Ligonier Valley Writers

10/15/2026

10/13/2026

The votes are in!

Ligonier Valley Writers congratulates Kimberly McElhatten, winner of The Loyalhanna Review’s 2026 Ruth McDonald Fan Favorite Award. Her poem, “Wilmore Reservoir South, Late Evening with a Full Moon Rising” garnered the most votes in a robust response to this year’s appeal.

Kimberly McElhatten’s work appears in South 85, Red Branch Review, Unlost, and Touchstone, where she won the Spring Poetry Prize. She edits at the Brevity and Fourth River and directs the WCoNA Book of the Year. She is a past participant of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project and the Fallingwater Residency in Nature and Place-Based Writing.

You can read Kimberly’s poem below, and go to https://www.lvwonline.org/tlr2026 for the complete digital version of the magazine.

LVW thanks all who supported this year’s campaign with their votes and feedback.

10/01/2026

Hear the Winning Flash Fiction Stories
at SAMA Ligonier on October 24

You are cordially invited to attend a reading of the six winning stories in LVW's Flash Fiction Contest. It takes place on Saturday, October 24, at 6:00 p.m. at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Ligonier. SAMA is at 1 Boucher Lane, right on Route 711 just south of Route 30.

The event is open to the public. Don't miss a single pounding heartbeat. Light refreshments will be served. Our winners’ spooky stories about what’s behind the door will get you in the mood for Halloween as they’re read aloud around the fire (weather permitting).

You can also talk with the winning writers and enjoy the beautiful setting of SAMA. Scare up some friends and join us.

We received a record-breaking 118 submissions this year from around the world. Stay tuned for the announcement of the winners.

09/19/2026

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE for the Ruth McDonald Fan Favorite Award. Check out The Loyalhanna Review 2026 and choose a poem, prose, or photo/art that sparkles for you. The deadline is extended to SUNDAY, September 27. The "winner" receives $50.00. Find the submittal form at LVWonline.org or send email to [email protected].

09/08/2026

120 minutes. One canvas. Endless possibilities! Can you capture the spirit of the Lincoln Highway in just two hours?

Join artists from across the region for SAMA Ligonier Valley's FREE Quick Draw Competition on September 23, 2026. Choose an indoor or outdoor scene, race against the clock, and create a finished painting that will be judged for prizes.

🎨 Check-in: Noon
🖌️ Painting: 1:00–3:00 PM
🏅 Awards: 3:30 PM
📍 Lincoln Highway Experience

Whether you're an experienced plein air painter or looking for a new artistic challenge, this event is the perfect way to kick off an incredible week of art in Ligonier Valley. Register by September 21!

Sign up today: https://www.sama-art.org/event-details/quickdraw2026

Tag a fellow artist who should join you!

09/02/2026

Congratulations, Michael Comiskey!

HICKORY, NC — Redhawk Publications is pleased to announce the release of "Fight or Flight: Poems from a Turbulent Time," a new poetry collection by Michael Comiskey that turns a keen and sometimes wry eye toward contemporary American life.

Drawing on nearly seven decades of observing a changing nation, Comiskey explores the American experience of the mid- to late-2020s through humor, irony, lament and, occasionally, celebration. The collection examines technology, politics, environmental change, patriotism, modern poetry, and the complications of living through a turbulent era.

“The poems just seemed to flow from my pen after nearly seventy years of observing America,” Comiskey said.

Employing both traditional and nontraditional poetic forms, "Fight or Flight" offers readers a wide-ranging collection of observations on the contemporary American scene. The book marks a departure from Comiskey’s previous poetry collection, "South of Pittsburgh: Poems from Northern Appalachia," published in 2024, which focused more closely on the people, places, and culture of his home region.

“This collection is far more general in scope than my previous poetry collection, which had a regional focus,” Comiskey said.

Comiskey came to creative writing after a long academic career. A retired professor of political science and economics at Penn State, he began writing poetry nearly 20 years ago, at age 50. Before turning his attention to poetry, his writing was largely scholarly, including articles in political science and economics.

He is also the author of "Seeking Justices: The Judging of Supreme Court Nominees," published by the University Press of Kansas in 2004.

His background as a scholar and longtime observer of American institutions informs "Fight or Flight," but the collection reaches well beyond politics. Comiskey describes the book as an examination of American life itself, with poems ranging across subjects and styles and inviting readers to consider the absurdities, anxieties, losses, and occasional joys of the current moment.

The collection will appeal to readers interested in poetic observations of contemporary America as well as those who enjoy both traditional and experimental approaches to poetry.

Comiskey lives in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

To learn more or to purchase your copy: https://tinyurl.com/ComiskeyFightOrFlight

08/24/2026

LVW Picnic at Jamison Farm August 30

Ligonier Valley Writers' annual community picnic is Sunday, August 30, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM at Jamison Farm, located at 171 Jamison Lane, Latrobe 15650. Sukey and John Jamison have generously invited LVW to celebrate at their farm for the third time.

The public is cordially invited. The event is free for LVW members and just $5 for nonmembers.

Please RSVP to [email protected] by Tuesday, August 25, so we can be sure tp bring enough food for everyone. If you’d like, bring a side dish, dessert, or main course to share.

Both LVW members and nonmembers are welcome to read from their own writing after the meal. We’ll wrap up the party with drawings for door prizes.

Copies of the 2026 edition of the Loyalhanna Review will be available free of charge. The magazine features top-quality essays, short stories, and poems. Its breathtaking full-color art includes many photos shot in the local area.

Jamison Farm is famed for the lamb it produced for fine restaurants all over the country. After they retired from sheep farming, John and Sukey wrote a memoir called "Coyotes in the Pasture, Wolves at the Door," published by Word Association Publishers.

08/20/2026

What’s behind the door? That was the topic for LVW’s Flash Fiction Contest. Thank you for all the entries! The contest is now closed and the stories are with the judges. Winners to be announced in October.

08/11/2026

Deadline Extended!

To give you time to peruse the magazine, you have until September 27, 2026, to vote for your favorite.

The staff of The Loyalhanna Review wants to remind you: Vote! The deadline draws nigh!

To honor our Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, we instituted the Ruth McDonald Fan Favorite Award. As you peruse this year’s magazine (now available online) note your favorite piece—prose, poem, or photo.

Click here, https://www.lvwonline.org/fanaward2026 or email your vote to [email protected] by August 16, 2026. The author or artist receiving the most votes will be awarded a $50 honorarium.

(Please: One vote per reader.) The winner will be announced on the website, where you can also read past issues of the LR and watch for upcoming events.