Damian Dressick is the author of the novel 40 Patchtown and the award-winning flash collection Fables of the Deconstruction. His writing has appeared in nearly 100 literary journals and anthologies, including W.W. Norton’s New Micro, Wigleaf, Electric Literature, Post Road, New Orleans Review, McSweeny’s and Smokelong Quarterly. Damian co-hosts WANA: LIVE!, a (largely) virtual reading series that brings some of the best Appalachian writers to the world. Damian also serves as Editor-in-Chief for the journal Appalachian Lit. He teaches writing at Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Christina Fisanick teaches writing and literature at Pennsylvania Western University and is an internationally known expert in digital storytelling. A native West Virginian, her creative and scholarly work often explores themes of labor, resilience, and identity in working-class communities. Fisanick is a founding member and current president of the Writers Association of Northern Appalachia (WANA) and the co-host of WANA LIVE!: The Virtual Reading Series. She is the author or editor of more than 30 books, including Pulling the Thread: Untangling Wheeling History (North Meridian 2024) and Digital Storytelling as Public History: A Guidebook for Educators (Routledge 2020). Her shorter works have appeared in Still: The Journal, Archiving Appalachia, Rust Belt Magazine, the Journal of Appalachian Studies, and Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, among others. In addition, Fisanick is the co-editor of the Journal of Appalachian Studies. Learn more at christinafisanick.com.
