About CHRISTINA Fisanick
I write books, articles, and essays that mean something to me and to my readers, I hope. My primary focus is Wheeling and Ohio Valley history.
Biography
I am a lifelong writer who has edited or authored more than 30 books, including The Optimistic Food Addict (MSI Press, 2016), Digital Storytelling as Public History (with Robert Stakeley) in 2020, and Pulling the Thread: Untangling Wheeling History (Northern Meridian Press, 2024). I began writing not long after I began reading in kindergarten and won my first writing contest at age 9. While I began my writing life with poetry, I have since expanded my practice to include memoir, essays, and fiction as well. I am enthralled my local history and the bulk of my work over the past ten years has focused on Wheeling and Ohio Valley history. In 2010 I earned a Certificate in Digital Storytelling and began teaching my college students how to create short (2-4 minute) documentary-style videos. In conjunction with the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, my honors students at Pennsylvania Western University have created more than 400 digital stories that feature artifacts from historical societies throughout northern West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, and southeastern Ohio. I have presented my research and modeled my digital storytelling program all over the United States and internationally. In addition, I am the president of the Writers Association of Northern Appalachia (WANA) and the co-host of WANA LIVE!: The Reading Series. Since March 2020, we have featured nearly 200 writers from the region on our weekly show, which is live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. I owe so much of my success as a writer to many great mentors, including my English professors at West Liberty University. In 2016 I was the youngest person to be inducted into the West Liberty Alumni Hall of Fame and was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at that year’s graduation at which I was commencement speaker.
clfisanick@aol.com
Other Creative Skills
Media Arts: Technology/Experimental (Includes work created using computer or other digital or experimental media as the primary expressive vehicle.)
