Liz McCormick Published

A Conversation With 2023 Appalachian Heritage Writer-In-Residence Ann Pancake

A photograph of author Ann Pancake next to an image of the cover of her novel "Strange As This Weather Has Been." She has grey hair, smiles slightly and wears a black shirt. The cover of her novel is an artistic take on mountaintop removal. A human is shaped like a mountain, as a few dying trees are shown and oil pours out of the human mountain's stomach.
West Virginia author Ann Pancake is the 2023 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence. Her 2007 novel "Strange As This Weather Has Been" has been named the 2023 One Book, One West Virginia Common Read.
Courtesy Shepherd University
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West Virginia author Ann Pancake is the 2023 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence at Shepherd University.

She is best known for her acclaimed 2007 novel Strange as This Weather Has Been. It follows a southern West Virginia family affected by mountaintop removal. 

The novel has won numerous awards and accolades including the Weatherford Award. It has also been designated the 2023 One Book, One West Virginia Common Read. 

Liz McCormick sat down with Pancake while she was in Shepherdstown to discuss what inspires her writing, what’s next in her career and how Appalachia has evolved since she wrote Strange as This Weather Has Been.

A shorter version of this interview originally aired in West Virginia Morning.

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