Excited to be part of the 2026 Appalachian Writers Workshop faculty alongside these talented writers and teachers. You won’t find a better workshop or writing community. Join us! Applications are open until March 1st. Apply at hindman.org/workshop #AWW26 #AppalachianWritersWorkshop #WritingWorkshop

Check out my new story “To Bury” in the brand new UNTELLING Issue 4 | Winter ‘25 issue. I workshopped the story this summer at Appalachian Writers Workshop at @hindmanschool.bsky.social . I worked on the final sentence every day for three weeks! Order your copy at hindman.org/untelling/

Loved this book. One of the best Jim Harrison books, and it surprises me how high quality most are. This is a story about grief, life, death, the UP, Chippewa religious ideas, bears, our connection with animals and the spirit world, and how our stories and the stories of our ancestors carry on. 💙📚

Honored to be included in the new UNTELLING Issue 4 | Winter ‘25 issue alongside so many writers/poets/artists I admire. Thanks to editor Melissa Helton and Hindman Settlement School. Order your copy at hindman.org/untelling/

A sad day in our country that should deeply concern every American.

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! #OakLedgeResidencyContest #JamesStill #Contest #WritingRetreat #appalachianwriter

The new @publisherswkly.bsky.social print edition features PINEVILLE TRACE and highlights how artist Erik Rust worked with Etchings Press and designer Abigail Bailey to create the NIEA award-winning cover! #publishersweekly @booklife.bsky.social #booklife #coverart #collage #pinevilletrace 💙📚

PINEVILLE TRACE is a 2026 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite for both the literary fiction AND audiobook categories! Thanks to Etchings Press and narrator Michael Mau! www.independentpressaward.com/2026-favorites #2026IPA #GabbyBookAwards #bookaward #literaryfiction #audiobook 📚💙🐱

Honored to be included among these fine writers in FLASH FICTION WRITING TIPS—the #1 Amazon New Release in Reference! a.co/d/bNL4N1W Featuring luminaries of the form like Meg Pokras, Sherrie Flick, Grant Faulkner, Stuart Dybek, Dinty Moore, Etgar Keret, @nodghosh.bsky.social

Help protect nature and farmland! If you live in Woodford County, sign and share this petition to protect rural farms from being developed and subdivided. After signing, contact county magistrates and come to the meeting Tuesday, Jan. 13th at Woodford Fiscal Court at 5:30. c.org/MYrx4H28jQ

My favorite reads of 2025! 💙📚

Me and Pig

Winter Solstice. Orion through Pines

Some highlights about my debut book PINEVILLE TRACE from Etchings Press, Univ. of Indianapolis. Available at your local bookstore or library, bookshop.org, and all the usual online places. Learn more at wesblake.com

Audiobook Sale! $1.99 now through Dec. 31!

It’s been so nice listening to stories about Gurney Norman over the last couple days. I feel lucky to have had him as a teacher. Thelonius Monk said that “a genius is the one most like himself.” Gurney was always completely himself. Listen to Gurney read “Allegiance”: youtu.be/Zk8nRWujzu4?...

New interview at Southern Review of Book ! I got to talk with Julie Hensley about her new book FIVE OAKS, memory, secrets, form, autofiction, and the importance of place. Read here: southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/12/05/f...

Thanks to @publisherswkly.bsky.social & @booklife.bsky.social for featuring PINEVILLE TRACE in their “Cover Crush” article! Read about how the cover came to be, then check out the original artwork by Erik Rust on display at Paul Sawyier Library in Frankfort, KY. booklife.com/news/create/...

Get signed copies of PINEVILLE TRACE at Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Lexington! Signed books make great gifts! Joseph-Beth can ship signed copies, too. Thanks so much to the folks at Joseph-Beth like Randy, Gary, Sam, Liz (who took this photo!), and many others. 💙📚

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Get signed copies of PINEVILLE TRACE at Fireside Reads Bookshop! Signed books by local authors make great gifts. This cool new bookstore is just past the Fayette County line in Jessamine County, on Harrodsburg Road. #shoplocal #indiesfirst

We’re giving away 10 signed copies of PINEVILLE TRACE, “an introspective, haunting tale that remains with us” (Heavy Feather Review). Enter today for a chance to win! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho... #goodreadsgiveaway #free #signedbook #southernlit #appalachianlit #novella #flashfiction

Thanks to Randy Mackin and Porch Light—Southern Lit Journal for publishing my new story “Hit the Road,” excerpted from ANTENNA—the novel manuscript about Frank Russet’s life prior to PINEVILLE TRACE! Read here: www.readporchlight.com/read/excerpt...

Good times at the Books by the Banks Book Festival literary fiction panel and book signing!

Late October/early November days in Nonesuch with Natalie Blake. Planted the last (hopefully?) of our hundred plus trees, hanging with our cats Pig and Queak, and watching the leaves change.

Check out our Literary Fiction Panel at Books on the Banks at 1:30 pm on Sat. Nov. 15 in Room 1SB. Join @katherinehowe.bsky.social Lynne Hugo, Esinam Bediako, me, & our moderator Isa Fernandez. It’s sure to be a lively talk! #bbtbcincy #booksbythebanks #bookfestival #literaryfiction

The new Oct. 27 @publisherswkly.bsky.social Best Books Issue features a review of PINEVILLE TRACE and names it a @booklife.bsky.social EDITOR’S PICK!

I’ll be at the West Virginia Book Festival this Saturday signing copies of PINEVILLE TRACE! #bookfestival #literaryfiction #appalachianlit #southernfiction #novella #pinevilletrace #writingcommunity 💙📚

Had a blast on our panel at the Southern Festival of Books talking writing and books with Robert Inman. So many great Barry Hannah stories, too! If you missed Bob and I, you can get signed copies of our new books VILLAGES & PINEVILLE TRACE at @parnassusbooks.bsky.social ! #southernfestivalofbooks

Had so much fun at Proof Book Fest signing books and talking with readers, editors, and writers that I forgot to take pictures until it was over!

Great conversation at Morgenstern Books with @klagodzki.bsky.social last week. You can get signed books of PINEVILLE TRACE & CONTROLLED CONVERSATIONS at Morgenstern Books in Bloomington, IN!

Nashville! Sunday at 1 pm in the Duck Room: Museum—Come hear Robert Inman and me chat at the Southern Festival of Books. Robert studied under one of my favorite writers—Barry Hannah! Book signing after! 📍Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Nashville, TN @parnassusbooks.bsky.social

I wrote a few words for my writing mentor Gurney Norman, the Kentucky and Appalachian writer and teacher, who passed this Sunday. I’ve been reflecting on what a big influence he had on my life and others. You can read it at substack.com/@wesblake/no... #GurneyNorman #appalachianlit #kentuckywriters

New interview! Check out this interview over at The Daily Obsessive on Substack. My friend Dave Kolonich and I talk about flash fiction, the fourth wall, fictive dreams, faith, fraud, etc! You should subscribe to Dave’s Substack, The Daily Obsessive, too. Read at open.substack.com/pub/thedaily...

Thank you, Gurney. In January 2000 I took my very first creative writing course. Gurney wrote these words after reading my first story. He was such an important mentor.I’ll never forget him. He taught me that people in Kentucky had something to say. And so did I. And it was worthwhile. #gurneynorman

#Publishing With this week's announcement about the closure of the book distributor Baker & Taylor, it's important to support independent presses that will lose their publisher services. @schaffnerpress.bsky.social is one such. Buy one of their books. Or five. #BookSky #Reading schaffnerpress.com

Indianapolis Readers! I’ll be signing copies of PINEVILLE TRACE at the Proof: Midwest Lit Fest in Indianapolis at the Harrison Center on Sat. Oct. 11 from 10 - 11:30 am. Hope to see you! #booksigning #PinevilleTrace

I’ll be at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on Sun. Oct. 19! Come hear Robert Inman and I chat on Sun. at 1 pm. Robert studied under one of my favorite writers—Barry Hannah! Book signing after! #SouthernFestivalOfBooks #SouthernFiction @parnassusbooks.bsky.social

Bloomington Readers! Join @klagodzki.bsky.social & I at Morgenstern Books as we discuss Pineville Trace and Controlled Conversations. Both novels feature characters on the run, escaping to realize freedom. What are they running from and toward, and why does it matter? 💙📚 #authors

Another pic from Kentucky Native Cafe’s #LastMondayReadingSeries last night!

Thanks so much to the kind folks at Michler’s Florist and KY Native Cafe for their hospitality and for creating this awesome reading series, community, and place. And thanks to everyone who joined us tonight! I had a great time reading, listening to Jan LaPerle’s poetry, and talking with everyone.

EDITOR’S PICK @publisherswkly.bsky.social #BookLife named PINEVILLE TRACE an Editor’s Pick! Learn more at wesblake.com. #PublishersWeekly #EditorsPick #BookReview #SouthernLit #AppalachianLit #Novella #NovellaInFlash #Cats #PinevilleTrace

So happy to share that Publisher’s Weekly’s Booklife just named PINEVILLE TRACE an Editor’s Pick! They wrote such an insightful review, too. The review will appear in the new Publisher’s Weekly. Read the review, here: booklife.com/category/fic... #bookreview #publishersweekly #editorspick 💙📚🐈

Had an awesome time talking with Jacinda Townsend about her new book TRIGGER WARNING tonight. If you missed us, you can get signed copies of TRIGGER WARNING & PINEVILLE TRACE at Carmichael’s bookstore. Her new book is so good. Check it out. #booksigning #appalachianfiction

TODAY in Louisville:

Save the date, and please feel free to share! Jan LaPerle and I will be reading at the always incredible Last Monday Reading Series at KY Native Cafe on Mon. Sep. 29 at 8 pm. This is such an amazing place and such a cool reading series. Hope to see you there! #reading #lexingtonky

Good times today at A Likely Story Bookstore for the Midway Fall Festival signing PINEVILLE TRACE. If you missed me today, you can still get signed copies at A Likely Story in Midway! #midwayfallfestival #booksigning #southernfiction #appalachianlit #PinevilleTrace

Louisville! Come hang out with us on Sep. 23 at Carmichael’s Bookstore! Jacinda Townsend grew up in Bowling Green and calls Trigger Warning her love letter to Louisville. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/jacinda-to....

Loved the conversation and reading tonight with Julie Hensley at Coffeetree Books in Morehead, KY! Get signed copies of Five Oaks and Pineville Trace at @coffeetreebooks ! It was great to be back in the town I lived in years ago. Thanks to everyone who hung out with us tonight! 💙📚

Back when we lived in Morehead, Kentucky in the 1980s! I’ll be back there with Julie Hensley talking about our new books at CoffeeTree Books thisTuesday at 5pm! #moreheadky #booksigning #appalachianlit #southernfiction #pinevilletrace #fiveoaks