WCoNA, the Writers’ Conference of Northern Appalachia®, is pleased to announce that local Pittsburgh authors Gabriel Welsch, Brittany Hailer, and Caitlyn Hunter will be presenters at the WCoNA writing conference March 11-13, 2022, to be held at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.
The three writers all have published books recently with award-winning independent press Tolsun Books, and will read from their respective works. Tolsun Books has published more authors from the Pittsburgh writing community than from any other locale outside of Flagstaff, where the nonprofit is based.
The conference will feature 24 workshops and presentations all day Saturday and Sunday morning on topics such as writing historical fiction, finding your voice, Pittsburgh authors, book reviews, magical realism in Appalachia, storytelling, character development and dialogue, writing about place and culture, and poetry writing.
ABOUT THE WRITERS
Gabriel Welsch’s first collection of short stories, “Groundscratchers,” was published by Tolsun Books in October 2021. He also is the author of four collections of poems: “The Four Horsepersons of a Disappointing Apocalypse,” “The Death of Flying Things,” “An Eye Fluent in Gray” and “Dirt and All Its Dense Labor.” His work has appeared widely in national journals as well as on Verse Daily and in the nationally syndicated newspaper column “American Life in Poetry.” Welsch has lived the majority of his life in Appalachian locales, from West Virginia to western Massachusetts to central PA. He now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his family, and works as vice president of marketing and communications at Duquesne University.
Brittany Hailer is Visiting Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh. Her memoir and poetry collection “Animal You’ll Surely Become” was published by Tolsun Books in 2018. In 2020, she received a Golden Quill Award from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania for an essay she wrote about her experience investigating the opioid crisis while her father struggled with homelessness and alcoholism. For her stories of people affected by the opioid epidemic, she received a 2019 Golden Quill Award from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania and a Robert L. Vann Award of Excellence for investigative/ enterprise reporting from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation. In 2018, Brittany was selected to be a Justice Reporting Fellow as part of the John Jay/Langeloth Foundation Fellowship on “Reinventing Solitary Confinement” and again in 2020 for “Justice and the Pandemic.” Since then, she has investigated how the pandemic has impacted the Allegheny County Jail, including the jail’s kitchen, its COVID-19 mitigation efforts and isolation of the sick, and the deaths of those incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail.
Caitlyn Hunter serves as one of the inaugural Emerging Black Writers in Residence at Chatham University. Hunter also is a current doctoral student in the English Department at Duquesne University where she focuses on African American literature and Black Food studies. She holds an MFA from Chatham University. She currently lives in Pittsburgh PA. Her book, ‘Power in the Tongue,” is forthcoming with Tolsun Books in 2022.
WCoNA CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
The conference will feature keynote speakers Lee Gutkind, Vanity Fair’s “Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” and Edgar Award-nominated novelist Kathleen George.
Lee Gutkind is the author and editor of more than 30 books and a recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Science Foundation, the Heinz Endowments and others. He has also appeared on national radio and television shows. In 1991, he founded Creative Nonfiction, the first and largest literary journal to publish narrative/creative nonfiction exclusively.
Kathleen George is a professor of theatre and writing at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of acclaimed novels set in Pittsburgh: Taken, Fallen, Afterimage, The Odds (nominated for an Edgar® award for best novel by the Mystery Writers of America), Hideout, Simple, and A Measure Of Blood. Kathy is the editor of the short story collection Pittsburgh Noir and scholarly books and articles.
There will be an open mic Friday evening for conference registrants to read from their work and a banquet celebrating writers Saturday night. As part of that celebration the annual WCoNA Book of the Year will be awarded along with an Outstanding Contribution Award. Attendees are also invited to sell their books through the conference bookstore.
ABOUT TOLSUN BOOKS
Tolsun Books is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based out of Flagstaff, Arizona, publishing daring, energetic books that use separate parts to construct a whole: poetry, short stories, comics poetry, hybrids, photo stories, flash memoir, and more. Tolsun proudly practices stewardship in the literary community by publishing debut and experienced authors with diverse backgrounds, licensing artwork from working artists and designers, tabling at bookfairs, presenting at literary conferences, and hosting readings.
Registration information is available at www.wcona.com and WCoNA can be followed on Facebook.
For more information about Tolsun Books, visit https://tolsunbooks.com or contact info@tolsunbooks.com.
For more information about WCoNA, contact PJ Piccirillo pjp@brockwaytv.com.
A Thrilling Lost Chapter of Mob Rule From the Publisher: "Western Pennsylvania’s New Kensington was in the grips of Mafia Read more
"To those of us who have always suspected that our cats understand our words more than they let on, The Read more
From the Publisher: "When her father pulls her out of high school to care for her invalid mother and little Read more
"Have you bookmarked your calendars? The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books returns on May 31, 2025! Join us for a Read more
From the Publisher: "J.New Books proudly presents How to Live Like Li Po in Pittsburgh, the first-ever essay collection by acclaimed Read more
Pittsburgh has been known as a Steel Town, a Sports Town, and an Eds & Meds Town; we believe it's Read more
"Clary is the Whitman of West Virginia, honoring the laborers, the precious encounters, the deeper wisdoms. He understands intimately that Read more
From the Publisher: "In Watching Sarah Rise, Jenny Briggs shares her experience parenting her daughter Sarah, a feisty girl who Read more
Brockport, PA — The WCoNA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® (here and after WCoNA) is pleased to announce its longlist Read more
Most importantly: Where are you located, what are your hours, and do you have a particular focus in terms of the Read more
This just in from our friends at WCoNA: "To provide additional preparation time, we’ve extended the deadline to submit a Read more
About the Author: "Sean Gregory always loved fiction. At an early age he began reading the Hardy Boys and quickly Read more
One of our favorite local authors, Joshua David Bellin (author, most recently, of MYRIAD) just let us know that he's Read more
A lyrical and heartfelt tribute from a parent to their “everything,” their child. From the Publisher: "Following a parent and Read more
Could her Twitter Crush be her Prince Charming? From the Publisher: "A whirlwind romance. A heart-thumping new start. Widowed and Read more
From City Books’ website: "About the Residency The City Books Writer’s Residency offers flexible access to a comfortable, creative space within Read more
Altoona, PA—The WCoNA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® (here and after WCoNA) is pleased to announce a call for nominations Read more
love, Pittsburgh is hosting a “Pittsburgh Dog & Frog” coloring contest! Kids, color a page from the children’s book, “Pittsburgh Read more
"Welcome to Christmastime at Port Mariette, where friendship, faith, and second chance romance weave together to transform a small town." Read more
From Parsec (Pittsburgh's premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization): "The theme of Parsec Ink’s 2025 Triangulation anthology is Dark Hearts. Read more
