DANVILLE — When Ryan Stone took a group of Danville Area Community College students to an inaugural student literary magazine conference a few years ago, he was eager to get involved.

"It's very difficult for undergraduate students to attend conferences these days," said Stone, a liberal arts professor at DACC and the faculty adviser for its nationally-recognized student literary publication, "Waiting for Rain."

"The large conferences aren't geared toward students, and they certainly don't give them an opportunity to present," he continued. "This conference provides a student-centered platform for publications that are primarily or entirely written by and edited by students."

The College Student Literary Magazine Conference, formerly the Mid-Atlantic College Student Literary Magazine Conference, started at Community College of Philadelphia in 2008. This year, Stone, who is co-chairing the event, is bringing it to DACC.

About 40 students and faculty from two- and four-year colleges from across the country are expected to attend the event, which will be held on Friday at DACC's Bremer Conference Center.

"We're going to get a chance to show off what we do as far as our literary community and our publication, "Waiting for Rain," Stone said.

DACC students have been creating and selecting material and editing the journal for 30 years now. The publication, which comes out in the fall, recently changed its format from a 8 1/2-by-11-inch staple-bound book to a 6-by-9-inch perfect bound book.

Stone is the featured reader and will read a selection from his short story collection, "Best Road Yet."

Teacher and writer Glen Retief is the keynote speaker. His new book, "The Jack Bank," is a memoir of growing up white and gay in apartheid South Africa.

The conference for student magazine editors, writers, artists and faculty advisors will also feature student-centered, collaborative presentations by students and faculty. Presentations will focus on various aspects of student literary magazine including innovative student-faculty collaborations in and beyond the classroom; online magazines; financing student magazines; developing and promoting magazines; the editorial process; alternative expressions such as CDs and podcasts; collaborations involving student magazines and other clubs, departments and organizations; and graphic design and layout.

"They'll discuss best practices and the best way to go about producing literary magazines and everything that goes along with that," Stone said.

Stone said the conference is still in its infancy. He hopes to see it grow.

"I have a vision of it being a traveling conference," he said, adding that many students can't afford to attend events that are farther away. "This will allow students of a region to attend and participate. We eventually would like to see it move all across the country."