By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 19, 2015) — University of Kentucky students and faculty are well represented during “Celebrating Isaac Murphy Week,” Oct. 19-24, a city-sponsored schedule of events honoring the legendary 19th century African-American jockey. Murphy’s career spanned from the mid-1870s through the mid-1890s; he rode in 11 Kentucky Derbies, winning three of them. By his account, he won 44 percent of his 1,412 races, a victory rate never equaled in 120 years.  

UK English and African American and Africana Studies professor and former Kentucky poet laureate, Frank X Walker’s poetry brought to life Murphy’s story in “I Dedicate This Ride.” Excerpts

By Gail Hairston

(Oct. 8, 2015) — Roxane Gay was born in Nebraska, of Haitian descent, but her family moved quite a bit during her childhood. That doesn’t completely explain the divergent, eclectic nature of her writing, but perhaps it’s a starting point.

Like many children who felt a bit isolated from their peers, Gay turned to books to find friends. By the time she was in her teens, she was already writing essays. But it’s only been in the past few years that her books and stories began flying from bookstore shelves and garnering the favorable attention of critics.

She is the author of the short story collection "Ayiti" (2011), the novel “An Untamed State” (2014), the essay collection "Bad Feminist" (2014), and “Hunger” (forthcoming 2016). She also edited the book “Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies.”

By Whitney Harder

(Oct. 6, 2015) — With "Banned Books Week" celebrated last week and "Teen Read Week" coming up Oct.18-24, exploring the world through literature seems to always be in season. For professors at the University of Kentucky, books have impacted their lives and careers in surprising ways.

Read below for the third and final piece in a series of professors reflecting on the books that shaped them. 

Ashley Seifert

Assistant Professor of Biology 

For me, the most influential books have been all about timing. As a young college graduate, I came upon Benjamin Hoff’s "The Te of Piglet." Hoff’s condemnation of man’s disharmony with the natural world resonated deeply with me. But it was his elegant illumination of Taoist philosophy

By Whitney Harder

(Oct. 1, 2015) — Four faculty members at the University of Kentucky, including one from the College of Arts & Sciences have been selected as 2015-2016 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program fellows, the SEC announced Wednesday.

Fellows selected from UK are:

By Mack McCormick, Mariana Moreno

The AWA's mission is to promote and recognize writing about the Appalachian region. The association works to celebrate writers who are living or have lived in the Appalachian region and those who have significant Appalachian connections through heritage or scholarship. The AWA currently gives out five awards each year: the Harriette

By Kathy Johnson

(Sept. 11, 2015) — WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell.  Sitting in for Godell today, Kentucky Women Writers Conference Director Julie Wrinn chats with novelist Hannah Pittard, who is also an assistant professor of creative writing at UK. 

To listen to the podcast interview from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, visit http://wuky.org/post/hannah-pittard-talks-siblings-voicing-characters.

"UK Perspectives" airs at 8:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each

By Whitney Hale

(Aug. 27, 2015) — Kathleen Driskell, the Kentucky poet behind the new collection, "Next Door to the Dead," and award-winning poet Angela Ball are among the featured presenters at this year's Kentucky Women Writers Conference being held Sept. 11-12, in Lexington. A limited number of spaces still remain for workshops with Driskell and Bell at the celebrated literary festival.

Kathleen Driskell’s newest collection "Next Door to the Dead," published by University Press of Kentucky, was just released this month. In the book, the poet found

By Whitney Hale

(Aug. 11, 2015) — Legendary 81-year-old poet Sonia Sanchez will return to the upcoming Kentucky Women Writers Conference on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the conference series named for her. The Sonia Sanchez Series, which brings a major thinker in multicultural and human rights issues to Lexington to speak throughout the community, will this year include a free public screening of "BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez: a new documentary," on the life and work of the celebrated writer, at the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center.

For Sonia Sanchez, writing is both a personal

By Whitney Hale

(July 21, 2015) — From a chorus of more than 50 voices to the baton movement on a conductor's rostrum, the talents of the students and faculty of University of Kentucky School of Music were in the spotlight this summer in cathedrals, concert halls and theatres across Spain and in Prague, even in one site that premiered a popular opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

In Spain, a little less than half of the members of UK Women's Choir had the opportunity to further their own education while enriching the lives of others through the beauty of music and cultural exchange in a tour running June 9-19. Student vocalists on the trip not only had a chance to learn about the rich, musical heritage of Spain but also

By Whitney Harder

(July 17, 2015) — Summer: a time to catch up on neglected projects, reconnect with old friends and tackle that summer reading list. Whether it's an inspiring autobiography, the latest science fiction, or re-reading the classics, many are immersing themselves in a range of literature this season. For professors at the University of Kentucky, they are not only cracking open new books, but reflecting on those that have impacted their lives and careers in surprising ways. 

Read below for the first in a series of professors reflecting on the books that shaped them. 

John Anthony

J. C. Hubbard Professor of Chemistry

Quite a few books have resonated with me over the years. The earliest would be the "Lord of the

By Chris Shoals

(July 1, 2015) — Student-athletes from all eight of Kentucky's spring sports teams combined to earn a total of 84 spots on the Southeastern Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll, Commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Tuesday.


UK's honorees included 22 baseball players, 14 softball players, 13 women’s track and field members, 13 men’s track and field members, eight women’s tennis players, four men’s tennis players, six men’s golfers and four women’s golfers.

A total of 1,191 student-athletes from around the league earned spots on the honor roll, which is based on grades from the 2014 summer, 2014 fall and 2015 spring terms. In order to make the SEC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or his/her entire collegiate career, be at least a sophomore in

By Gail Hairston

(June 1, 2015) — There is a surplus of summer camps available for local children, but the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences offers a summer day camp experience beyond the norm — camps focusing on linguistics, geography, creative writing and philosophy that not only keep kids occupied, but engaged, active and informed.

UK Department of Geography's summer MapCamp is a weeklong day camp for children in middle school that includes exercises in map making and outdoor geo-challenges. Attendees will participate in the ancient craft of cartography, build digital interactive maps to share with the world and conduct campus treasure hunts with GPS-enabled mobile devices.

MapCamp runs June 22−26 or July 6-10, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in UK's state-of-the-art GIS and Cartography Lab (Room

By Kody Kiser, Amy Jones-Timoney

(May 13, 2015) — The University of Kentucky continues to celebrate its 150-year history with a special video featuring the poetry of Frank X Walker.   

The UK English professor and poet, noted for coining the term Affrilachia and co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets, wrote “Seedtime in the Commonwealth” and presented it during the Founder’s Day Convocation in February.

The

By Whitney Hale

(May 6, 2015) — Join organizers of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference as they host a preview party featuring award-winning author Hannah Pittard, assistant professor at University of Kentucky Department of English. The event, including a reading from "Reunion," will begin 4 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at The Morris Book Shop, located at 882 East High Street in Lexington.

Pittard's second book, "Reunion," chronicles the weekend of a far-flung family reunited by their father's death. In addition to featuring Pittard's work, the preview

By Kathy Johnson

(April 24, 2015) — WUKY's "UK Perspectives" focuses on the people and programs of the University of Kentucky and is hosted by WUKY General Manager Tom Godell.  On today's program, UK English Professor Frank X Walker reflects on his two years as Kentucky’s poet laureate and offers some advice to newest laureate, George Ella Lyon. 

To listen to the podcast interview from which "UK Perspectives" is produced, visit http://wuky.org/post/welcoming-new-poet-laureate.

"UK Perspectives" airs at 8:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each Friday on WUKY 91.3, UK's NPR station.

By Gail Hairston

(April 23, 2015) — As April gradually slides into May, trees are growing their cloaks of green, flowers are daubing the landscape with bright colors, and Lexington’s imagination turns poetic as the city and the University of Kentucky celebrate National Poetry Month.

“Why not a festival of poetry?”thought Julia Johnson, poet and associate professor and director of the new Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English.

“I thought it would be fantastic to have a week dedicated to poetry in Lexington as part of National Poetry Month. I also like

By Whitney Hale

(April 23, 2015) — The Kentucky Women Writers Conference is trying something new for the 10th anniversary of its Wild Women of Poetry Slam. This nationally renowned all-women slam will open up its first round of competition to poets residing anywhere in the United States, who may submit a video of their spoken-word performance via the Internet through May 10.  

“Live performance is the defining feature of a poetry slam, but we know we’re missing out on so much talent," said Julie Wrinn, conference director. "By moving round one online, we open up possibilities for poets throughout the United States to participate.”

Poets are invited to submit their performances by emailing a video of an original, three-minute slam poem via Youtube or Vimeo link to

By Gail Hairston, Whitney Harder

(April 22, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will honor its faculty at 4 p.m. today at the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

The recipients of this year's college faculty awards are:

Charles Carlson, psychology, 2015-16 Distinguished Professor. For more information, visit http://uknow.uky.edu/content/carlson-honored-teaching-research-and-service

Beth Guiton, assistant professor of chemistry ‒ Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award

Guiton leads a materials chemistry group in the Center for Advanced Materials, investigates chemistry at the nanometer length scale, working at the intersection between solid state chemistry and advanced

By Whitney Hale, Lydia Whitman

(April 22, 2015) — In celebration of poetry in print, "Verse in Type: Poets & Printers, an Artistic Affinity" is the theme for the 2015 King Library Press Spring Seminar, presented by University of Kentucky's King Library Press at the end of April. This year's seminar will be presented in conjunction with a letterpress printing exhibit and student poetry contest. The King Library Press Spring Seminar and reception will take place starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, at the Hilary J. Boone Center on campus.

"Poetry, being often more

By Clark Bellar

(April 16, 2015) — On April 23, the Confucius Institute at the University of Kentucky and the Department of English will host a talk by Eugenia Zuroski Jenkins, titled "How Chinese Things Became Oriental." The presentation will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, at the Alumni Gallery in the William T. Young Library.

Following the presentation there will be a Q&A session as well as refreshments.

Jenkins is an associate professor of English and cultural studies at McMaster University