families and their struggles, have garnered acclaim from literary reviewers and authors throughout the nation.
On Wednesday, November 9, Pancake will share tips and nonfiction writing techniques in a workshop at 4:30 p.m. in the Community Room of Booth Library. Participants will then be given a writing prompt to apply the techniques and share with the group.
Pancake will present a creative nonfiction piece titled 鈥淭ake, Eat鈥 at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 10 at The Joni and Buck Smith Arts Forum, in the Myles Center for the Arts. The essay explores sense of place through family land, deer hunting and love. The reading will be followed by a book signing.
鈥淎nn Pancake is a state treasure 鈥 clearly one of West Virginia鈥檚 best writers, and is at the top of her game,鈥 said Professor of English and Chair of the Division of Humanities Dr. Bill King. 鈥淎nn writes movingly about the people, culture and landscape we know so well, and in a vernacular that is truly music to the ear. I鈥檓 hoping for a big turnout!鈥
Pancake鈥檚 鈥淪trange As This Weather Has Been鈥 (Counterpoint 2007) is narrated from the multiple perspectives of a southern West Virginia family devastated by mountaintop removal. Based on interviews and real events, the novel was one of Kirkus Review鈥檚 Top Ten Fiction Books of 2007, won the 2007 Weatherford Award, and was a finalist for the 2008 Orion Book Award. A collection of 11 novellas and short stories, 鈥淢e and My Daddy Listen to Bob Marley,鈥 introduces characters who experience brokenness and loss, and redemption and revelation, often through their relationships to places under siege. Her first book, 鈥淕iven Ground鈥 (The University Press of New England, 2001), is a collection of short stories set in Appalachia whose characters confront what many of them perceive as an invading outside culture. The work won the 2000 Bakeless Award.
Pancake also has received a Whiting Award, an NEA Grant, a Pushcart Prize and creative writing fellowships from Washington, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Her fiction and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies including 鈥淭he Georgia Review,鈥 鈥淧oets and Writers,鈥 鈥淣arrative鈥 and 鈥淣ew Stories from the South.鈥 She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Washington. Pancake has taught in the low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University and served as writer-in-residence at West Virginia University. She currently works in WVU鈥檚 English Department as a service associate professor where she teaches and does community outreach.
The Davis & Elkins College Writers鈥 Series has a long tradition of bringing award-winning writers to campus including Marc Harshman, Maggie Anderson and Irene McKinney, among others. This is the second time Pancake has participated in the sessions.
Ann Pancake
