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Laura Leigh Morris

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FOR EVERYONE STANDING ON A BRIDGE! FOR YOU!

I simply can't say thank you enough to Salvation South and to Laura Leigh Morris for this interview—and poems!—from THE RED AHEAD. Laura and I had such a deep and, frankly, spiritual conversation about what Mothman means to folks, especially queer folks around here. Laura's questions and composition are simply beautiful 💙

You can find the interview at the link in the comments.

Thank you all so very much for the support. All of you.

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Hope you’ll join us at the inaugural @appalachianliteraryartsfest next weekend in Morehead, KY! I’ll be part of the author panel on Sunday at 11:30 am, and I’ll be at the book fair Sunday signing copies of PINEVILLE TRACE alongside a bunch of incredible authors and friends. Scroll for the authors and schedule. I haven’t been this excited about something in Morehead since the 1984 Big Wheel Race in Lakeview Heights! @coffeetreebooks #appalachianliteraryartsfestival

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It’s now less than a week until we kick off the inaugural Appalachian Literary Arts Festival in Morehead, KY. I am beyond excited it’s almost here!

Helping plan this festival has been one of my biggest dreams and greatest honors. I hope to see y’all there to celebrate our rich literary arts culture in this region and beyond.

Our community has so many amazing things to check out all weekend. There will be something fun tucked in every corner for writers, readers, and folks who are just curious—we hope you’ll all join us!

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Love writing flash fiction? Check out @frictionseries Fall Flash Fiction Contest! I’m stoked to be judging this great contest. Learn more at @frictionseries ‘s *link in LINKTREE*

#writingcontests #flashfictioncontests #flashfictionwriters

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Every year, I post my favorite reads of the year and, as we are a little past the half-way mark for this year, here are my favorite reads of 2026 so far. (Note, as always, these are not necessarily books which were released in 2026, although some of them are.)

NOVELS
The Stone Catchers, Laura Leigh Morris
The Antidote, Karen Russell
Land, Maggie O'Farrell
Whistler, Ann Patchett
Saint Monkey, Jacinda Townsend
The Keeper (Cal Hooper #3), Tana French
If Only the Rain Would Come, Natalie Sypolt
Hashtag, Eryk Pruitt
Dope and Vodka and Cigarettes, and Not Shaving Her Legs, Dave Newman
Hope House, Joe Bond
The Emilys, Heather Abel

NONFICTION/MEMOIR
Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy
Writing During the Apocalypse, Ed Simon

POETRY
Meditations in an Emergency, Frank O'Hara
The Things You Can't Remember become the Things You Can't Forget, Lori Jakiela
Water. Witness. Word., Marianne Worthington

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Huge congrats to Kyle Weik for his Frog story “Materials Needed” landing on the Wigleaf Top 50!

And a big congrats to all the Frog longlisters!!
Janice Leadingham, Laura Leigh Morris, Sonia Alejandra Rodiguez, and Natalie Schriefer!!

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pretty punk rock summer so far 🪲🦈

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Autumn House Press is pleased to announce that Shelby Kinney-Lang's debut short story collection, Snake & Submarine, has been selected by Amber Sparks as the winner of the 2026 Autumn House Press Fiction Prize.

Of the collection, Amber writes: "It's a clever, but deeply human book, and I loved every story in it."

We'd also like to congratulate this year's runner-up, finalists, and semi-finalists. Thank you to everyone who entrusted us with their work and made this year's competition such a rewarding one to read.

And, of course, our sincere thanks to @ambernoelles for serving as this year's judge. It's never an easy task, and we're grateful for her thoughtful reading and selection process.

Please join us in congratulating Shelby! We are thrilled to publish Snake & Submarine in Fall 2027.

#shortstories #debut #prizewinning #fiction #writing #indiepress

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“The nannies clustered on two benches and snuck drags off vape pens. The stay-at-home moms claimed the other two benches, made hushed comments about the vaping, called, ‘Jeremy, put that down,’ or, ‘Stop hitting your sister, Terrence,’ before turning their attention back to their phones. Three dads in baseball caps pressed their backs to the chain link fence that held us captive, took long sips from steaming travel mugs. They made small talk about yard work and renovations, stared at our nannies’ legs.

We gathered near the slide, waited for our adults to tell us to play, but they didn’t notice the tight knot we’d formed, how we bent our heads toward one another, our furtive whispers.

Terrence slapped his sister again, hard enough for a sharp crack to sound, just to see if their mom would notice. This time, his sister screamed, ‘Mommy,’ but the mom didn’t move. She said, ‘I won’t warn you again, Terrence,’ but we knew she would. She always did. Though sometimes she made him sit on the ground at her feet for three minutes. She set a timer, called it a time-out, continued her conversation about reliable babysitters and potty-training techniques,” — an excerpt from “Recreational Riot” by Laura Leigh Morris.

Read the full story on our website at pangyrus.com.

Image by Hugo Cornuel on unsplash.com, licensed under CC 2.0.

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We can't wait to connect with WVUP authors and editors like Laura Leigh Morris, Doug Van Gundy, William H. Turner, and more at this year's ASA conference!

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I’m excited to be part of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference next week for our panel, “Keeping Stories Safe: Holding Space for Appalachian Voices in the Efficiency Era.”

We’ll be discussing how as writers and educators in Appalachia we are creating and protecting spaces for storytelling through higher education, community writing programs, prison education initiatives, literary series, and grassroots anthologies. Our focus is practical: sharing replicable strategies for expanding literary access, mentoring emerging writers, and safeguarding regional voices.

If you’re at AWP, I hope you’ll join us!

I’ll also be signing books at the @flpbooks book fair booth (600) at 3:00pm on Saturday 3/07, so come see me there too! 💙

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Honored to be a finalist and look forward to writing in James Still’s cabin soon! Congrats to the winners and other finalists, and thanks to the judges!

@hindmanschool @lauraleighwrite @b.firchow @kayla115h @williecarverjr @belletownsendky @backwoodsliterarypress

#OakLedgeResidencyContest #JamesStill #Contest #WritingRetreat #appalachianwriter

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