This weekend, we embraced our roots.
Two of our team members attended the Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia (WCoNA) deep in the Appalachian countryside in Cambria County in our home state of Pennsylvania.
Writing is an isolative act, and if you’ve had more than a few minutes’ worth of conversation with me about writing, you’ve probably heard my impassioned speech about how writers need writers. Usually I sing the praises of writing groups, but today? Today’s about feeling part of something even bigger.
Conferences.
WCoNA is a real gem. It’s big enough to walk away each year with new connections, but intimate enough to have real conversations with the presenters and attendees. The focus is on craft, and the full day on Saturday offers five sections, each with multiple topic options to attend. There’s something for everyone, from poetry to fiction, from memoirists to novelists.
What makes this my favorite conference, though, is the focus on place.
WCoNA holds up a mirror for me and then says, don’t look into your own eyes. Look around. Look behind and beside yourself.
All of the attendees are connected deeply by our sense of place, and even though we have sessions on marketing and building craft and submitting our work, thematically the organizers wrap us up in Northern Appalachia.
And I love it.
From the panel and open mic on Friday night to the keynote address Saturday morning, we were steeped in the experiences of the rust belt. Of coal and oil and natural gas mining that stripped our land and our families bare. The unspoken kinship of our grit and resilience, that rose out of the clouds of dust from our dirt roads on dry days. The Appalachian wilderness that fostered the wildness in our hearts.
WCoNA is a reminder of who I am, and of the importance of introspection. I don’t necessarily write about Northern Appalachia, although some of my pieces are set here. I don’t necessarily center place in my writing, although it’s certainly informed by my experiences here. We are all a sum of our parts, and place is an important one. If you haven’t done much introspection on place, I’d strongly encourage it. Being intentional about place in your writing adds depth and layers to your story, and creates a richer and more memorable experience for your readers.
This weekend, I had the honor to sit among a group of like-minded people, all acutely attuned to how this place has molded us.
And I can’t wait to do it again next year.