2024 Kentucky Book Festival

with Kentucky Explorer

Kentucky Book Festival

Attending this year’s event: Gwenda Bond, John Lackey, David Arnold, Meg Shaffer and 150 more authors.

Appalachian Writers’ Workshop

America’s Most Haunted Neighborhood

Kentucky’s Bookstore Boom

James Baker Hall Foundation

Honoring an Icon

Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy will loom large over a 2024 Kentucky Book Festival that also will feature fantasy, bourbon, spirituality and much more

BY KEVIN NANCE

Well before his King: A Life won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for biography, Jonathan Eig knew he had outdone himself. Readers and critics were responding to his book about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in ways that set it apart from his past biographies of Muhammad Ali, Al Capone and Lou Gehrig. “From the minute the book came out, it was getting a special reaction,” Eig said. “People were connecting with it emotionally and spiritually, so I could tell I had touched a nerve.”

Eig is among more than 150 authors looking to connect with readers at the Kentucky Book Festival on Nov. 2 at Lexington’s Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Other big names at this year’s festival, a program of Kentucky Humanities, include TV personality Al Roker, young adult author Nic Stone, Louisville chef Edward Lee and two prominent Lexington writers—novelist Gwenda Bond and Kentucky Poet Laureate 2021-2023 Crystal Wilkinson (Wilkinson, author of the culinary memoir Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, also will be featured at a literary luncheon

at Fasig-Tipton in conversation with the award-winning food writer Ronni Lundy on Oct. 31.) Also appearing will be newcomer Yolanda Renee King, the only granddaughter of MLK and his wife, Coretta Scott King, who celebrates her grandparents’ legacy in a new children’s book, We Dream a World.

Eig always expected that King: A Life—a page-turning, deeply human portrait of the great man that relies, in part, on newly released FBI files and new interviews with scores of people who knew the slain civil rights leader personally—would require unusual sensitivity, especially when revealing details about his personal life, including infidelity and struggles with mental health. “The bar was always higher on this book because he matters so much to people … There are plenty of people who have pictures of Jesus and MLK on their walls,” Eig said in an interview from his home in Chicago. “I had to be careful to write a book that dealt with his greatness and his flaws. If I balanced it right and didn’t overemphasize those negative things, I felt that readers would give me a fair shake.”

The decision to use information from the FBI files,

including transcripts of wiretapped conversations and other electronic surveillance over many years, was particularly fraught. “The files had to be handled delicately and with the overriding goal of showing how the Bureau and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, were out to destroy King,” Eig said. “You could argue that the files don’t belong in the book because they come from a corrupt source, but they also help us understand him better as a person. They show how vulnerable, how distraught he is, how he’s suffering.”

The book reveals for the first time the existence of a shocking note anonymously mailed to King by the FBI in 1964 suggesting that he should avoid the exposure of his extramarital activities by committing suicide. “When I do public readings from the book,” Eig said, “that draws audible gasps from the audience every time.”

MLK figures in the work of another KBF guest, Nic Stone, author of the bestselling young adult debut novel Dear Martin (2017) about a Black teenager who begins writing letters to King after a frightening run-in with a racist policeman. Since then, Stone has written several books that, unlike many YA novels that keep the mood light, delve into surprisingly dark themes.

In her most recent novel, Chaos Theory, Stone writes

about Black high school students dealing with heavy issues—including mental illness and alcohol abuse. The story follows Shelbi, a physics genius with bipolar depression and a history of self-harm, and Andy, an excellent student-athlete who deals with grief and the stress of his troubled family life by drinking too much.

Andy and Shelbi find themselves falling in love, but can their relationship withstand the pressure of their respective “brain stuff,” as Shelbi calls it? The answer is moving, complicated and, for the author, deeply personal. In an author’s note, Stone revealed to her readers that much of the story is inspired by her own experiences. “I needed to validate my own reality,” she said in an interview from her home in the Atlanta area. “For me growing up, my father was an alcoholic, and he never hid his drinking from me, including the fact that he was actively working to mitigate it. He used to take me with him to his AA meetings, and just recently hit his 30-years-sober mark.”

Stone used that life experience as inspiration for Andy’s story, while Shelbi’s neurodivergent condition is informed by the author’s struggle with bipolar depression and generalized anxiety disorder. She hopes to help reduce the stigma around mental illness by reminding affected young people that they’re not alone and that it’s OK to talk about it. “As human beings, we’re

not designed to exist in isolation, so it’s important that we not hide from each other,” she said. “Books like mine can serve as mirrors and can help young people realize that there’s nothing wrong with them. It’s only dark because we keep it out of the light.” •

In another neck of the fictional woods, bestselling author Gwenda Bond once again does what she does best: mixing genres. In The Frame-Up, a feisty former con artist named Dani must reassemble her estranged mother’s old crew of art thieves with magical abilities to pull off a new job: stealing a painting that might have supernatural properties. Bond delivers a fast-paced mash-up of an oldfashioned heist caper and fantasy, with big dollops of action, screwball comedy and romance—not to mention that the book is set mostly in Lexington and Louisville.

“It’s Ocean’s Eleven meets The Picture of Dorian Gray in Kentucky,” Bond said. “Weird combinations of things are my rubric.”

As research before she began writing, the author watched about 50 heist movies, focusing on ones that “put a lot of time into building the team,” including the Ocean’s series (including Ocean’s Eight, which she says is unfairly unappreciated) and both versions of The Thomas Crown Affair and To Catch a Thief

“It’s really about how everyone’s going to work together with competing motives, about second chances and found family,” Bond said.

There’s also a strong Bluegrassy flavor in Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey, the newest book by the chef and author Edward Lee. A collection of short essays on the history of bourbon, profiles of industry luminaries and 50 recipes featuring the Commonwealth’s famous libation, Bourbon Land is a delicious concoction for bourbon lovers and adventurous home cooks alike. (For a recipe sampling from Bourbon Land, see Kentucky Monthly’s Setpember issue, page 8.)

“When I was thinking of what my next book would be about, I asked myself whether I had something to say that’s not already out there,” said Lee, chef and owner of 610 Magnolia and Nami in Louisville, whose earlier books include Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine, winner of a 2019 James Beard Book Award. “There were a lot of barbecue cookbooks that featured bourbon, but there are a lot more uses of bourbon in cooking than that.”

In Bourbon Land, Lee explains how to use what he calls “the one true American spirit” in a dazzling array of delectable-sounding dishes featuring bourbon in marinades, vinaigrettes, sauces and gravy; bourbon for poaching, basting and braising; and bourbon combined in a multitude of ways with gochujang, miso and other Asian ingredients, not to mention old standbys such as honey, maple syrup and sorghum, to infuse, enhance and otherwise glorify meats, fish, vegetables and desserts.

“In the beginning of America’s culinary journey, we were mostly fascinated by European cuisines, but now American cuisine is fast becoming a melding of cultures: Mexico, the Far East, the American South,” Lee explained. “Now you need something stronger than wine to stand up to all those chiles and ginger, all that turmeric, all that smoke. You need bourbon.”

Much of Brother Paul Quenon’s half-century of monastic life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in New Haven has been spent nurturing the legacy of his former novice master: acclaimed writer, poet and theologian Thomas Merton. But in the just-published A Matter of the Heart: A Monk’s Journal—a follow-up to his 2018 memoir In Praise of the Useless Life and several earlier poetry collections—Quenon consolidates his reputation as Merton’s literary heir and continues to emerge as a gifted writer in his own right.

Based on excerpts from his journals from the 1970s to the 2000s, A Matter of the Heart barely mentions Brother Louis, as Quenon called Merton. Instead, it oscillates between spiritual reflections and elegantly observed, sometimes gently comic slices of daily life at the monastery: the routines of worship; insightful encounters with nature, including animals, on the Gethsemani grounds; conversations—sometimes in sign language— with other monks; and occasional reactions to world events such as the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

“Brother Louis didn’t like imitators,” said Quenon, who will participate in a KBF panel discussion about spiritual writing with Fenton Johnson and Jon Sweeney “He wanted people to be themselves, the way God made them, and I suppose I’ve tried to do that as a writer and poet. I can’t be compared with him, really, but I admit that he inspired me to develop that part of my life. There’s something about monastic life that allows for writers and inspires them. You’re given the gift of the contemplative life and having these moments, so why not share them? It’s about having something to give and to give it freely to others.” Q

AUTHOR EVENTS LOCAL GIFTS STORY TIMES CASUAL DINING

Dear Authors, Readers, Fans and Friends of Books,

Kentucky Humanities is proud to welcome you to the 43rd edition of the Kentucky Book Festival , where every lover of literature can find a book to enjoy and to shake the hand that wrote it. We hope you enjoy browsing the author’s gallery, attending a few sessions of our diverse programming, and visiting the children’s tent with fun activities for the next generation of readers. Thanks to our sponsors, for the third year, hundreds of children age 14 and under can receive vouchers for a free book of their choice.

This festival would not have been possible without the generous help of numerous organizations and individuals. We’re grateful to our partners at Joseph-Beth Booksellers for hosting and assisting in planning the event. Our volunteers’ dedication and enthusiasm are greatly appreciated. We hope that everyone who attends the event leaves enriched with engaging books

AND THE KENTUCKY BOOK FESTIVAL TEAM

KENTUCKY HUMANITIES

2024 IMAGE ARTIST John Lackey is a native of Lexington and runs Homegrown Press Studios. He now operates his various art endeavors out of the weird and wonderful Luigart Gallery. A painter of surreal landscapes and realistic abstractions, he is also responsible for many logos, murals, posters and wood engravings for, among others, North Lime Coffee & Donuts, Wilco, Holler Poets Series, Alfalfa Restaurant, Larkspur Press, Kroger, the Kentucky Chamber, and the Kentucky Arts Council.

NOVEMBER 2 9:30AM–5:00PM

Joseph-Beth Booksellers 161 Lexington Green Circle Lexington, KY 40503

Authors will sign books at Various locations within Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Most authors will be seated downstairs on the lower level with access via escalator and elevator. Maps will be provided day-of.

For the most up-to-date author lineup and event schedule, follow us here:

WEBSITE

kybookfestival.org FACEBOOK Kentucky Book Festival INSTAGRAM @kybookfestival

Thank you to the staff and volunteers who make this event possible! We appreciate your time and support in making the book festival a success.

KENTUCKY HUMANITIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BRIAN CLARDY Murray

JENNIFER CRAMER Lexington

CHELSEA BRISLIN Lexington SELENA SANDERFER DOSS Portland, TN

BEN FITZPATRICK Lexington

CLARENCE GLOVER Louisville

NICHOLAS HARTLEP Lexington

CHRIS HARTMAN Louisville

SARA HEMINGWAY Owensboro

ERIC JACKSON Florence

LOIS MATEUS Harrodsburg

KEITH McCUTCHEN Frankfort

TOM OWEN Louisville

JORDAN PARKER Lexington

LIBBY PARKINSON Louisville

PENELOPE PEAVLER Louisville

LOU ANNA RED CORN Lexington

ANDREW REED Prestonsburg

JUDY RHOADS Owensboro

RON SHEFFER Louisville

HOPE WILDEN Lexington

BOBBIE ANN WRINKLE Paducah

WAYNE YATES Princeton

KENTUCKY HUMANITIES STAFF

Bill Goodman Executive Director

Derek Beaven Program Manager

Gladys Thompson Fiscal Officer

Jay McCoy

Administrative Assistant to Kentucky Book Festival

Joanna Murdock Administrative Assistant

Julie Klier Event Producer

Katerina Stoykova Kentucky Book Festival Director

Mariane Stoess Assistant Director

Rebecca Redding Graphic Designer

Sam Corbett Development Assistant

Zoe Kaylor Grant Administrator

Kentucky Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C. Kentucky Humanities is supported by the National Endowment and by private contributions. In addition to producing the Kentucky Book Festival, Kentucky Humanities sponsors PRIME TIME Family Reading Time®, offers Kentucky Chautauqua® and Speakers Bureau programs, hosts Smithsonian traveling exhibits throughout the state, publishes Kentucky Humanities magazine, and awards grants for humanities programs. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the NEH or Kentucky Humanities board and staff. Learn more at kyhumanities.org.

2024 FESTIVAL EVENTS

FASIG-TIPTON , 2400 NEWTOWN PIKE, LEXINGTON, KY 40511

Join Crystal Wilkinson and Ronni Lundy for a discussion of Crystal’s culinary memoir, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. Books by both writers will be available for purchase. This premier event will be catered by Ouita Michel and Holly Hill Events.

OCTOBER 31 • 7 PM

Books

&

Brews Trivia

Socialize and to test your literary trivia! Free and open to the public.

GOODWOOD LEXINGTON , 200 LEXINGTON GREEN CIRCLE, LEXINGTON, KY 40503

NOVEMBER 2 • 9:30 AM to 5 PM

JOSEPH-BETH BOOKSELLERS 161 LEXINGTON GREEN CIRCLE LEXINGTON, KY 40503

150 authors, co-authors and illustrators will be in attendance, meeting readers and signing books. Patrons can enjoy a full slate of presentations, readings and craft talks across five stages, as well as a packed schedule of children’s events. The program includes special appearances by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Jonathan Eig, bestselling young adult author Nic Stone, Yolanda Renee King – the granddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with her debut picture book, We Dream a World, and others.

CHILDREN’S

P. ANASTASIA

POE Prophecies: The Black Cat

P. Anastasia is the author of nine novels and two children’s picture books resonating with mystery, charm and a little bit of magic—the embodiment of her unique writing style. The second in her POE Prophecies series, an engaging young adult mystery series inspired by true events and the works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat continues Aidan Gray’s journey through P.O.E. Academy as he investigates the mysterious behavior of another student and uncovers a sinister secret.

BRITAINY BESHEAR + ANITA HATCHETT

Winnie Tours the Kentucky State Capitol

2024 Kentucky Book Festival Honorary Chair and Kentucky First Lady Britainy Beshear is a powerful advocate for the Commonwealth’s children and has been there for them and their families during challenging times. After completing her BA in English from the University of Kentucky, Anita Hatchett worked as a graphic designer and graphic design coordinator before joining the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, where she now serves as executive director. In Winnie Tours the Kentucky State Capitol, First Dog of Kentucky Winnie Beshear takes kids on an adventure touring the State Capitol.

LORI BRILEY

Dognapped at the Ice Rink

Lori Briley is the author of the Buddy and Panda Mysteries series based on her real-life dogs and her daughter’s experiences playing ice hockey. In her latest book, Dognapped at the Ice Rink, the dynamic doggy duo sniff out clues, unravel secrets and embark on a heartwarming adventure proving that true friendship and teamwork can overcome even the most challenging mysteries.

JODIE CAMPBELL

There Was a Zookeeper

As a registered nurse for her local health department, Jodie Campbell has a big heart for helping families in her community. Filled with her memorable characters and vibrant illustrations by Alexey Chystikov, There Was a Zookeeper offers a tale of decision-making, friendship and forgiveness.

JEFFREY EBBELER

Jerry, Let Me See the Moon

A graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Jeffrey Ebbeler has worked as an art director, book designer, illustrator and even marionette sculptor and performer for a puppet theater. Larger-than-life bad guys and slapstick humor meet a heartfelt exploration of what makes a place home in Jerry, Let Me See the Moon, a page-turner that will leave younger middle-grade readers howling for more.

MARCIA THORNTON JONES

Dragons Don’t Cook Pizzas

A former columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine, Marcia Thornton Jones is the author or co-author of 138 books for children, including the bestselling The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series. In the fourth title in the popular Bailey School Kids Graphix Scholastic Series, Dragons Don’t Cook Pizza, the kids visit Jewel’s Pizza Castle for a party, only to see smoke and hear roars coming from the kitchen and wonder what’s going on.

YOLANDA RENEE KING

We Dream a World: Carrying the Light From My Grandparents Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King

The first and only granddaughter of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr., Yolanda Renee King is a national civil rights figure in her own right. With inspiration from Langston

Hughes and a deep love for her grandparents, King shows the world that young people are strong enough to carry on their elders’ legacy while creating a new path for themselves in her latest book, We Dream a World

MARY KNIGHT

What the Seahorse Told Me

An award-winning author living in Lexington, Mary Knight coaches other writers on their book-length manuscripts and travels around the country visiting schools and hanging out with her middle-grade readers, who always offer her new insights into her novels as well as life. What the Seahorse Told Me is a magical tale of friendship, family and the spirit of aloha—guaranteed to delight your heart.

REBECCA SUTER LINDSAY + DEBORAH SLONE

Mr. Tux and the Little Garden Hotel

Former president of the Kentucky State Poetry Society, Rebecca Suter Lindsay knows how kids tick from tutoring them for 35 years, and how cats behave from living with at least 15 of them over time. Illustrator Deborah Slone is a watercolor artist whose botanical paintings are a nod to her family’s storytelling traditions. Mr. Tux and the Little Garden Hotel, born from a stay at a small, charming hotel in Central France, follows Pipsqueak, an abandoned kitten who finds a new job, new name, new home, and adventure trying to save the hotel from the mice, the health department and El Cidre.

GEORGE ELLA LYON

Time to Fly

Former Kentucky Poet Laureate George Ella Lyon is an award-winning poet and author with more than 35 books for young readers and numerous books for adults. In Time to Fly, a sweet and encouraging picture book, Baby Bird learns to overcome his fear of leaving the nest.

T.L. M c BETH

I Am Not Santa Claus!

Author and illustrator T.L. McBeth’s work has been featured by Macmillan, Scholastic, Penguin Random House, Threadless, McDonald’s, Today, The Wall Street Journal and the Society of Illustrators, and is part of the permanent collection of the Mazza Museum. His latest picture book, I Am Not Santa Claus!, is a hilariously clever story about a man with a white beard and a red hat who, despite all evidence to the contrary, insists that he is NOT Santa Claus.

SUSAN MILLS

Hadley, the Happy and Helpful Hadrosaurus

Susan Mills is an award-winning author and illustrator renowned for the DinoSprout Educational Book Series as well as founder of the nonprofit My Autism Tribe. Beyond teaching about incredible dinosaurs, the yummy tale of Hadley, the Happy and Helpful Hadrosaurus reminds us that friendship is the best ingredient in every recipe.

MIKE NORRIS

Mother Goose’s Appalachian Melodies

Mike Norris is an author and songwriter well known for his children’s books in collaboration with Minnie Adkins, a folk artist with permanent collections in national museums and a recipient of the Artist Award from the Kentucky Arts Council for lifetime achievement. Their fifth collaboration, Mommy Goose’s Appalachian Melodies, offers lyrical poems and nursery rhymes in tandem with whimsical and vibrant wood carvings giving readers an opportunity to delight in language and the richness of music and storytelling attuned to the verbal complexities of Appalachia.

ADAM ROSENBAUM

The Ghost Rules

Before working the last 15 years in video production and digital media, Adam Rosenbaum operated a sawmill in Kentucky, stocked groceries in Los Angeles, and was a student draftsman at a local power company. He makes

his literary debut with a middle-grade novel, The Ghost Rules, a hilarious yet heart-wrenching look at grief and the supernatural.

ANDREW SHAFFER

Mothman’s

Merry Cryptid Christmas

A five-time Goodreads Choice Award nominee and a two-time finalist in the Humor category, Andrew Shaffer is The New York Times bestselling author of Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery, the international bestselling parody Fifty Shames of Earl Grey, and 18 other books in multiple genres, including mystery, horror and humor. In Mothman’s Merry Cryptid Christmas, Rudolph takes an unexpected vacation one foggy Christmas Eve, forcing Santa Claus to ask for Mothman’s help.

BRITTANY J. THURMAN

Forever and Always

Brittany J. Thurman, a Louisville native with an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, writes award-winning books for kids. Forever and Always respects the deep emotions of young readers while offering comfort and reassurance to any child waiting for a loved one to come home.

KRISTIN O’DONNELL TUBB Fowl Play

Author of The Story Collector series and several books for middle-grade readers, Kristin O’Donnell Tubb lives near Nashville with her bouncy-loud family and two dogs. In her latest book, Fowl Play, Chloe Alvarez inherits her Uncle Will’s African grey parrot Charlie, whose mysterious chatter makes Chloe question her favorite uncle’s death and sends her in pursuit of answers.

JAYNE MOORE WALDROP + MICHAEL M c BRIDE

She Remembered It All: The Art of Memory Painter

Helen LaFrance

Kentucky writer and attorney Jayne Moore Waldrop writes fiction, poetry and children’s books, and has been published in several literary journals

and anthologies. Michael McBride, a Nashville, Tennessee-based artist and a professor at Tennessee State University, has illustrated more than 75 children’s books. She Remembered It All, Waldrop’s second children’s book, explores the life and art of Helen LaFrance, a Kentucky memory painter, who captured a lively, vibrant view of rural life in a changing world.

GAYLE G. WEBRE

Greta’s Gumbo

Gayle G. Webre has worked in elementary education for 25 years, primarily designing and implementing enrichment curricula for gifted children, and represented Louisiana in 2020 at the National Book Festival with her debut picture book, When I Was an Alligator. In her latest book, Greta’s Gumbo, imagination rules when a young girl summons the help of a hyperactive monkey, a curious rabbit,and a frozen penguin while shopping for groceries for her family.

CAROL WILLIAMS

The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney

Carol Williams has a long history of writing: ad agency copywriter, healthcare content wordsmith, insurance marketing scribe and motherly storyteller. Her debut middle-grade novel, The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney, is a fast-paced mystery with just the right amount of hair-raising thrills that begs to be read cover-tocover in one setting.

JESSICA E. YOUNG

Two Homes, One Heart

A former art teacher who grew up in Ontario, Canada, Jessica E. Young loves writing picture books, early readers and chapter books, and sharing the creative process with young readers through author visits. In her latest picture book, Two Homes, One Heart, Young’s poignant story and Chelsea O’Byrne’s tender illustrations offer gentle reassurance to kids navigating separation or divorce and remind us that while families change, love is constant.

2024 AUTHORS

YOUNG ADULT

DAVID ARNOLD

I Loved You in Another Life

David Arnold is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and winner of the Southern Book Prize and the Great Lakes Book Award. He was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for his debut novel, Mosquitoland. With lyrical prose and original songs (written and recorded by the author), I Loved You in Another Life explores the history of love and how some souls are meant for each other—yesterday, today, forever.

ZACH GARLAND

The Levi Effect

After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in English, Zach Garland fulfilled his childhood dream in 2017 when he published his first book, Snow Angels. His second novel, The Levi Effect, follows the story of 16-year-old Levi and the aftermath of a bad batch of Kentucky moonshine.

KAITLYN HILL

Wild About You

Kaitlyn Hill is a Kentucky writer who lives to tell love stories and make people laugh. She also enjoys messy reality TV, has never met a tea she didn’t like, and thrives on overly ambitious home-improvement projects. Her latest novel, Wild About You, is a grumpy-sunshine teen romance that proves the trail to true love doesn’t always come with a map.

MARIAMA J. LOCKINGTON

KIDS ZONE

Anthology

When We Become Ours: A YA Adoptee

Award-winning author of Forever Is Now, Mariama J. Lockington has more than 13 years of experience working as a K-12 educator in the nonprofit sector and currently works for the University of Kentucky’s College of Education. Edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung, When We Become Ours: A YA Adoptee Anthology contains tales from 15 bestselling, acclaimed and emerging adoptee authors, including Lockington, who genuinely and authentically reflect the complexity, breadth and depth of adoptee experiences.

STAY UPDATED. Events and authors are subject to change. Visit kybookfestival.org, for the latest updates and full schedule.

NANCY M c CABE

Vaulting Through Time

The author of nine books, Nancy McCabe directs the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and teaches in the low-residency graduate writing program at Spalding University in Lousiville. Her most recent book, the young adult novel Vaulting Through Time, tells of 16-year-old gymnast Elizabeth Arlington’s captivating journey through time, courtesy of the discovery of a time machine by ex-best-friend Zach.

MINDY M c GINNIS

Under This Red Rock

A ninth-generation farmer and former school librarian, award-winning author Mindy McGinnis has written multiple novels spanning many genres, from historical to fantasy, contemporary to gothic thriller. With Under This Red Rock, she delivers a powerful psychological thriller, deftly exploring the dark places in the earth and the human mind, where what is real and imaginary isn’t so easily distinguishable.

KELLIE M. PARKER

Thin Air

Kellie M. Parker is an award-winning writer of young adult fantasy and thrillers. A flight to Paris full of teenagers seeking opportunity turns deadly in her latest novel, Thin Air, a suspenseful, locked-door YA thriller.

CHRISTEN RANDALL

The No-Girlfriend Rule

When Christen Randall—a queer, fat, neurodivergent author—is not writing joyful stories for the next generation of geeky gay kids, you can find them

working at their local library branch or at home planning all the D&D campaigns they’ll run one day, they swear. The No-Girlfriend Rule, their debut novel and an instant USA Today bestseller, is a queer YA romance in which the rule of high school senior Hollis Beckwith’s boyfriend prompts her to join an all-girls group of role-playing game, Secrets & Sorcery, only to experience an in-game crush with a charismatic girl, which develops into a sweet romance.

SHANNON STOCKER

Stronger at the Seams

Recipient of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award, the Anna Dewdney ReadTogether Award and the Comstock Read Aloud Book Award, Shannon Stocker is driven to fill bookshelves with diverse protagonists with disabilities, as she believes every child deserves to see themselves on the written page. With themes of self-advocacy and acceptance in the face of medical hardship, her debut YA novel, Stronger at the Seams, is for everyone who has ever felt broken.

NIC STONE Chaos Theory

After graduating from Spelman College, Nic Stone worked in teen mentoring and lived in Israel for a few years before returning to the U.S. to write full time. Stone, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin, delivers in Chaos Theory a gripping romance between two teens, a gut punch of a novel about mental health, loss and making the discovery that you are worthy of love.

EMMA M c ELVANEY TALBOTT

Not Far from Freedom

Educator, freelance writer and human rights advocate Emma McElvaney Talbott taught in public schools and as an adjunct professor at several universities, served as parenting editor for Family Digest magazine and Family Digest Baby magazine, and was a part of the inaugural class of Louisville Courier-Journal Forum Fellows. In Not Far from Freedom, a formerly enslaved great-grandmother in mid-1950s Kentucky shares stories of crossgenerational survival, striving, determination and forgiveness as her great-granddaughter garners knowledge, strength and understanding to chart her future and find a new way to move forward.

AMBIKA VOHRA

The Sticky Note Manifesto of Aisha Agarwal

A Michigan native, Ambika Vohra now lives in San Francisco, writing while surrounded by tiny plants and big books and making Indian-style chai with concerning levels of cardamom pods. Her first novel, The Sticky Note Manifesto of Aisha Agarwal, starts with a deal to get Aisha out of her comfort zone so that she can write a college essay, follows a series of sticky note to-dos and dares she accepts in exchange for helping Quentin pass math class, and leaves Aisha and the reader contemplating if winning is worth it if you end up losing yourself in the process.

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AMY CIPOLLA BARNES

Child Craft

Award-winning author of three short fiction collections, Amy Cipolla Barns is a Fractured Lit associate editor, Gone Lawn co-editor and Ruby Lit assistant editor. She reads for CRAFT, The MacGuffen Best Small Fictions and Narratively. She returns with a new hybrid prose collection of stories, Child Craft, that will leave you feeling both haunted and a little less alone.

JEFF BIGGERS

Disturbing the Bones

With work appearing in in The New York Times, The Guardian and on NPR, Jeff Biggers is the American Book Award-winning author of many works of investigative journalism, history and theater, and winner of the Delta Prize for Literature and the Brower Award for Environmental Reporting. Written with the acclaimed director of The Fugitive, Andrew Davis, Disturbing the Bones is a propulsive debut political thriller set in the aftermath of a global nuclear weapons crisis.

WES BLAKE

Pineville Trace

Wes Blake received his MFA from the Bluegrass Writers Studio. His fiction and essays have appeared in Blood & Bourbon, Book of Matches and Jelly Bucket. Winner of the Etchings Press Book Prize, Pineville Trace follows a former Southern revival preacher on his escape from prison eventually confronting his past and seeking redemption amidst the wilderness.

JOSH BOLDT

Moneymaker

Josh Boldt writes crime fiction and mystery novels set in the American South. For fans of his prior novels, Moneymaker offers a glimpse into the early years of the familiar character Mack Abbott in this gripping tale of intrigue and suspense.

GWENDA BOND The Frame-Up

Co-founder and chair of the nonprofit Lexington Writer’s Room, Gwenda Bond is The New York Times bestselling author of many novels and nonfiction work in Publishers Weekly, Salon and The Los Angeles Times. In her latest novel, The Frame-Up, a magically gifted con artist must gather her estranged mother’s old crew for a once-in-a-lifetime heist.

BETH DOTSON BROWN Rooted in Sunrise

Award-winning feature writer, short story author, essayist and debut novelist, Beth Dotson Brown has visited with a king in Ghana, listened to the dreams of mothers in Guatemala, and learned about sustainable living in Kentucky. Rooted in Sunrise is a story of learning to change and, in the process, discovering what is most important.

RICK CHILDERS Turkeyfoot

A writer from Estill County, who received his BA in English from Berea College and an MA in writing from the NaslundMann Graduate School of Writing, Rick Childers serves as Berea College’s Appalachian Male Advocate and Mentor. In Turkeyfoot, the opioid epidemic has ravaged the namesake Eastern Kentucky community and Sweetie Goodins has played no small part in feeding his neighbors’ bad habits. Before he can atone for any of his wrongdoings, he must either acknowledge his role in the lives ruined or continue paving a path of destruction.

LORA CHILTON 1666: A Novel

A member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia, author Lora Chilton is a nonprofit executive and a writer living in Memphis. 1666: A Novel is her second work of historical fiction based on interviewing tribal elders, researching

colonial documents, and studying the Patawomeck language. The novel tells the story of her people and their unlikely survival due to the courage of two Patawomeck women.

MELISSA R. COLLINGS

The False Flat

Before Melissa R. Collings started writing women’s fiction and romantic comedies, she worked as a physician’s assistant in Nashville, where one of her favorite procedures was reconstructing a lower-lumbar tattoo after a back surgery. In The False Flat, an uplifting story about friendship, love and growth, one woman must untangle herself from a past that’s holding her back in order to move forward into the life that will set her free.

WHITNEY COLLINS

Ricky & Other Love Stories

Pushcart Prize-winning author and MFA graduate from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing, Whitney Collins has been a contributing editor for The Weeklings; a book reviewer for Barnes & Noble; a reader for The Big Jewel, The Louisville Review and Carolina Quarterly; and an editorial assistant for The Sun Magazine. Her second story collection, Ricky & Other Love Stories blends elements of Southern gothic, speculative fiction and horror into 23 dark, derelict (and hilarious) tales about love … and the stories we tell ourselves about it.

BOBI CONN

Someplace Like Home

Born in Morehead, and raised in a nearby holler, Bobi Conn developed a deep connection with the land and her Appalachian roots. She graduated from Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University and becoming a passionate advocate for educational access for people on the margins of society. In her third book, Someplace Like Home, a mother and daughter in Appalachia

unpack the traumas of the past in a powerful and reflective novel about family, healing and moving on.

WILLIE DAVIS

I Can Outdance Jesus

Willie Davis is the winner of the Willesden Herald International Short Story Prize, judged by Zadie Smith, and The Katherine Anne Porter Prize, judged by Amy Hempel. The shady characters in I Can Outdance Jesus go on bizarre and unforgettable adventures, taking them from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, and bringing alive the strangeness and humor of the mountains.

ANN H. GABHART

The Song of Sourwood Mountain

Ann H. Gabhart has mined her rich family history and rural Kentucky background to tell award-winning stories in her 39 published books. Her most recent release, The Song of

Sourwood Mountain, returns to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky for the story of a schoolteacher at an Appalachian mission school and a young mountain girl yearning for family.

AMINA GAUTIER

The Best That You Can Do

The author of four award-winning short story collections and more than 100 published stories, Amina Gautier is the recipient of the Blackwell Prize, the Chicago Public Library Foundation’s 21st Century Award, the International Latino Book Award, the Mellon-Flamboyan Foundation Letras Boricuas Fellowship, and the PEN/MALAMUD Award for Excellence in the Short Story. Inspired by 1970s and ’80s music and pop culture touchstones, The Best That You Can Do is a collection of stories loudly and joyfully filled with cousins, aunts, grandparents, budding romances and the nostalgia of Black childhood.

KAREN L. GEORGE How We Fracture

Retired from a career as a computer analyst to write full time, Karen L. George is a recipient of grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Kentucky Arts Council, and earned an MFA in writing from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing. The stories in How We Fracture, winner of the Rosemary Daniell Fiction Prize and set primarily in Kentucky, follow a group of diverse female characters, from teenagers to women in their 60s, who experience some points of fracture in their lives and discover how we are connected to, and nourished by, the natural world.

NATHAN GOWER

The Act of Disappearing

Nathan Gower is a professor of English at Campbellsville University with an MFA in fiction from Spalding University and a PhD in humanities from the University of Louisville. Alternating

Write five thick packets each semester. Study one-on-one with field-leading faculty. Grow in craft, confidence, and community.

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between present-day Brooklyn and Kentucky as it enters the 1960s, The Act of Disappearing chronicles the days of Julia White, a bartender and debut author, struggling to make ends meet while unraveling the mystery of a strange photograph with a story more staggering than anything she could have imagined.

SCOTT GUILD

Plastic

An assistant professor at Marian University in Indianapolis, Scott Guild served for years as assistant director of Pen City Writers, a prison writing initiative for incarcerated students. A musician, Guild earlier toured with the B-52s and opened for Blondie as the lead guitarist for the new wave band New Collisions. Plastic is a surreal, hilarious and sneakily profound debut novel that casts our current climate of gun violence and environmental destruction in a surprising new mold.

CHRIS HELVEY Bayou

A founding member of the Bluegrass Writers Coalition and editor-in-chief and publisher of Trajectory Journal, Chris Helvey is an award-winning author of more than a dozen novels and multiple short-story collections. His latest unique and powerfully honest novel, Bayou, is a must read for fans of historical fiction and Southern grit lit.

ROBBY HENSON

Loud Water

A recent convert to fiction writing with an MFA from NYU’s graduate film school and several writing and directing credits for PBS documentaries, Robby Henson now teaches screenwriting at the University of Kentucky and is the Artistic Director of Pioneer Playhouse. He runs the outreach program Voices Inside, which instructs incarcerated writers in writing and performance skills to fight recidivism. His debut novel, Loud Water, details the gritty and redemptive story of Crit Poppwell and his paroled return to Breathitt County after a prison awakening to the healing power of art and creativity.

KELLY E. HILL

A Home for Friendless Women

Kelly Hill has a PhD from the University of Louisville and an MFA in fiction from Spalding University. Set in Victorian-era Louisville, A Home for Friendless Women follows the home’s benefactors and several women who live there through their daily religious lessons and hard work, while they grapple with a secret that has the power to unravel the home entirely.

WENDY M. JETT

Tainted

A born and raised Kentucky girl, Wendy M. Jett is a longtime fitness instructor, découpage nerd and improv junkie, who loves to write. Tainted picks up where her first book, Girl, left off in a cosmic blend of magical prose, poetry and recipes, wrestling cosmic questions as Girl continues her journey.

FENTON JOHNSON

Scissors, Paper, Rock

A contributor to National Public Radio, Harper’s Magazine and The New York Times Magazine, Fenton Johnson has received numerous literary awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Lambda Literary Awards in both fiction and creative nonfiction, and induction into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. Scissors, Paper, Rock delves into the complexities of human relationships, identity and the search for self-discovery. Kentucky Humanities selected the novel for its 2024 Kentucky Reads to serve as a focal point for community-wide book discussions that promote a shared literary experience and celebrate the diverse voices and stories that shape Kentucky’s rich cultural landscape.

KAROL LAGODZKI

Controlled Conversations

A native of Poland, Karol Lagodzki has fixed stucco while dangling from roofs in Paris and sorted through human cadaver heads in Florida, but his true ambition is to remain a student for as long as he possibly can. His debut novel, Controlled Conversations, challenges readers with the question of what separates people who transcend their fear and take risks for the sake of change from the rest of us.

MEREDITH R. LYONS

Ghost Tamer

Meredith R. Lyons grew up in New Orleans, collecting two degrees from Louisiana State University before running away to Chicago to pursue acting. There, she made martial arts and yoga her full-time day job before relocating to Nashville. In her fast-paced debut, Ghost Tamer, a young woman discovers why she was the lucky one to survive a train crash while also facing—and conquering—shadows from her past that won’t let her go.

CHRIS M c GINLEY

Once These Hills

A middle school English and social studies teacher, Chris McGinley has published fiction and commentary on literature and film in LitHub, Cutleaf and many other forums. His third book, Once These Hills, begins in 1898 on Black Boar Mountain in Eastern Kentucky and follows Lydia King from her discovery of an ancient, preserved body, through love and marriage, to her attempts to reverse the curse of the bog body.

ANESA MILLER

I Never Do This

A recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Fellowship for creative writing, Anesa Miller was a finalist in regional fiction in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. With Rust Belt country gothic flair, I Never Do This touches on spiritual abuse, addiction, family entanglements and the disenfranchisement of women and young people in fundamentalist settings.

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ELLEN BIRKETT MORRIS

Beware the Tall Grass

Ellen Birkett Morris is an award-winning poetry, fiction and essay writer who teaches creative writing across the country. Beware the Tall Grass skillfully weaves the story of a modern family with a young son’s past life memories as a soldier in Vietnam and the life of another young man caught up in the drama of mid-1960s America.

LAURA LEIGH MORRIS

The Stone Catchers

Laura Leigh Morris teaches creative writing and literature at Furman University and lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with her family. Narrated in alternating voices and set in economically depressed Appalachian town, Morris’ The Stone Catchers explores the trauma experienced by survivors of a school shooting.

TAMMY OBERHAUSEN

The Evolution of the Gospelettes

Tammy Oberhausen has an MFA in writing from Spalding University and lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her debut novel, The Evolution of the Gospelettes, is a compelling exploration of family ties and rifts, faith and doubt, and holiness and hypocrisy in a changing world.

MARK POWELL

The Late Rebellion

A recipient of the Chaffin Award for contributions to Appalachian Literature, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Breadloaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences, and two grants from the Fulbright Foundation to teach in Slovakia and Romania, Mark Powell directs the creative writing program at Appalachian State University. In The Late Rebellion, the residents of Germantown, a small South Carolina community in the Appalachian Mountains, challenge traditional notions of what it means to be Southern and what it means to be accepted, particularly when the old ways begin to crumble.

JIM ROBERTS

Of Fathers & Gods

A full-time writer who splits his time between Ohio and Texas, Jim Roberts has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, was a finalist for the Screencraft Cinematic Short Story Award, and was longlisted for both the Santa Fe Writers Project Short Fiction Prize and the W.S. Porter Prize. His debut short story collection, Of Fathers & Gods, opens a window into the most primal elements of the human condition and shows us how, try as we might, we can never fully escape the bonds of parent and child.

MEG SHAFFER

The Lost Story

The Wishing Game, the debut novel of Meg Shaffer—a part-time creative writing instructor living in Louisville—was a national bestseller, Goodreads Choice Awards finalist and Book-of-theMonth Book of the Year finalist. Her second novel, the fantasy The Lost Story was inspired by C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. It is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes, just in case.

JESSICA

STRAWSER

The Last Caretaker

The USA Today bestselling author of six popular book-club novels, Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest and a former writer-in-residence for the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County. In her latest book, The Last Caretaker, an empowering and provocative page-turner, a woman in search of a new beginning is put to the test in ways she never imagined.

LAUREN THOMAN

You Shouldn’t Be Here

Lauren Thoman’s debut novel, I'll Stop the World, was selected for publication by six-time Emmy Award nominee Mindy Kaling through her imprint, Mindy’s Book Studio. In Thoman’s latest thrilling and twisty novel, You Shouldn’t Be Here, two strangers search for the truth behind bizarre occurrences no one else dares to discuss, only to discover that they’re connected by secrets that could destroy them both.

NATHAN L. VANDERFORD + HOLLY BURKE

Cancer in Appalachia: A Collection of Youth-Told Stories

Nathan L. Vanderford is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and the Director of the Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program. The program coordinator for ACTION at the UK Markey Cancer Center, Holly Burke has worked students in her language arts classroom and through the Upward Bound programs at Morehead State University. Cancer in Appalachia: A Collection of Youth-Told Stories is an anthology of powerful short stories and poems written by high school and undergrads who use their experiences in Appalachia and knowledge of cancer to convey fictional, yet realistic stories about the pain and disruptions cancer causes individuals, families and communities in the Appalachian region.

JULIA ELLEN WATTS Lovesick Blossoms

Author of 14 novels for young adults and adults, Julia Ellen Watts’ books have won a Lambda Literary Award, a Golden Crown Literary Award, and Honorable Mention for Best YA Novel of the Year in the Foreword INDIES awards. Set in a small Kentucky college town in 1953, Lovesick Blossoms is a compelling and emotional tale of passion, power, fulfillment and consequence of not playing by the rules in Appalachia.

SHEILA J. WILLIAMS No Better Time

A graduate of the University of Louisville living in Northern Kentucky, Sheila Williams is the author of seven novels, one of which was adapted for the Netflix film, Juanita. The multitalented Williams also is the librettist for Fierce, an opera commissioned by the Cincinnati Opera. Her latest novel, inspired by the author’s second cousin, who served in World War II as a member of the WACs, No Better Time is a story about a unit comprised entirely of women of color, the only unit of its type to serve in Europe during WWII.

2024 AUTHORS POETRY

B.

ELIZABETH BECK

Dancing on the Page

B. Elizabeth Beck is a poet who writes fiction and the founder of two poetry series: Teen Howl and Poetry at the Table in Lexington. Her fifth collection of poems, Dancing on the Page, a memoir in verse, is an homage to the soundtrack of the process of a poet becoming herself.

MISSY BROWNSON

Hush Candy (Revised Edition)

Poet Missy Brownson resides in Georgetown and works in Frankfort as the associate director for communications and outreach for an educational agency. In Hush Candy, her accomplished debut collection, she revisits the venerable genre of domestic advice manuals—those 19th and 20th century compendia of wisdom designed to guide women (especially aspiring women of the rising middle class) in the exercise of their proper roles in the home and society.

LYNNELL M. EDWARDS

The Bearable Slant of Light

Lynnell Edwards serves as Associate Programs Director and on the poetry faculty for the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. Her sixth poetry collection, The Bearable Slant of Light, documents the burden and beauty of mental illness in one family and across this history of writers and artists.

RIGOBERTO GONZÁLEZ

Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology

Rigoberto González is distinguished professor of English at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, where he is director of the MFA program in creative

writing. He edited Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, a landmark Latinx poetry collection that includes more than 180 poets, spanning from the 17th century to today, and presenting poems written in Spanish in the original and in the English translation.

DORIAN HAIRSTON

Pretend the Ball Is Named Jim Crow Poet and scholar Dorian Hairston is a former University of Kentucky baseball player and a member of the Affrilachian Poets. His debut poetry collection, Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow, explores the Black American experience through the lens of basebal legend Josh Gibson’s life and 17-year baseball career, while addressing social change, culture, family, race, death and oppression. Hairston honors and gives voice to Gibson and a voiceless generation of African Americans.

PAULETTA HANSEL

Will There Also Be Singing?

Born and raised in Southeastern Kentucky, Pauletta Hansel is a poet, memoirist and teacher, who is a core member of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition and has served as Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate. She was the past managing editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the literary journal of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative. Will There Also Be Singing?, her 10th collection, contains poems of witness and protest exploring personal culpability in current social injustices and divisions, while examining the complicated grief about a land she loves and for whose future she fears.

LENNIE HAY

Lost in America

A former educator and MFA graduate of Spalding University, Lennie Hay now lives on the water in Southern Indiana and in Florida, drawing energy from the natural world, visual art, her family’s history and music. Lost in America chronicles the pain and joy of navigating life in America as the daughter of an immigrant Chinese father and German mother.

TOM C. HUNLEY

The Loneliest Whale in the World

A professor of English and creative writing at Western Kentucky University since 2003, Tom C. Hunley has published eight full-length poetry collections, eight chapbooks and two textbooks, as well as written and co-directed You’re Not Alone, a short film produced by Forerunner TV. The poems in his latest collection, The Loneliest Whale in the World, have been called “prayers [and] a way to remind us that we are not alone, that there is a world inside this world, and it is beautiful.”

LISA M. MILLER

Woe & Awe

A community-building mind-body health specialist and social justice advocate, Lisa M. Miller has spent 25 years as an energy healer, is trained in clinical chaplaincy, and serves a wide demographic through support groups and workshops. Her debut poetry collection, Woe & Awe, invokes the voices of female ancestors—physical and spiritual—in poems of timeless perspective and contemporary language with fearless depth and beauty.

GREG PAPE

A Field of First Things

Former Montana Poet Laureate and current faculty member of Spalding University’s Naslund-Mann School of Writing, Greg Pape has received the Discovery/TheNation Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Individual Fellowships, the Richard Hugo Memorial Poetry Award, the Pushcart Prize, and others. The poems in A Field of First Things are evocations of experience and attempts to clarify, preserve and share first things.

MARIANNE PEEL

Singing Is Praying Twice

After teaching middle and high school English for 32 years, Marianne Peel spent three summers in Guizhou Province, teaching best practices to teachers in China and received Fulbright-Hays Awards to further her research in Nepal and Turkey. Her second poetry collection, Singing Is Praying Twice, focuses on five generations of females and the rites of passage inherent in intergenerational connections. It makes palpable the musicality amid loss and regret with much singing, dancing and rejoicing on the page.

ERIK REECE

Kingfisher Blues

Winner of Columbia University’s John B. Oakes Award for Environmental Journalism and the Sierra Club’s David Brower Award for Excellence in Environmental Writing, Erik Reece teaches writing and literature at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of six books of nonfiction and two previous collections of poetry, and is the founder of Kentucky Writers and Artists for Reforestation. By conveying the despair—and serenity—found in the

loneliness of the woods and tackling the frank reality of self-acceptance in the face of ugly truths, Kingfisher Blues offers a visceral encounter with the intertwined forces of nature, human struggle and redemption.

JAMES ALAN RILEY

Uncertain Mythologies

Founding editor of The Pikeville Review and professor emeritus of English at the University of Pikeville, James Alan Riley is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Excellence in Appalachian Literature, two Al Smith Fellowships from the Kentucky Arts Council, and an Individual Artists Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council. His second poetry collection, Uncertain Mythologies, deals with our perception of time passing and the moments that establish and accumulate meaning in our lives.

KATERINA STOYKOVA

Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House

Founder of the independent literary press, Accents Publishing, Katerina Stoykova is an author, editor, teacher and translator from Bulgaria who has published several poetry books in English and Bulgarian since her arrival in the United States. Through themes of domestic abuse, the death of a parent, the loss of a friend, and the search for cultural identity, the poems in Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House transcend the borders of language and nation-states.

FRANK X WALKER

Load in Nine Times: Poems

The first African American writer to be named Kentucky Poet Laureate and co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets,

Frank X Walker is a multidisciplinary artist and the author of 13 collections of poetry and a children’s book. He also serves as professor of creative writing and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. In Load in Nine Times, a stirring new collection of historical poetry, Walker braids the voices of the United States Colored Troops— including his own ancestors—with family members, slaveowners and prominent historical figures—including Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln and Margaret Garner—into a wideranging series of poems imbued with atmospheric imagery and brimming with indomitable spirit.

LAVERNE ZABIELSKI Mariposa: Opioid Abatement Poems

Founder of the Working Class Kitchen and host of Cafe LuigArt, Laverne Zabielski has traveled nationally and internationally from California to Northern Ireland as a community artist to develop writing communities and host readings. Her latest poetry collection, Mariposa: Opioid Abatement Poems, tells two parallel stories: one a harrowing descent of a beloved adult daughter into heroin addiction and homelessness, the other a quietly hopeful mother’s journey toward a heroic self-discipline.

STAY UPDATED. Events and authors are subject to change. Visit kybookfestival.org, for the latest updates and full schedule.

NONFICTION

GEORGE BARNETT

Foraging Kentucky

Author, forager and environmental educator George Barnett owns and operates the Hungry Forager, an educational program based in the Bluegrass region and focused on teaching people about wild edibles, ethnobotany, ecology and agroforestry. With high-definition color photographs, recipes and short history lessons, Foraging Kentucky is an beginners’ guide full of information for readers who want to safely and ethically forage the delectable foods available in Kentucky.

GAYLORD BREWER Before the Storm Takes It Away

A recipient of a Tennessee Arts Commission Fellowship, Gaylord Brewer has been a professor at Middle Tennessee State University for more than three decades and is the author of 17 books of poetry, fiction, criticism, cookery and this collection of nonfiction. In Before the Storm Takes It Away, he steps into short explorations in nonfiction—alternately dark, wry, contemplative and explosive.

LUBRINA BURTON

Shitbag Soldier

Raised in Knox County, Lubrina Burton left home as a teenager to serve in Germany with the United States Army and returned home at 21. Her many experiences as a young, enlisted soldier in a pre-9/11 military inspired much of her work. Her first book, Shitbag Soldier, examines the military fairy tale that fueled Burton’s enlistment in light of the camouflage nightmares of a reality where she must survive by writing her own narrative instead of letting someone else define her truth.

ERIN CHANDLER

Bluegrass Sons: A True Crime Memoir

Memoirist, essayist and playwright Erin Chandler spent 22 years in Los Angeles

working as an actress and producer before returning to Kentucky. Bluegrass Sons is a true crime family saga about Bradley Bryant, a United States Marine who lived a double life set between Lexington and the desert days and gaudy nights of 1970s Las Vegas, Nevada, with a little El Paso, Texas; Guatemala; and Savannah, Georgia, thrown in.

KEITH CLEMENTS, MICHAEL L. JONES, ET AL.

The Soulful Sounds of Derbytown

The six authors of The Soulful Sounds of Derbytown—Ken Clay, Michael L. Jones, Wilma Westfield Clayborn, Keith Clements, Gary Falk and Ron Lewis— have spent their lives immersed in a variety of roles within many genres of music and entertainment in Louisville, all sharing the same dream: to research, write and publish a coffeetable book that would be the first-ever record of Louisville’s African American musicians, entertainers, promoters and enablers. Their comprehensive volume contains historical essays, hundreds of historical and contemporary photographs, and biographical sketches profiling award-winning African American musicians, songwriters, recording artists, singers and entertainers, who have performed on television, in films and on stage.

ANGELA CORRELL

Restored

in Tuscany:

A True Story of Facing Loss, Finding Beauty, and Living Forward in Hope

Angela Correll is an award-winning author, whose trilogy of novels were adapted to the stage for Pioneer Playhouse, and co-founder of the annual Good Lit Writer’s Retreat, Kentucky Soaps & Such, The Stanford Inn, the Bluebird restaurant and other hospitality businesses all located in Stanford, Kentucky’s second-oldest city.

Nearly 25 years of traveling to Italy with her husband and recently making a second home in a small hilltop village through restoring a former horse stable inside the medieval walls of a tiny town form the basis of her latest book, a travel memoir called Restored in Tuscany

WILLIAM E. DAVIS

In Service to Justice: Striving to Bring Forth Our Nobility

One of the first Kentuckians to join the Peace Corps, William E. Davis has spent the past 45 years working in the field of improving justice systems across the United States and internationally. An account of a life framed by family, faith and service, In Service to Justice is a part-spiritual and part-adventure story.

LISA DICKEY

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis

A longtime book collaborator, Lisa Dickey has helped write more than 20 nonfiction books, including 12 New York Times bestsellers, and is the author of Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys Across a Changing Russia. Written with George Stephanopoulos, The Situation Room provides the definitive, past-thesecurity-clearance look at the White House Situation Room and the people— the famous and those you’ve never heard of—who have made history within its walls.

JOSHUA A. DOUGLAS

The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights

Joshua A. Douglas is a law professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law and legal expert invested and engaged in helping everyday people understand our elections. In The Court v. The Voters, he takes us behind the scenes of significant cases in voting rights—some surprising and unknown, some familiar—

to investigate the historic crossroads that have irrevocably changed our elections and the nation.

CAROLYN RENEE DUPONT

Distorting Democracy: The Forgotten History of the Electoral College—and Why It Matters Today

A contributing opinion writer for The Huffington Post and The Washington Post, Carolyn Dupont is professor of history at Eastern Kentucky University, where she specializes in African American history and American religious history. By telling the story of the Electoral College’s origins, 237-year history, and surprising present-day operations, Distorting Democracy, her most recent book, shows how we ended up with this odd method for choosing our leader.

JONATHAN EIG

King: A Life

Jonathan Eig is a former senior writer for The Wall Street Journal and a New York Times bestselling author of several books that have been listed among the best of the year by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Sports Illustrated and Slate. In this landmark biography, winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award, Eig gives us a Martin Luther King Jr. for our times: a deep thinker, a brilliant strategist and a committed radical who led one of history’s greatest movements and whose demands for racial and economic justice remain as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.

RODA FERRARO

The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers

Roda Ferraro, director of the Keeneland Library, has more than 25 years of experience leading, assessing and promoting library, museum, research and educational services, including her work with National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The first comprehensive chronicle of its kind, The Heart of the Turf showcases 125 select stories of the countless African Americans, from racetrack superstars to behind-the-scenes caretakers, who forged their way in Kentucky and beyond, making the racing industry what it is today.

TAMA FORTNER

Everyday Joys Devotional: 40 Days of Reflecting on the Intersection of Ordinary and Divine

Tama Fortner is an ECPA award-winning and bestselling author with more than 60 titles to her credit, including collaborations with such well-known authors as Max Lucado, Levi Lusko, Sadie Robertson Huff and Emily Ley. Everyday Joys Devotional is an invitation to see and experience joy with 40 short, sometimes humorous, and always real and thoughtprovoking interactive devotions.

GEORGE W. GETSCHOW

Pastures of the Empty Page: Fellow Writers on the Life and Legacy of Larry McMurtry

Former writer, editor and bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, George Getschow is a Pulitzer Prize finalist for National Reporting and director of the Archer City Writers Workshop. Pastures of the Empty Page brings together fellow writers to honor Larry McMurtry and his impact on American letters.

DANIEL GIFFORD

Benefactors of Posterity: The Founding Era of the Filson Historical Society, 1884–1899

With a career spanning both academia and public history, including several years with the Smithsonian Institution, Daniel Gifford is a public historian who focuses on American popular and visual culture, as well as museums in American culture. His most recent book, Benefactors of Posterity, explores the Filson Historical Society’s founding era and Louisville in the Gilded Age.

JACK GIVENS + DOUG BRUNK They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond

Formerly an American collegiate and professional basketball player, broadcaster and real estate developer, Jack “Goose” Givens currently serves as the vice president of business development and external affairs at the Bowlin Group and as a radio color analyst for the University of Kentucky Sports Network. Doug Brunk is an award-winning journalist who has written hundreds of articles for trade and consumer publications. They Call Me Goose presents fans with the powerful story of a husband, father, mentor, businessman and ambassador for Kentucky—who also happens to be an iconic sports legend.

BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY

Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, a Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice

Twice the recipient of the American Women in Radio and Television Award, Barbara Bradley Hagerty is a New York Times bestselling author and contributing writer for The Atlantic, and she covered criminal justice and religion for NPR for nearly 20 years. Her third book, Bringing Ben Home, tells the story of Ben Spencer, a Black man wrongly convicted and sentenced to life before being freed after 34 years. It is a case that reveals how easy it is to convict an innocent person and how difficult it is to undo the mistake.

TOM HAMMOND + MARK STORY

Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster’s Life

American sportscaster Tom Hammond retired after a renowned rise to the top, including a 34-year career with NBC Sports. Mark Story has been a sports reporter with the Lexington HeraldLeader for more than three decades. In Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams, Hammond—with co-writer Story—offers an intimate and gripping look at his experiences of broadcasting from 13 Olympic Games and 16 Kentucky Derbys to providing the play-by-play commentary for Notre Dame football and announcing SEC men’s basketball.

NICHOLAS DANIEL HARTLEP

Belonging in Higher Education: Perspectives and Lessons from Diverse Faculty

Dr. Nicholas D. Hartlep holds the Robert Charles Billings Endowed Chair in Education at Berea College, where he chairs the Education Studies Department. With chapters contributed by a diversity of higher education staff and faculty, Belonging in Higher Education illuminates autoethnographic stories of belonging in higher education in the United States.

MELISSA HELTON

Troublesome Rising

Previously a tenured associate professor of English at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, Melissa Helton, serves as the literary arts

director for the Hindman Settlement School. In Troublesome Rising, a powerful anthology, well-known and emerging Appalachian writers create not only a historical document and an in-depth investigation of the July 2022 flash flood in Eastern Kentucky, but also a celebration of Appalachian strength, determination and resilience.

BLAIR THOMAS HESS + CAMERON M. LUDWICK

Kentucky, Y’all: A Celebration of the People and Culture of the Bluegrass State

Friends for more than 20 years, Cameron M. Ludwick and Blair Thomas Hess have written four Kentucky travel books for destinations across the state as well as reliable sources of history, culture, arts, events, food, entertainment and living. Their latest book, Kentucky, Y’all, is an entertaining and informative compilation of the state’s favorite oddities, quirks and traditions told through stories from their experiences as writers, travelers and residents in this ode to the Commonwealth.

AVALYN HUNTER

The Kentucky Oaks: 150 Years of Running for the Lilies

Avalyn Hunter is a nationally recognized authority on Thoroughbred pedigrees and racing history whose work has appeared in BloodHorse, Thoroughbred Times, MarketWatch, New York Breeder and Louisiana Horse. In The Kentucky Oaks: 150 Years of Running for the Lilies, Hunter traces the evolution of the Kentucky Oaks through the stories of the men, women and fillies who have made the race a symbol for women’s growing participation in the sport.

ERIC R. JACKSON

Introduction to Black Studies

Recipient of the Thomas D. Clark

Medallion Award, Dr. Eric R. Jackson is a professor of history and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Northern Kentucky University, with 30 years of university experience and more than 50 publications. In An Introduction

to Black Studies, he connects the growth and impact of Black studies to social justice movements, emphasizing the historical and contemporary demand for the discipline.

EUGENIA JOHNSON-SMITH

Positive Power: 31 Devotionals to Unleash Your Positive Power

A passionate member of the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative and an active member of St. Matthew African Methodist Episcopal Church, Eugenia Johnson-Smith teaches writing classes and serves on the board of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. She wrote the foreword and several stories for The Midway Museum Midway African Heritage Series Book No. 2 published in June 2023. Positive Power is a collection of empowering stories and poems for anyone who needs encouragement or inspiration along their spiritual journey.

DAVID A. JONES + BOB HILL

Always Moving Forward: A Memoir of Friends, Family and Building Humana

Born and raised in Louisville, David A. Jones was co-founder, CEO and

chairman of the board of directors of Humana. Retired Louisville Times and Courier-Journal columnist Bob Hill collaborated with Jones to write Always Moving Forward, an inspiring and insightful autobiography of the healthcare business titan and philanthropist.

STEVEN L. JONES

Murder Ballads Old and New: A Dark and Bloody Record

Kentucky-born son of a choir director and violinist, Steven L. Jones is an artist, writer, musician and former instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His first book, Murder Ballads Old and New, is a graveyard stroll that’s equal parts musicological, psychosocial and genealogical, excavating facts and exploring stories that reveal larger contexts, while mapping the lineages of songs and themes, forebears and ancestors.

DAN KLEFSTAD

DIY Book Promo: How to Find Readers Without Spending Money

Dan Klefstad is a longtime radio host and newscaster. His latest book, DIY

Book Promo, helps his fellow authors find readers without spending money based on lessons learned during his 30-year broadcasting career and a three-year campaign for his novel, Fiona’s Guardians

BROOKS LAMB

Love for the Land: Lessons From Farmers Who Persist in Place

Brooks Lamb, the land protection and access specialist at American Farmland Trust, is a conservationist, agrarian, teacher and author. His latest book, Love for the Land, draws on in-depth interviews and the writings of Wendell Berry to explore why some small and midsized farmers continue to care for their land. Lamb calls upon everyone to learn from these farmers and cultivate a better future for food and farming.

EDWARD LEE

Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey

Author of Bourbon Land, Smoke & Pickles and Buttermilk Graffiti, Edward Lee is chef and owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville and culinary director of

Humanities Council.

Succotash in National Harbor, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. In Bourbon Land, Lee pays tribute to the iconic Kentucky spirit with a book full of original recipes, Kentucky bourbon history, industry profiles and more.

ANYA LIFTIG

Holler Rat: A Memoir

Anya Liftig is a writer and performance artist whose essays have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and whose artworks have been exhibited at Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Queens Museum, Movement Research, Performer Stammtisch Berlin, Performance Space London, and many other venues around the world. In Holler Rat, Liftig skillfully interweaves family lore from her childhood with descriptions of her performance art pieces and scenes of the yearlong period in which her life fell apart, then plumbs the cathartic self-reckoning that followed.

RONNI LUNDY

Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes

Former restaurant reviewer and music critic for the CourierJournal and former editor of Louisville Magazine, Ronni Lundy has long chronicled the people of the hillbilly diaspora as a journalist and cookbook author and has been recognized for her work with the Southern Foodways Alliance Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award. Winner of the James Beard Foundation Book of the Year Award and Best Book, American Cooking, Victuals is an exploration of the foodways, people and places of Appalachia.

JEFFREY J. MATTHEWS

Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks: Dishonorable Leadership in the U.S. Military

Author of five books, Dr. Jeffrey Matthews is the George F. Jewett Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. His most recent book, Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks, analyzes the bases and motives leading to American military missteps of the past 100 years and explores what could be done to curtail future misconduct of generals and admirals.

A.L. M c CLANAN

Griffinology: The Griffin’s Place in History, Myth and Art

An art history professor at Portland State University with family from and caregiving responsibilities still in Floyd County, Kentucky, A.L. McClanan studies the representation of monsters in art. Her recent book, Griffinology, is a fascinating, beautifully illustrated exploration of the mythical creature’s many depictions in human culture.

KAREN SALYER M c ELMURRAY

I Could Name God in Twelve Ways

A visiting writer and lecturer at various programs across the country, Karen Salyer McElmurray has received numerous

The University of Kentucky is boldly committed to transforming our students' lives – both in and out of the classroom.

In August 2023, we were proud to introduce UK Invests – a first-of-its-kind initiative nationally and a holistic wellness program anchored by financial education.

Through UK Invests, we are empowering and encouraging students to understand the importance of investing in themselves and their future.

Ultimately, through this initiative, every student on campus can receive a personal investment account that will be used to incentivize and reward them for developing healthy habits – from wellness to career skill building to financial literacy. During the 2023-2024 academic year, more than 7,100 students opened a brokerage account through UK Invests. Collectively, those students participating in the program have earned nearly $900,000.

This program sets UK apart from other colleges and universities by teaching real-world situations to demonstrate the benefits of saving and investing early.

“We can say we’re going to put students first, but by stepping forward in this way, we do put students first,” UK President Capiluoto said. “We believe in them, their future and what it can mean for Kentucky.”

awards, including the Annie Dillard Prize, the New Southerner Literary Prize, the Orison Anthology Award, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and multiple notable mentions in Best American Essays At turns lyrical, poignant and alluring, I Could Name God in Twelve Ways probes her personal history from the stance of different places and perspectives, as she searches for acceptance and a place to call home.

KEVEN M c QUEEN

Historic Louisville Murders

A senior lecturer in English composition at Eastern Kentucky University, Keven McQueen has written 23 books on topics such as American history, the supernatural, biography, historical true crime, and what he calls real-life surrealism. Historic Louisville Murders covers 24 homicides that rocked Louisville from the 1840s to the 1920s.

JAMES WALTER MOORE

Exile on K Street

A 13-year aerospace engineer for the McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Company, James Walter Moore started his own IT consulting firm and was a candidate for the United States Congress. His intriguing life experience and subsequent involvement in politics form the basis of his first book, Exile on K Street

KEVIN NANCE

Geneva’s Garden: Four Seasons of Beauty in Lexington’s Gratz Park

Kevin Nance is a writer, photographer and arts journalist who has exhibited in solo and group shows in Chicago, Portland, Danville and Lexington. His hardcover coffee-table book, Geneva’s Garden, is a collection of his photographs shot over the course of a year in the private garden of Elvis and Geneva Donaldson.

TIM NEWBY

The Original Louisville Slugger: The Life and Times of Forgotten Baseball

Legend Pete Browning

Tim Newby was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections for Best Research in Recorded Country Music, and his book, Bluegrass in Baltimore was named one of the 30 best books about bluegrass music by About Great Books. The Original Louisville Slugger addresses the myths surrounding the larger-than-life figure Louis “Pete” Rogers Browning. It uncovers the thin line between fact and fiction, and presents an extensive account of the man and legendary ball player.

DANICA NOVGORODOFF

The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table

Writer, artist and New York Times bestselling illustrator, Danica Novgorodoff has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA, Willapa Bay and Brush Creek, and was awarded the Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal, the United Kingdom’s most prestigious award for children’s book illustration. With Novgorodoff, award-winning author Chef JJ Johnson takes readers on an informative and exciting culinary adventure through The Simple Art of Rice that will help anyone master the art of cooking rice.

ELAINE FOWLER PALENCIA

On Rising Ground: The Life and CIvil War Letters of John M. Douthit, 52nd Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

An award-winning writer and freelance editor, Elaine Fowler Palencia grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee and has authored six books of fiction, four poetry chapbooks, and numerous essays and book reviews. On Rising Ground provides a richly researched account of a Confederate foot soldier drawn from the 30 surviving letters he wrote to his wife, Martha.

CAROL PEACHEE

Shaker Made: Inside Pleasant Hill’s Shaker Village

Awarded the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation’s Clay Lancaster Heritage Education Award, a Governor’s Award for Innovative Programming, and an Art Meets Activism grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Carol Peachee is a fine art photographer and psychotherapist whose photographic work explores cultural and natural heritage. Shaker Made is a love letter to the cultural artifacts—the architecture, furniture and crafts—of one of America’s most notable utopian societies.

BROTHER PAUL QUENON A Matter of the Heart: A Monk’s Journal, 1970–2022

One of Thomas Merton’s former novices, Brother Paul Quenon, OCSO, entered the Abbey of Gethsemani at 17, studied theology at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and taught and lived at a monastery in Nigeria. After five decades of life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky and 10 published books of poetry, Quenon has penned A Matter of the Heart, which mingles reflections, meditations, insights and wanderings. It includes outward experiences in nature and community, as well as sketches of monks—saintly, comical or strange— and poetic moments, for a multi-colored, diverse and surprising display of what it is like to live “an enclosed life.”

DERRICK RAMSEY

+ JOHN HUANG

They Call Me Mr. Secretary: Through the Lens of a Winner

Derrick Ramsey was the first African American starting quarterback in the history of the University of Kentucky football program, who went on to great success in the National Football League, entrepreneurial real estate endeavors, state government and academia. Dr. John Huang is a retired orthodontist and military veteran, who currently serves as a sports columnist for Nolan Group Media and a freelance reporter for several other regional publications. A story of encouragement and inspirational leadership, They Call Me Mr. Secretary follows Ramsey’s journey from an impressionable childhood spent in

segregated Hastings, Florida, up through his current role as elder statesman of both the NFL and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

JON REYNOLDS

Illuminating Nature: Chasing Light Across the Landscape

An award-winning photographer based in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area, Jon Reynolds has been a full-time adult educator with Gateway Community and Technical College for more than 25 years. His first book, Illuminating Nature, combines mesmerizing photographs with reflections on the peace we find in nature, the importance of planning and equal power of serendipity, and tips for getting that photo.

BOBBI DAWN RIGHTMYER

James Harrod: Founder of Harrodsburg, Kentucky

A lifelong native of Harrodsburg, Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer writes books of narrative historical nonfiction and historical articles for the Harrodsburg Herald, Kentucky Monthly, the Advocate-Messenger and Kentucky Humanities. Her latest book, James Harrod, details the beginning of the historic city of Harrodsburg and life of the pioneer, soldier and visionary who founded the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.

AL ROKER

Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By: Easy,

MemoryMaking Family Dishes for Every Occasion

America’s weatherman, Al Roker, with a career spanning more than 40 years on TV and 14 Emmy Awards, is the current weather anchor on NBC’s Today and a prolific author, with 13 books to his credit—from cookbooks to true-life historical narratives. Written with his daughter, Courtney Roker Laga, a recipe developer and trained chef who has worked in two Michelin-starred restaurants, Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By celebrates the joy of cooking for family, friends and loved ones, of gathering people together and not just for the big events but for everyday occasions, which are even more important.

DEIRDRE A. SCAGGS

Simplicity and Excellence: Elizabeth Kremer from Beaten Biscuits to Shaker Lemon Pie

Deirdre A. Scaggs is associate dean of the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center and director of the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center. A gastronomic history like no other, Simplicity and Excellence effortlessly paints a portrait of Elizabeth Cromwell Kremer, one of the most influential forces behind the preservation of Kentucky’s culture through its cuisine.

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JEANINE SCOTT

+ BERKELEY SCOTT

Kentucky’s Lost Bourbon Distilleries

Journalists and historians with a keen interest in Kentucky’s bourbon legacy, husband-and-wife team Jeanine and Berkeley Scott have authored seven books in the Images of America series. Their latest contribution, Kentucky’s Lost Bourbon Distilleries, recounts a part of the rich history of the Commonwealth’s world-renowned bourbon industry and the hundreds of distilleries that closed because of Prohibition or decades afterward with only old photographs left to tell this story of dedicated craftsmanship.

MATTHEW SPARKS

+ OLIVIA SIZEMORE

Haint Country: Dark Tales from the Hills and Hollers

A native of Southeastern Kentucky, Matthew R. Sparksis a published writer and researcher on minority ethnic and religious communities in the Middle East. Olivia Sizemore, who was born and raised in Leslie County, Kentucky, holds a BA in studio art from Berea College. Comprised of a mixture of claimed accounts and fabricated lore, Haint Country is a collection of weird, otherworldly and supernatural phenomenon in Eastern Kentucky, recorded and documented for the first time.

RAINESFORD STAUFFER

All the Gold Stars

Rainesford Stauffer, a Kentucky freelance writer and reporter, has contributed reports and essays to Time, The Guardian, Esquire, Teen Vogue, The New York Times and other publications. Her latest book, All the Gold Stars, is an examination, dismantling and reconstruction of ambition, where burnout is the symptom of our holiest sin: the lonely way we strive.

JON M. SWEENEY

My Life in Seventeen Books: A Literary Memoir

Former bookseller and longtime publisher Jon M. Sweeney is an award-

winning author of 40 books on spirituality, mysticism and religion. With history and anecdotes centering around books such as Thoreau’s Journal, Tagore’s Gitanjali, Martin Buber’s Hasidic Tales, and Tolstoy’s Twenty-Three Tales, he demonstrates how and why there is magic and enchantment that takes place between people and books.

JERRY TIPTON

Déjà Blue: A Sportswriter

Reflects on 41 Seasons of Kentucky Basketball

After a Hall of Fame career that spanned nearly 50 years, veteran sportswriter Jerry Tipton is best known for his no-nonsense coverage of University of Kentucky men's basketball, challenging questions, catchy leads, and legendary exchanges with Coach John Calipari. In Déjà Blue, he shares a behind-the-scenes look at his career in sportswriting, from his early years at the Huntington Herald-Dispatch (W.Va.) through over four decades covering the highs and lows,of the Wildcats for the Lexington Herald-Leader, including three national championships, nine Final Fours and six head coaches.

STEPHEN

M. VEST

George Graham Vest: The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend

Author, teacher and frequent speaker Stephen M. Vest is the editor and publisher of Kentucky Monthly, a Governor Award in the Arts (Media) honoree. His most recent book, George Graham Vest: The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend, provides a detailed look at George Graham Vest, a distinguished attorney and politician known as a champion for the rights of Native Americans, who helped establish Yellowstone National Park.

JESSICA WHITEHEAD

The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects

An independent writer and artist, Jessica K. Whitehead is curator of collections at the Kentucky Derby Museum, where she has worked for more than a decade. In

The History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects, she sets out to recover the accurate history of America’s longest continuously held sporting event and establish a balance between well-known narratives and those that are less widely shared with a personal tour of 75 objects from the museum.

CRYSTAL WILKINSON Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts

Recipient of a Writing Freedom fellowship, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, an O. Henry Prize, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, a USA Artists Fellowship and an Ernest J. Gaines Prize for Literary Excellence, Crystal Wilkinson was Poet Laureate of Kentucky from 2021 to 2023 and currently teaches creative writing at the University of Kentucky, where she is a Bush-Holbrook Endowed Professor and Director of the Divsion of Creative Writing. Her latest book, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, is a lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians. Through powerful storytelling along with nearly 40 comforting recipes, the book was named a Most Anticipated Book or Best Book in 2024 So Far by Ms. Magazine, Book Riot, Parade, Electric Lit, The Root, Atlanta Journal Constitution and others.

KATHRYN WITT

Perfect Day Kentucky: Day Trips, Weekend Getaways, and Other Escapes

A member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the Authors Guild, Kathryn Witt is an award-winning author and travel writer who has written about Kentucky for many years, including for Kentucky Living magazine and the official Kentucky Visitors Guide. Her latest book, Perfect Day Kentucky, shares insights and insider tips to help visitors make the most of the quintessential experiences, while presenting additional suggestions to further inspire exploration and encourage longer stays.

TAH Kentucky Gift Cards are perfect gift ideas for any occasion for anyone on your gift list. Gift cards can be used at all Kentucky State Resort Parks (except Breaks Interstate Park), the Kentucky Artisan Center, the Kentucky Horse Park and the Kentucky Historical Society’s 1792 Store. Use gift cards to purchase anything from meals to lodging or gift shop items. ORDER

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