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Wes Blake [1]

Listed as: 
Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer
Public address: 
Nonesuch, KY
Kentucky US
Email: 
wesblake7@gmail.com
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.

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
In which languages are you fluent?: 
English
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
Twitter/X: 
@wesblake_
Born in: 
Lexington, KY
Kentucky
Raised in: 
KY
Kentucky
RSS feed: 
https://wesblake.com/newsletter/ [2]
Website: 
https://wesblake.com/ [3]
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
Education: 
Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University
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
Writers Retreats: 
DISQUIET International Literary Program
Identifies as: 
American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Source URL:https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/wes_blake

Links
[1] https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/wes_blake [2] https://wesblake.com/newsletter/ [3] https://wesblake.com/