On February 6, 2014, the UK Student Activities Board hosted a reading featuring the Affrilachian Poets as part of a celebration of Black History Month. The poets, representing their publication Pluck! the Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture, each read a selection of their work individually.
Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker brought home the gold this past weekend, winning the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.
Kentucky has a rich literary history, and the new Poet Laureate of the Bluegrass State, Frank X Walker, has a deep respect and knowledge of those great writers before him.
Frank’s Kentucky roots have integrally shaped his perspective as a writer and teacher. The Danville native has said "One of the things I know, having lived in other states than Kentucky, is that it means something to be a Kentucky writer."
Frank created the word “Affrilachia,” which identified the African American experience in the Appalachian region.
There is word on the page and then there is word given breath. This past April, students and faculty from the University of Kentucky brought words to life thanks to a 12-hour open air poetry reading. The event, organized by English professor and published author Julia Johnson, was held outside of the Student Center welcoming anyone and everyone to come read their favorite poems aloud.
The 35th annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference has unveiled its line-up for the literary event scheduled Sept. 20–21, 2013, and tickets may now be purchased. The conference, which will feature Louisville poet Kiki Petrosino and other acclaimed writers from around the nation, will also offer five new postgraduate scholarships to attend the event.
University Press of Kentucky (UPK) author bell hooks has been named the recipient of the 2013 Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s (BCALA) Best Poetry Award for her book "Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place."
Creative Writing Professor discusses the impact of her acceptance speech at the National Book Award ceremony on NPR's Arts & Life.
Frank X Walker, professor in the UK Department of English and the African American and Africana Studies Program, will read and discuss his poetry at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 9, at Midway College's Anne Hart Raymond Center. The event is sponsored by Chapter F, a local chapter of the International organization, P.E.O.
In case you missed it during the hectic holiday season, A&S English professor Nikky Finney was featured on “UK at the Half” with Carl Nathe during the UK vs. Loyola basketball game. Finney’s book, “Head Off & Split,” was the winner of the 2011 National Book Award in Poetry. The National Book Awards is one of the most anticipated events in the publishing world. Finney has taught at UK for decades and is a member of the Affrilachian Poets group that includes Frank X Walker and Kelly Norman Ellis.
To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click here.
Nikky Finney was recently awarded the National Book Award for poetry. Her most recent publication, a collection of poems, is entitled "Head Off & Split"
