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Wes Blake

@wesblake_

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Award-winning author. 📍KY
HAZELGREEN & OTHER HAUNTS is forthcoming in ‘27 @wvupress ; PINEVILLE TRACE @uindyetchings
💙 cats, trees, music

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For National Small Press Month, I want to thank the University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press for giving my debut book PINEVILLE TRACE a good home. Etchings Press is a student-run press—founded by poet and professor Kevin McKelvey—that publishes books via its annual book prizes.

Scroll to see what people are saying about PINEVILLE TRACE, an award-winning, southern gothic, meditative road trip, flash novella from the University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press (@uindyetchings ) about a former revival preacher who escapes from prison in 1970’s Kentucky, following a cat named Buffalo while confronting his past and seeking redemption. For readers who love animals, nature, and escape.

#nationalsmallpressmonth #literaryfiction #southerngothic #appalachianlit #kentuckyauthor by @wesblake_

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7 months ago

Honored to be on this list of “12 Southern Writers to Read Alongside the Canon” and to have my work in @porchlight_southernlit . Scroll for list, then read the full article at link in bio and comments. Follow @porchlight_southernlit and check out their journal—they’re doing good work. Thanks to editor-in-chief Randy Mackin and their other editors. #southernlit by @wesblake_

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5 months ago

Excited to share I’ve signed with @wvupress for my new narrative nonfiction collection! HAZELGREEN AND OTHER HAUNTS is a memoir of place-in-essays about obscure places in Kentucky, Appalachia, impermanence, Sam Shepard, an eastern Kentucky jazz pianist, belonging/not belonging, loss, legacy, memory, stories, the enduring mystery of Melanie Flynn’s disappearance, lost catacombs, and more!

Can’t wait to share this book with you! Many thanks to my editors @meredithmccarroll & @mavery !
#newbook #appalachianlit #essaycollection #southernlit #creativenonfiction taken in West Virginia University by @wesblake_

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4 months ago

Western Kentucky friends! I’m excited to share that Murray State’s Creative Writing Program has invited me for events on Monday & Tuesday, October 26-27. Events are free and all are welcome to attend! Hope to see you.

**Monday, Oct. 26 @ 3:30pm in Faculty Hall 106: Class Visit to Nonfiction Workshop
**Monday, Oct. 26 @ 7:30pm in Faculty Hall 208: Public Reading
**Tuesday, Oct. 27 @ 2:00pm in Faculty Hall 508: Class Visit to Fiction Workshop

Wes Blake is the award-winning author of PINEVILLE TRACE (Etchings Press, 2024), a Southern Gothic flash novella that was featured on Deep South Magazine’s Reading List, winner of the Etchings Press Novella Prize, Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick, finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award, Next Generation Indie Book Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Feathered Quill Book Award, and distinguished favorite for the Independent Press Award.

His narrative nonfiction collection HAZELGREEN AND OTHER HAUNTS, a memoir of place-in-essays, is forthcoming in 2027 from West Virginia University Press. His fiction, essays, reviews, and interviews have appeared in Electric Literature, Appalachian Journal, Southern Review of Books, Los Angeles Review, storySouth, Untelling, JMWW, Louisiana Literature Journal, Blood & Bourbon, Book of Matches, Jelly Bucket, and White Wall Review, among others.

Blake is part of the visiting faculty at EKU’s Bluegrass Writers Studio MFA in Creative Writing Program. He has written obituaries, worked in a Cajun restaurant, sold advertising, and taught writing to high school and college students. He lives in Nonesuch, Kentucky, with his wife and cats, where they’ve planted 100 trees.

@murraystateenglish @murraystatechfa @bgwritersstudio
@murraystateuniv @raceralumni taken in Murray State University by @wesblake_

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14 hours ago

Come see our panel at the @louisianabookfest on Oct. 31 in downtown Baton Rouge! We will be signing books after! @joebondwriter @ashley.n.hudson @wesblake_ @markneelywriter

⏰11 am -12:30 pm
📍A.Z. Young Park, Author Tent A
➡️ Lost and Found: Novels of Grief, Marginalized
Lives, and the Search for Grace

⏰12:45 pm - 1:30 pm
📍Cavalier House Books Tent @chbbookstore
➡️ Book Signing

#southernfiction #louisianabookfestival #hopehouse #thebridge #pinevilletrace taken in State Library of Louisiana by @wesblake_

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2 days ago

Our Fall Writing Contests are open! 🍂 Every line here started as a contest entry.

🏅 Send us yours by November 13 and your words could be on this list next!

🔗 *LINK IN LINKTREE* 🔗

#writingcontests #poetrycontests #shortstorycontests #flashfictioncontests by @wesblake_

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2 days ago

Celebrating our lucky #13 wedding anniversary! by @wesblake_

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5 days ago

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7 days ago

Honored to be invited as a featured author to the @louisianabookfest and looking forward to our panel with @joebondwriter @ashley.n.hudson & @markneelywriter . I’ll be signing books at the @chbbookstore tent right after the panel! #louisianabookfestival #southernfiction #featuredauthor #pinevilletrace

⏰11 am -12:30 pm
📍A.Z. Young Park, Author Tent A
➡️ Lost and Found: Novels of Grief, Marginalized
Lives, and the Search for Grace

⏰12:45 pm - 1:30 pm
📍Cavalier House Books Tent @chbbookstore
➡️ Book Signing taken in State Library of Louisiana by @wesblake_

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9 days ago

Check out the new episode of Bluegrass Region Voices & Views everywhere podcasts appear. Tom Hailey and I had a nice chat about, among other things, ways to get involved in the Kentucky and Appalachian writing communities. Some writing community resources we talk about include @kentuckybookfestival , @carnegiecenterlex , @lexpublib , @psplib , @woodfordlibrary Kentucky Writers Roundtable, @poetryatthetable , @lexwritersroom , @kynativecafe , @josephbethlex , @alikelystoryky , @coffeetreebooks , @readspottednewt , @hindmanschool , @appalachianliteraryartsfest , @bgwritersstudio , @readappalachia . Music by my friend @freddymullins . by @wesblake_

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14 days ago

Wes Blake (@wesblake_) has two flash fiction pieces and an interview in Issue 5. Wes is the author of the award-winning novella-in-flash PINEVILLE TRACE, from the University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press. He is widely published and is a welcome new member of the Red Branch community.

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#fiction #appalachia #redbranchreview by @wesblake_

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18 days ago

Signing copies of PINEVILLE TRACE AT @bnkenwoodoh !

PINEVILLE TRACE, an award-winning, Southern Gothic flash novella from the University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press, is an “introspective, haunting tale that remains with us” (Heavy Feather Review) and “an utterly compelling read” (SmokeLong Quarterly) about a former revival preacher who escapes from prison in 1970’s Kentucky, following a cat named Buffalo while confronting his past and seeking redemption. For readers who like animals, nature, and escape.
#literaryfiction #southernfiction #appalachianfiction taken in Barnes & Noble by @wesblake_

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20 days ago