by Whitney Harder and Whitney Hale

Organizers of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference will host a preview party featuring Lexington author Sarah Combs signing her debut novel, "Breakfast Served Anytime," at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at The Morris Book Shop, located at 882 East High Street in Lexington.

The preview party for the 2014 Kentucky Women Writers Conference (KWWC) celebrates the launch of Combs' young adult novel published by Candlewick Press this month. In addition to showcasing Combs' new work, KWWC 

LOOFO - Official Trailer 2 from TheNortonBrothers on Vimeo.

by Whitney Hale, Whitney Harder

(April 21, 2014)  "LOOFO," a film directed and produced by two University of Kentucky seniors, fraternal twin brothers Ben and Zak Norton, will premiere at 8:30 pm. Tuesday, April 22, at the Kentucky Theatre. A campus premiere, sponsored by the Late Night Film Series, will follow a week later at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at the 

by Whitney Hale

(April 14, 2014) — University of Kentucky's Ryan Winstead, an English and gender and women's studies junior, has been awarded an English-Speaking Union (ESU) Scholarship presented by the English-Speaking Union Kentucky Branch. The scholarship will cover Winstead's expenses for summer study at the University of Oxford.

The Kentucky Branch of the English-Speaking Union awards a limited number of scholarships to qualified Kentucky college students for courses offered at institutions in the United Kingdom. Scholarship awards

by Whitney Hale, Andrea Richard

(April 10, 2014) — The Kentucky Women Writers Conference will feature bestselling Southern author Jill McCorkle at the 2014 conference scheduled for Sept. 12-13. Making her first appearance at the Women Writers Conference, McCorkle will lead a fiction workshop and perform a reading.

>>UPDATE: View the photo album of Jill McCorkle's reading and reception at the Art Museum in UK's Singletary Center for the Arts.

Jill McCorkle has written 10 works of fiction including the novels “Life After Life,” “Going Away Shoes,” “Creatures of Habit,” “Carolina Moon” and “Ferris Beach.” Her books

by Whitney Hale

(April 8, 2014) — "Reel to Real: Special Collections at the Movies," the University of Kentucky Special Collections Library's film series, will close this year with a screening of "Our Day," at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at Worsham Theater in the UK Student Center. The film series explores celebrated movies through a historically accurate perspective based on primary source materials found in Special Collections. The screening is free and open to the public.

“Our Day” is a short 1938 documentary about the Kelly family of Lebanon, Ky. Filmed by Wallace Kelly, the home movie looks at a day in the life of the family.

Movie

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 4, 2014) — Alex Brooks, a book conservator and faculty member at theGaines Center for the Humanities at the University of Kentucky, has been selected as an NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of 30 seminars and institutes supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

The NEH is a federal agency that, each summer, supports enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities and cultural institutions, so that faculty can work in collaboration and study with experts in humanities disciplines.

Brooks is one of 16 educators who will participate in a seminar titled "Tudor

Video By Chanel Friday, UK Public Relations and Marketing Intern. 

by Kody Kiser, Amy Jones-Timoney, Chanel Friday

(April 3, 2014) — A popular on–campus resource for students is celebrating a major birthday. 

UK’s Writing Center, located in The Hub @ WT’s, turned 30 years old during the 2013-14 academic year.  Over the last three decades, graduate and undergraduate peer consultants have assisted thousands of students, faculty and staff in creating essays, reports, slide show presentations and videos at no charge. 

UK marked the milestone with a special reception Wednesday, March 5, 2014. The program began with speakers who shared the Writing Center’s history and

by Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick

(April 2, 2014) — University Press of Kentucky (UPK) author T.R.C. Hutton has been named the recipient of the 2013 Weatherford Award for nonfiction for his book "Bloody Breathitt: Politics and Violence in the Appalachian South." The Weatherford Award is presented by Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association annually to

by Gail Hairston

(April 2, 2014) - The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees greatly enhanced the education of its liberal arts students yesterday with two programs that will greatly impact their communication skills – a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing curriculum within the Department of English and a new Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies.

With realistic aspirations to be among the nation’s best programs by 2020, the UK College of Arts and Sciences Department of English will offer its students a full-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing this fall. Modeled after some of the finest graduate-level creative writing programs in the nation, UK’s curriculum will be taught by a faculty of prominent award-

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 31, 2014) — In "Kentucky Marine: Major General Logan Feland and the Making of the Modern USMC," David Bettez, former director of the Office of International Programs at the University of Kentucky (now the University of Kentucky International Center(UKIC), writes the forgotten story of another Kentucky man, an influential soldier of the seas.

The University of Press of Kentucky (UPK) book, based on the life of Hopkinsville native Major General Logan Feland, is on sale now and will be the subject of an upcoming broadcast of radio show 

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 27, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities has chosen 12 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years. Gaines Fellowships are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities.

Gaines Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2014) — Tearing down the walls of diversity is a task that requires one to think outside of the box. 'Boxes and Walls' is hosted by CATalyst, which has teamed up with six other organizations to build a multicultural museum for students to explore.

The exhibits are designed to personalize the struggle of tearing down these walls of oppression and to educate attendees on the impact of this persecution over time.

Keeping with this year's theme, "Oppression through Time," participating organizations are building their exhibits to reflect the impact of oppression on historically oppressed groups.

Alexis Asamoah, president of the African Student Association, says that she hopes their exhibit will take attendees back in time.

“We would like students to understand the effects of colonization through an interactive

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2014) ­― As part of the year-long Viva Mexico program, University of Kentucky Libraries and the UK College of Arts and Sciences will host a speaker on “Mexico on the Digital Frontier: Creating Access in Archives and Libraries.” Linda Arnold, professor emerita of history at Virginia Tech University, will speak on the topic at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in the Niles Gallery of the Lucille Little Fine Arts Library on UK’s campus. A reception will follow in the Little Library foyer.

Arnold spent 29 years at Virginia Tech, where she developed and taught more than a dozen undergraduate writing-intensive courses, and directed nearly 30 undergraduate independent studies.  She was a pioneer in digital history who,

by Whitney Hale, Whitney Harder

(March 18, 2014) — Bernard LaFayette Jr., an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, will speak on his leadership experience in the voting rights movement in Selma, Ala., and participate in a book signing beginning 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at the University of Kentucky's Martin Luther King Center.

LaFayette, a prominent leader in the civil rights movement, was a cofounder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a leader in the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins, a Freedom Rider, and the national coordinator of the Poor People’s Campaign.

At 22 years old LaFayette became director of the Alabama Voter Registration Project in Selma, the basis

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 18, 2014) — The quickly approaching deadline for submission of original manuscripts to the 2014 Dantzler fiction and Farquhar poetry contests is 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 26. The event is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of English. 

The contest is for University of Kentucky undergraduate students only. The winning prize in each category is $250. Fiction entries are limited to 3,000 words. Poetry entries are limited to five poems or three manuscript pages.

The Department of English has presented the Dantzler and Farquhar awards annually since 1953. Many of the winners have gone on to have successful literary careers.

Paper manuscripts should be submitted to Professor Gurney Norman, Department of English, University of Kentucky,

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 6, 2014) — The University of Kentucky’s King Library Press is sponsoring a lecture and workshop with Kathleen Walkup, director of the nation's first master's program for book art and creative writing, focusing on the work of mid-century women printers. The UK Special Collections Library will host, "Because Nobody Stopped Us: Women Printers at Mid-Century," for its 2014 Spring Book Arts Weekend beginning 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

4Walkup is a

by Whitney Harder, Whitney Hale

(March 3, 2014) — "Reel to Real: Special Collections at the Movies," the University of Kentucky Special Collections Library's film series, will continue with "Coal Miner's Daughter," at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, at Worsham Theater in the UK Student Center. The film series explores celebrated movies through a historically accurate perspective based on primary source materials found in Special Collections. The screening is free and open to the public.

"Coal Miner's Daughter," is based on the life of country singer and Kentucky native Loretta Lynn, who recorded

(Feb. 27, 2014) The deadline for submission of manuscripts to the Department of English's 2014 Dantzler fiction and Farquhar poetry contests is Wednesday, March 26th at 4:00 p.m.

Paper manuscripts should be submitted to Professor Gurney Norman, Department of English, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506. They can also be delivered to 1213 Patterson Office Tower, Monday throughFriday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fiction entries are limited to 3000 words. Poetry entries are limited to five poems or three manuscript pages.

The contest is for University of Kentucky undergraduate students only. The

by Kathy Johnson, Gail Hairston

(Feb. 25, 2014) — Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker brought home the gold this past weekend, winning the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.

Walker, an associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky as well as founder of the Affrilachian Poets, was recognized for his most recent book of poetry, "Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers."

“I am thrilled for Frank, whose scholarship is deserving of national recognition,” said Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, dean of UK’s College of Arts

by Gail Bennett

(Feb. 25, 2014) ― WUKY 91.3 FM collaborates with the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame to broadcast readings of selections from the works of the new 2014 Hall of Fame authors on March 1.

The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame announced the 2014 Hall of Fame class at an induction ceremony on Jan. 23 at the Carnegie Center. This is the second class to be inducted.

WUKY will air a program showcasing the introductions, readings and musical performances as recorded from that evening. The broadcast will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 1.

The seven new members of the 2014 Hall of Fame class include: children’s author Rebecca Caudill, best known for "A Pocketful of Cricket" and "Tree of Freedom"; University of Kentucky professor Thomas D. Clark, best known for "A History of