Award-winning writer Ann Pancake is haunted by the Appalachia of her childhood. This native of Romney, W.Va., has transformed her experiences into a first book, Given Ground, a collection of short stories that explore change and class conflict in contemporary West Virginia. Pancake will be reading from her collection at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, in the Gold Ballroom of the WVU Mountainlair.

A graduate of WVU s Department of English in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, Pancake received the 2000 Bakeless Prize in Fiction for Given Ground. Her short stories have appeared in several journals, including Shenandoah, Glimmer Train, Mid-American Review and The Virginia Quarterly Review.

She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. Other awards include the Thomas Wolfe Prize, a Tennessee Williams Scholarship from Sewanee WritersConference, and the Emerging Southern Women Writers Award. She received a M.A. from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D from the University of Washington.

“Were proud to have Ann Pancake back to WVU to read from her terrific book. Very few writers have captured the contradictory essences of our state. The fact that shes a WVU alumna makes her literary accomplishment all that more special,”said James Harms, director of the WVU creative writing program.

Pancake currently teaches creative writing and literature at The Pennsylvania State University, Erie Campus.

The reading is free and open to the public with a reception and book signing to follow. For additional information, contact the Department of English, 293-3107 ext. 404.