Wes Blake

Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Nonesuch, KY
Kentucky US
Email: 
wesblake7@gmail.com
Website: 
wesblake.com/
Twitter/X: 
@wesblake_
RSS feed: 
wesblake.com/newsletter/

Author's Bio

Wes Blake is the author of Pineville Trace, winner of the Etchings Press Novella Prize and finalist for the Feathered Quill Book Award for Debut Author (University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press, 2024); the book was featured on Deep South Magazine’s Fall/Winter Reading List 2024-25. He has been called a “writer to watch” by Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Martin. His work has appeared in Electric Literature, Los Angeles Review of Books, storySouth, and Louisiana Literature Journal, among others, and he holds an MFA from the Bluegrass Writers Studio. Wes lives in Nonesuch, Kentucky with his wife and cats, where they’ve planted over 100 trees. Learn more at wesblake.com.

Education: 
Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University MFA
Writers Retreats: 
DISQUIET International Literary Program

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Journals:
Adelaide Literary Magazine
,
Arkansan Review
,
Blood and Bourbon
,
level:deepsouth
,
Shark Reef
,
storySouth
,
White Wall Review

Fiction

Journals:
Book of Matches
,
Coffin Bell
,
Louisiana Literature
,
Route 7 Review
Novella:
Pineville Trace (Etchings Press, 2024)
Prizes won: 
  • Etchings Press (University of Indianapolis) Novella Prize: Pineville Trace
  • Feathered Quill Book Award for Debut Author Finalist: Pineville Trace
  • UNO (University of New Orleans) Press Book Prize Finalist: Antenna, A Novel
  • Sundress Publications Prose Contest Semifinalist: Antenna, A Novel
  • Outstanding Graduate Project Award, Eastern Kentucky University: Antenna, A Novel

Watch

Listen

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Flannery O'Connor, Denis Johnson, Louise Erdrich, Leonard Gardner, James Salter, Ernest Hemingway, William Kennedy, Breece D'J Pancake, Anton Chekhov, Tobias Wolff, Barry Hannah, Marguerite Duras, Charles Portis, Stewart O'Nan, Christopher Chambers, Tim O'Brien, James Still, Richard Wright, Jim Harrison, Edna O'Brien, Graham Greene, Truman Capote
What I'm reading now: 
Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe, The Power and The Glory by Graham Greene, What Are People For? by Wendell Berry, Landfall: A Ring of Stories by Julie Hensley, The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Lexington, KY
Kentucky
Raised in: 
KY
Kentucky
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Mar 21, 2025