LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 20, 2026) — Hunter Coady, a junior from Crestwood, Kentucky, was recently awarded a 2026 English-Speaking Union Scholarship. The award covers full tuition and expenses for the student’s three-week experience at the University of Oxford.

The English-Speaking Union of the United States is a nonprofit, nonpolitical education service organization whose mission is to promote scholarship and the advancement of knowledge using English in an expanding global community.

Coady is an English major in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, a Gaines and Chellgren Fellow and Lewis Honors student. While at Oxford, he will attend educational seminars, gain insights through professionals, work alongside fellow students and participate in social events.

“Being able to study at Oxford in any regard is the opportunity

By Francis Von Mann 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Apr. 9, 2026) - Students from Erik Reece's Ekphrastic Poetry course at the University of Kentucky's MFA Creative Writing program have self-published a collection of poems titled "Provokable: Writing Inspired by the University of Kentucky Art Museum." 

The collection pairs each poem with a full-color reproduction of the artwork that inspired it. It grew out of English 608: Ekphrastic Writing, a graduate course that began in fall 2025, and is the result of a close collaboration with UK Art Museum

By Ryan Girves 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2026) — Beaux Hardin, a University of Kentucky senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, Lewis Honors College student and Gaines Fellow, has been selected to give the 31st annual Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities.

 Hardin’s lecture will explore poetry as a creative medium that invents new language, connecting people across cultures and creating an immaterial space that redefines identity.

Hardin will deliver the lecture, “Black Que(e)ries: Bridging Communities through Poetic Origins from Black Archives,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in the Davis Marksbury Building.

“To me, being able to share my critical theoretical research alongside inspired creative work means other students can see that research can

By Robby Hardesty 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2026) — University of Kentucky Libraries is honoring award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist, short story writer, essayist, poet and professor Crystal Wilkinson, Ph.D., as the 2026 recipient of the UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement.

Wilkinson will be recognized at the UK Libraries Spring Celebration on May 14.

Born in Hamilton, Ohio, and raised in Indian Creek, Kentucky, Wilkinson’s writing explores Black Appalachia and the rural South.

Her genre-spanning work includes three

By Jackie Wilson 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 19, 2026) — The University Press of Kentucky is now accepting submissions for

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2026) — Forty-eight University of Kentucky students will present their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) on April 13-15 in Richmond, Virginia.

NCUR is one of the largest events in the United States for undergraduate students to share their academic work with peers, faculty and professionals.

Students from various fields will present their research, showcase their work and engage with scholars. The conference features oral presentations, poster sessions and discussions, providing opportunities for academic and professional growth while highlighting undergraduate accomplishments.

The UK students taking part in NCUR this year include:

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2026) – The University of Kentucky’s Creative Writing Division in the Department of English will host award-winning poet and novelist Kei Miller as part of the Spring 2026 Visiting Writers Series.

The reading will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in the John Jacob Niles Gallery at the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Miller is the author of 11 books that range across several genres. His 2014 poetry collection, "The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion," won the Forward Prize for Best Collection. His 2017 novel, "Augustown," has won the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Prix Les Afriques, and the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde. He was the 2019 Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at

By Francis Von Mann 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 9, 2026) — University of Kentucky professor Andy Doolen has published a new biography examining the life, ideas and assassination of early American figure John Dunn Hunter.

Andy Doolen, professor of English and American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the author of “Traitor: The Life and Assassination of John Dunn Hunter, American Radical,” published Dec. 2, 2025, by Johns Hopkins University Press.

John Dunn Hunter was many things: a frontier hero, a writer, a celebrity at home and abroad, and, ultimately,

By Francis Von Mann 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 19, 2025) – Allegra Solomon has been longlisted for the 2026 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection, one of the most prestigious honors for emerging fiction writers in the United States. 

The award, presented by PEN America, recognizes an exceptionally talented author whose first short story collection demonstrates distinguished literary achievement and strong promise for future work. Solomon was selected as one of ten longlisted authors nationwide for her debut collection, “There’s Nothing Left for You Here” (Four Way Books). 

Solomon

By Francis Von Mann

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2025) - The family of Gurney Musick Norman and the University of Kentucky Department of English invite the public to a weekend of words, music and film celebrating the life and legacy of the beloved writer, teacher and mentor. 

The memorial will be held over two days, Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7, at the Gatton Student Center on UK’s campus. Events are free, open to the public and will be livestreamed. 

Norman, who died in Lexington on Oct. 12, 2025, at age 88, was an Appalachian fiction writer, documentarian, advocate and UK professor emeritus of English. He is widely regarded as one of Kentucky’s most important literary

By Haven L. Patrick 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 19, 2025) — The University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research  recently announced the 21 undergraduate winners of the 61st annual Oswald Research and Creativity Awards. Chad Risko, Ph.D., faculty director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, and research ambassadors presented the awards.

Founded in 1964 by UK President John Oswald, the Oswald Research and Creativity Competition promotes undergraduate research and creative endeavors across all academic disciplines.

The competition spans these categories: biological sciences, design (architecture, landscape architecture and

By Francis Von Mann 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 17, 2025) – The University of Kentucky’s Creative Writing Division in the Department of English, part of the College of Arts and Sciences, will mark the 11th anniversary of its Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing with a special Visiting Writers Series event spotlighting three recent graduates whose debut books have already earned national attention. 

The reading will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the Esports Theater at the Cornerstone. The event is free and open to the public. 

Since its start in 2013, UK’s MFA Program in Creative

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Crystal Wilkinson, the Bush-Holbrook Endowed Professor of English in the University of Kentucky's College of Arts and Sciences, is the winner of the 2025 Corrington Award for Literary Excellence.

She gave a reading and accept her award in a ceremony on Monday, Oct. 27, at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport. 

Wilkinson’s work includes:

Her short stories, poems and essays have appeared in

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 26, 2025) — Fiction has long offered writers a veil — an opportunity to tell deeply personal stories at a safe distance.

But what happens when that veil is intentionally thin, when the line between fact and imagination is not simply blurred but deliberately twisted?

That’s the space explored in “If You Love It, Let It Kill You,” the latest novel from Hannah Pittard. An acclaimed author and English professor in College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, she delves into the messy, hilarious and often painful intersections of personal truth and imaginative storytelling.

“This is a book

By Jennifer Sciantarelli and Tom Musgrave 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 26, 2025) — The University of Kentucky has partnered with local organizations to present a powerful two-day celebration of Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright August Wilson culminating with a presentation of his deeply personal solo piece, “How I Learned What I Learned.”

Events take place in downtown Lexington Sept. 12-13.

The collaborating partners include the UK Department of Theatre and Dance, the College of Arts and Sciences, EMON Event Co., LexArts and

By Tom Musgrave

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 20, 2025) — When Georgia-based artist Basil Watson submitted his proposal for the Lexington Freedom Train monument, he said he saw an opportunity to highlight an important story.

“A lot of Black stories have not been told, and I am a part of that community that has been denied the recognition,” he said. “So, this meant another opportunity for me to get involved in telling a Black story. Those are not the only stories to be told, but they are important stories that need to be told now.”

He was there June 19, when the monument — a sculpture depicting abolitionists Lewis and Harriet Hayden,

The University of Kentucky Department of English held its 44th Annual Awards Day in May 2025 at the Lewis Honors College, honoring outstanding students, faculty and alumni across undergraduate, graduate and creative writing programs.

Awards Day Speaker: Professor Emerita Ellen Rosenman

Guest speaker Professor Emerita Ellen Rosenman, who retired in 2017, reflected on what English studies has meant to her and what the discipline can offer us all. Rosenman joined UK as an assistant professor in 1985 and became a full professor in 2004. She served as director of the Women's Studies Program and became the first woman chair of the Department of English in 2004. In April 2025, she was inducted into the Arts and Sciences Emeritus Hall of Fame at a special ceremony.

2025 Alumna of the Year: Dr. Ashley E. Reis

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 15, 2025) — Frank X Walker, professor of English and African American and Africana Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded the 2025 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry for his compelling collection, “Load in Nine Times: Poems.”

The award winners were announced live at the PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony May 8 at The Town Hall in New York City, hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Tamron Hall.

The 2025

By Robby Hardesty 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2025) — University of Kentucky Libraries staff members have reognized junior Gabriel Portugal and senior Avery Schanbacher, students in the College of Arts and Sciences,  with the 2025 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Scholarship. The annual prize honors exceptional and original scholarship in a traditional paper and a media or digital project, and is given to students whose research makes substantive and creative use of UK Libraries’ collections, services and resources.

As Dean’s Award recipients, Portugal and Schanbacher each will receive a $1

By Francis Von Mann and Avery Schanbacher

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 28, 2025) -- The first stories Goretti Ntuba ever told weren’t written for an audience. They were scribbled in the pages of a schoolgirl’s diary, reflections on home, school and the everyday rhythms of life in Cameroon.

This spring, she’s about to graduate from the University of Kentucky with a degree in English and a minor in studio art with stories still waiting to be told.

Ntuba’s journey, like her writing, is stitched together with the textures of two countries. A Cameroonian American writer and artist, she grew up in Cameroon before moving to the United States for college. She began her academic career at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she majored in