Saturday, September 19, 2026
Radford University, Hemphill Hall
Radford University, Hemphill Hall
Description
Writing and rhetoric graduate students, instructors, and scholars in the Appalachian region are invited to attend the 6th Annual Corridors: Blue Ridge Writing & Rhetoric Conference on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Radford University in Virginia. This year’s theme, “Writing Home: Where the Power of Place Meets the Page,” invites us to explore how the concept of home shapes our identities, pedagogies, research, and creative work.
Traditionally, the phrase “writing home” suggested sending a letter back to where we felt we belonged. Today, the phrase resonates differently. Many of us are asking what home even means, how we write from and toward it, how our students encounter that question in the classroom, and what it means to call a place your “home” in the first place.
For those who teach writing, the idea of home often emerges in assignments about identity, place, language, or community—to name a few. For others, home is a location of longing, memory, conflict, return, or simply a feeling. In the Appalachian region especially, scholars and writers have long wrestled with what it means to belong to a place that is both deeply loved and often misunderstood.
Therefore, this conference invites conversations about how the concept of home appears across our work, including place-based and community-engaged pedagogies, service-learning partnerships, interpretive or public writing projects, explorations of belonging and displacement, or creative representations of the places that have shaped (or unshaped) us.
Timeline
Call for Proposals Released: February 15, 2026
Conference Proposals Due: April 30, 2026
Notifications Sent: May 25, 2026
Confirmation of Presenters Due: June 15, 2026
Registration Opens: July 1, 2026
Draft Program Available: July 1, 2026
Final Program Available: August 1, 2026
Registration Closes: September 12, 2026
Music of Many Voices:
Exploring Home, Identity, and Voice through Writing
Too many times, students enter a writing classroom afraid: afraid of their teachers, of a more advanced workload, of "not fitting in." They may have been taught to stifle their accents or dialect to the point that they are unwilling to speak up in class at all. They arrive carrying a sense of deep shame about their roots, and, if they are Appalachian, they have seen their home communities belittled and mocked . . . And yes, some of scars they carry were inflicted in classrooms.
In this address, April J. Asbury will speak about the power that comes when these students reclaim their voices. By reading the creative and critical work of Appalachian writers, they experience rich writing from people who "sound just like them"—or, if those sounds are unfamiliar, the joy and courage of people who speak up for themselves, rather than the flat, bland product of an AI program. This address will provide recommendations for further reading, take-home exercises for participants, and encouragement to revel in all our varied voices, whether as students, teachers, writers, or passionate members of their Appalachian or home communities.
April J. Asbury teaches writing and literature at Radford University. She co-directs the Highland Summer Conference, a one-week writing workshop that brings Radford students and community members together with guest writers from the Appalachian region. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Spalding University and her M.A. from Hollins University. Her poetry and fiction appear in Artemis Journal, Still: The Journal, Gyroscope Review, and The Anthology of Appalachian Writers. Woman with Crows, her first poetry collection, is available on apriljasbury.com.
Conference Details
6th Annual Corridors: Blue Ridge Writing & Rhetoric Conference
One-day, in-person, Appalachian regional conference nestled in the breath-taking Blue Ridge Mountains in southwest Virginia on the beautiful Radford University campus
FREE for presenters and attendees (registration available July 1-September 12)
Conference runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with breakfast nibbles provided, lunch on your own, and a dinner gathering of your choice from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Conference Schedule At-a-Glance
Location: Hemphill Hall
8:00-8:30 Check In, Breakfast Nibbles 1st Floor Atrium
8:30-8:45 Welcome Room 1016
9:00-10:15 Session A Rooms 3008, 3012, 3016, 3020
10:30-11:45 Session B Rooms 3008, 3012, 3016, 3020
11:45-1:00 Lunch On Your Own On- and Off-Campus Locations
1:00-2:00 Keynote Address Room 1016
2:15-3:30 Session C Rooms 3008, 3012, 3016, 3020
3:45-5:00 Session D Rooms 3008, 3012, 3016, 3020
5:30-7:30 Dinner A Gathering of Your Choice
Lunch (on your own) Options
Other events are happening on campus the day of the conference, so on- and off-campus eating establishments are expected to be busy. Please plan accordingly.
On-Campus Hemphill Hall (walk)
Starbucks (third floor)
On-Campus Dalton Hall (walk)
Visit Dining Services webpage for hours of operation and menu
Dalton Kitchen
Wendy’s
Tartan Pizza Co.
Bowl Life
1910 Café
On-Campus "The Bonnie" Hurlburt Student Center (walk)
Visit Dining Services webpage for hours of operation and menu
Chick-Fil-A
Hissho Sushi
Student Choice (Food Your Way)
Honeycomb Commons
Across the Street from Campus (walk)
BT’s Restaurant, 218 Tyler Avenue
Subway, 310 Tyler Avenue
Benny Nicola's (Home of the Virginia Slice), 1018 Clement Street
Jimmy John's, 1020 Clement Street
Downtown Radford (walk or drive; free downtown parking available)
Amando’s Italian Kitchen, 1154 East Main Street
Arabica Cafe & Bakery, 1158 East Main Street
Nagoya Sushi, 1144 East Main Street
Golden Bowl Asian Grill, 1802 East Main Street
Domino's Pizza, 1700 East Main Street
Short Distance from Campus (drive; free parking available)
East End Radford
Macado’s, 510 East Main Street
Highlander Pizza, 700 East Main Street
Up Tyler Avenue Toward 1-81
Thai This Express (Next to the Marathon Gas Station), 1401 Tyler Avenue
Lin's House (By Food Lion), 1200 Tyler Avenue
Papa Johns (By Food Lion), 1200 Tyler Avenue
Food Lion, 1200 Tyler Avenue
Food City, 1701 Tyler Avenue
West End Radford
Brick House Pizza, 311 West Main Street
Radford Coffee Company, 333 West Main Street
Sonic, 113 West Main Street
Tha' Dawg House, 600 West Main Street
El Charro Mexican Grill, 713 West Main Street
Latino's Taste Restaurant, 1126 West Main Street
Across the Bridge
Chipotle Mexican Grill, 7406 Lee Highway
McDonald's, 7484 Lee Highway
Cook Out, 7400 Lee Highway
Long John Silver's, 7420 Lee Highway
Hank's Drive-In, 7431 Lee Highway
Little Caesar's Pizza, 7414 Lee Highway
Bojangles, 7455 Lee Highway
Hardee's, 7353 Lee Highway
Kroger, 7480 Lee Highway
Sal's Jr Pizza and Italian Restaurant (By Walmart), 7401 Peppers Ferry Boulevard
Walmart, 7373 Peppers Ferry Boulevard
Dinner Gathering Options in Radford
Select an option when you register for the conference. A faculty member or graduate student will host each gathering. You pay for your own dinner.
Sharkey’s Wing & Rib Joint (Downtown Radford), 1202 East Main Street
Bee & Butter Restaurant & Rooftop Bar (Across the Street from Campus at the Highlander Hotel), 604 Tyler Avenue, Sixth Floor
Sal’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria (West End Radford), 709 West Main Street
Rocas Mexican Grill (Across the Bridge), 7523 Lee Highway
The River Company Restaurant and Brewery (Across the Bridge), 6633 Viscoe Road
Lodging Options
Other events are happening on campus the day of the conference, so hotels close to campus are expected to be busy. Please make your lodging reservations early.
In Radford (minutes to RU campus)
Highlander Hotel (Across the Street from Campus), 604 Tyler Avenue
La Quinta Inn by Wyndham, 1450 Tyler Avenue
Comfort Inn & Suites, 2331 Tyler Avenue
Tru by Hilton, 2300 Tyler Avenue
Nessel Rod on the New B&B, 7535 Lee Highway
In Christiansburg (20-minute drive to RU campus)
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn Express
Hampton Inn
Quality Inn
Wingate by Wyndham
Homewood Suites by Hilton
Fairfield Inn by Marriott
In Dublin (20-minute drive to RU campus)
Holiday Inn Express
Wingate by Wyndham
Quality Inn
Hampton Inn
Directions to Radford University
Flying
Fly to Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (which is about 36 miles from Radford). Car rentals are available at the airport. From the airport, take Interstate 581-North to Interstate 81-South. From Interstate 81-South, take Exit 109 onto Route 177/Tyler Avenue into Radford.
Driving South on I-81
From Interstate 81-South, take Exit 109 onto Route 177/Tyler Avenue into Radford.
Driving North on I-81
From Interstate 81-North, take Exit 105 onto West Main Street into Radford.
From Dublin or Christiansburg
Take State Route 11 (also known as Lee Highway) into Radford.
Hemphill Hall Entrance and Nearby Parking
Because Hemphill Hall is normally closed on Saturdays, conference attendees will need to enter Hemphill Hall on the East Main Street side. When you enter Hemphill Hall from East Main Street, you will be on the first floor where you can check-in and get a bite to eat.
Recommended parking lots for easy access to Hemphill Hall, East Main Street side, are Lot GG, Lot C, and Lot B. Disabled parking is available in all three lots. Lot F is also nearby, but you will need to go down the outdoor stairs (between Muse Hall and Hemphill Hall) to get to the East Main Street entrance. See the campus parking map for assistance.
Parking on campus is free on Saturdays; however, students tend to park on campus near their dormitories. Also, other events are happening on campus the day of the conference, so parking may be tricky. Please allow plenty of time to get to campus and find parking. Even so, there should be parking near Hemphill Hall in the lots indicated above. If not, other locations are available. See the campus parking map for assistance.
Notes of Interest
Starbucks is located in Hemphill Hall on the third floor. It opens on Saturdays at 9 a.m. There is also a Starbucks on Lee Highway (State Route 11) across the bridge and next to Food City on Tyler Avenue. You can also find fresh-brewed coffee at the Radford Coffee Company on West Main Street.
Bisset Park and Wildwood Park are short drives from campus. (Their respective entrances are nearly across the street from each other on East Main Street.) They both have paved walking trails. The Bisset Park walking trail follows the mighty (on occasion) New River. The Wildwood Park walking trail is in a beautiful wooded area where you may be able to see birds and (hopefully harmless) critters native to this area.
Conference Committee
Laura Vernon, Professor of English, Professional Writing Program
Michele Ren, Professor of English, First-Year Writing Program, Women's & Gender Studies Program
Marti Wagnon, Assistant Professor of English, Professional Writing Program
The 2026 Corridors: Blue Ridge Writing & Rhetoric Conference is sponsored by Radford University's School of Writing, Language, and Literature and College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences.