We are now accepting proposals for WANA 2026!

Please join us in beautiful Wheeling Park in Wheeling, West Virginia for the Writers Association of Northern Appalachia’s Annual Conference October 16-17, 2026.

Wheeling Park is a 406-acre West Virginia gem with roots as a 1900s amusement park. Since 1925, it’s offered year-round recreation, scenic beauty, and a deep sense of community. The conference will be held in its newly renovated White Palace, which functions as a conference center and banquet hall. We will make use of the grounds, including Good Lake, as part of our conference experience. Learn more about the park here: https://oglebay.com/explore/wheeling-park/

Interested in submitting a proposal? Read our call for papers below.

Call for Papers

Writers Association of Northern Appalachia (WANA) Conference 2026
October 16-17, 2026 | Wheeling Park | Wheeling, West Virginia

Writers Association of Northern Appalachia invites proposals for its Fall 2026 conference, to be held October 9–10 in Wheeling Park.

WANA’s mission is to bring writers, researchers, educators, and workshop leaders together to celebrate and advance the literary contributions of Northern Appalachia—a region rich in history, labor, culture, and storytelling traditions.

We welcome proposals that engage with Northern Appalachian literature, culture, history, and identity. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Regional literature and authors
Working-class and labor narratives
Environmental and place-based writing
Public history and digital storytelling
Folklore, oral history, and community narratives
Pedagogy and teaching regional literature
Intersections of Appalachia and the Rust Belt
Presentation Formats

We encourage a wide range of presentation styles, including:

Workshops (craft, pedagogy, or professional development)
Lectures or scholarly presentations
Roundtables or panel discussions
Creative readings
Environmental Writing Track

Because the conference will take place in the scenic and historic setting of Wheeling Park, we are especially excited to offer an Environmental Writing Track. These sessions may take place outdoors and should engage directly with landscape, ecology, or place-based writing practices. If your proposal fits this category, please be sure to indicate it upon submission. (See below for more information about the Environmental Writing Track.)

Limit one proposal per person.

Submit Your Proposal Here: https://forms.gle/5Ko8SV1cCLbt7ERG7

Deadline for Proposals: May 21, 2026

Environmental Writing Track
In addition to sessions that focus on Northern Appalachian Writing and Literature, such as panel presentations, craft talks, and readings, the Writers Association of Northern Appalachia (WANA) invites proposals for generative writing workshops that engage deeply with the landscapes, ecologies, and environmental realities of Northern Appalachia.
Held in the historic and expansive setting of Wheeling Park, this year’s conference offers a unique opportunity to bring writing practice into direct conversation with place. We seek workshops that encourage participants to generate new creative work inspired by the region’s natural environments: its hills, rivers, industrial remnants, green spaces, and changing ecosystems.

Because the conference takes place within Wheeling Park, and because presenters and participants will have access to its trails, wooded areas, and open spaces, we strongly encourage workshops for the Environmental Writing Track that incorporate movement, walking, and direct interaction with the natural world. Whether through guided walks, outdoor writing prompts, or sensory observation exercises, we invite facilitators to make the most of the setting and to design sessions that extend beyond the traditional indoor classroom.

Focus Areas May Include (but are not limited to):

Nature writing rooted in Northern Appalachian landscapes
Environmental justice and the legacy of industry in the region
Writing the intersections of labor, land, and ecology
Place-based writing and sensory observation exercises
Climate change and environmental futures in Appalachia
River, forest, and urban green space writing
Multimodal or digital approaches to environmental storytelling
Ecopoetry, eco-essays, and hybrid forms

Workshop Expectations:

We are especially interested in interactive, generative sessions that:

Prioritize in-session writing over lecture
Offer prompts, guided exercises, or field-based writing activities
Encourage participants at all levels to produce new work
May incorporate outdoor or site-responsive components within Wheeling Park

Workshops should be designed for 50 minutes and should include a clear plan for participant engagement.

Whether you’re a writer, reader, teacher, student, or just someone who loves a good story—this is your place.