WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Sept. 8, 2020 — Dr. William Scott Hanna served as poetry editor for a new publication that features literature from northern Appalachia. This region includes the Appalachian counties of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and the northern part of West Virginia.
“It was an honor and privilege to work with this group of editors on the inaugural issue of the Northern Appalachia Review. As the poetry editor, I am extremely proud of the way this issue came together and how well it represents the wide range of voices from our region,” said Hanna, who is associate professor of English College of Liberal Arts Department of Humanities.
From southern New York state down to southwest Ohio and all in between, the new journal provides a rich panorama of the region through poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as genre introductions by the editors, and an introduction by editor-in-chief P.J. Piccirillo of Pennsylvania and an instructor of English and Humanities at Butler County Community College.
“This new journal makes a significant contribution to the field of Appalachian Studies. Furthermore, it reflects Dr. Scott Hanna’s hard work and dedication. He’s an accomplished poet and dedicated teacher, and we’re very proud to call him one of our own,” said Dr. Angela Rehbein, chair of WLU’s Department of English and Modern Languages.
The journal would be perfect reading for creative writers, teachers, literature students and the general public, according to Hanna.
“This publication grew out of the first-ever Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia which met in Wheeling last fall. At that gathering, we all agreed that we wanted to develop a new publication. As far as I know is the only literary journal specific to Northern Appalachia,” Hanna added.
This year’s conference is coming up the weekend of Sept. 11 and will be a virtual conference due to the pandemic, according to Hanna.
The Review publishes authors from, living in, or writing about northern Appalachia and it seeks work that best conveys the character of the people and places of the region and which represents it as both distinct from and part of greater Appalachia.
The publication hopes to serve as a catalyst to more novels, poetry, essays, history, memoir, drama, and other modes of literary writing that represent this region.
Cover art is a mixed-media collage that visualizes the depth of experience and community in Northern Appalachia and was created by artist Kathryn Holt of Wheeling.
It is also available on Amazon in both digital formats or book form.