News
By Whitney Hale
The 35th annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference has unveiled its line-up for the literary event scheduled Sept. 20–21, 2013, and tickets may now be purchased. The conference, which will feature Louisville poet Kiki Petrosino and other acclaimed writers from around the nation, will also offer five new postgraduate scholarships to attend the event.
The Kentucky Women Writers Conference is an annual event known for bringing notable women writers to Lexington for readings, writing workshops and discussions. A program housed in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, the conference is made possible in part by continued community partnerships, including its primary venue, the
By Sarah Geegan
English professor Erik Reece and Biology professor James Krupa recently released a book that brings to life the history and ecology of one of Kentucky's most important natural landscapes —the Robinson Forest in eastern Kentucky.
"The Embattled Wilderness" depicts the fourteen thousand acres of diverse forest region-- a haven of biological richness-- as endangered by the ever-expanding desert created by mountaintop removal mining. The authors, alternating chapters that focus on the natural and cultural history of the forest, combine their professional knowledge of the area to persuasively appeal for its protection.
Erik Reece, an environmental writer,
By Sarah Geegan
Per University of Kentucky tradition, a student speaker will represent his or her class at both undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 5. The speakers for the 146th UK Commencement Ceremonies are Mercedes Rosado and Luke Glaser.
Mercedes Rosado, from Marquette, Mich., is graduating with a degree in kinesiology from the College of Education. A pilot candidate in Air Force ROTC, she will be commissioned after graduation and begin pilot training in February at Columbus Air Force base in Mississippi. She will deliver the Commencement address at the 1 p.m. ceremony.
Rosado joined the Air Force ROTC program at UK partly because of her father'
By Sarah Geegan
Students from Shanghai University (SU) will get a taste of the bluegrass as the UK American Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences will host a summit for SU students on Monday, April 22. Shanghai University is home to one of approximately ten American Studies Centers in China. Funded by a grant from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and pioneered through a joint-venture agreement between SU and UK, the center began operation in 2011. Since then the facility has served to emphasize the diversity of American culture and experience, to broaden Chinese understanding of American culture and to foster intellectual and cultural exchange. UK's primary contribution involves providing a perspective of the American South and Appalachia. This partnership
By Whitney Hale
Writer and alumnus John W. Egerton will receive the 2013 University of Kentucky Libraries Award for Intellectual Achievement. The award will be presented at the UK Libraries Annual Dinner scheduled for April 19, at Griffin Gate Marriott, located at 1800 Newtown Pike. As part of the dinner, Egerton will talk about the place of libraries and the future of paper in the cyber age.
The UK Libraries Award for Intellectual Achievement recognizes high intellectual achievement while encouraging education and promoting creativity throughout the Commonwealth. Candidates must have been born in
By Whitney Hale
Florida playwright Jo Morello has won the second biennial Prize for Women Playwrights presented by the Kentucky Women Writers Conference (KWWC) for her full-length play, E.G.O.: The Passions of Eugene Gladstone O'Neill. The prize carries a $500 cash award and a fully staged theatrical production at Balagula Theatre in Lexington, where it will be produced as a world premiere in September 2013. Morello's script was selected by American playwright, television writer and activist Kia Corthron from a pool of
by Sarah Geegan The African American and Africana Studies (AAAS) program emerged in Fall 2011, uniting African American Studies & Research Program with Africana Studies, to create greater community presence, to provide international study opportunities in the focus area and to work toward creating an undergraduate major. In the Fall 2013, the area will expand even further, as two new distinguished faculty join the program. DaMaris B. Hill, currently a visiting professor of African-American literature from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and Chamara Jewel Kwakye, from University of Illinois, will begin teaching in the fall. DaMaris B. Hill is a writer and scholar who earned her doctorate in English-creative writing and women, gender and sexuality studies from the University of Kansas
By Whitney Hale, Breanna Shelton
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 2013-14 and 2014-15 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 are given equal consideration.
UK's
By Kathy Johnson
Frank X Walker, associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky and recently announced Kentucky poet laureate, was the guest on the March 2 "UK at the Half," which aired during the UK vs. Arkansas game that was broadcast on radio.
"UK at the Half" airs during halftime of each UK football and basketball game broadcast on radio and is hosted by Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Marketing.
To hear the "UK at the Half" interview, click here. To view a transcript of the "UK at the Half" interview, click here.
By Whitney Hale, Mack McCormick
University Press of Kentucky (UPK) author bell hooks has been named the recipient of the 2013 Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s (BCALA) Best Poetry Award for her book "Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place."
The BCALA Literary Awards recognize excellence in adult fiction, nonfiction, poetry and publishing by African American authors published during the previous year, including an award for Best Poetry and a citation for Outstanding Contribution to Publishing. The award will be presented to hooks at the Annual Conference of the American Library Association
By Whitney Hale
The Kentucky Women Writers Conference will feature best-selling novelist and National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell as its keynote speaker at the 2013 conference, scheduled for Sept. 20 and 21.
"Campbell is a fearless teacher and writer whose fiction is shaped by the exigencies of rural Michigan," said Julie Wrinn, director of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference "The vivid sense of place in her work should resonate with Kentuckians, and you might even say that her characters 'kick ass.'"
Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the best-selling novel "Once Upon a River" (Norton, 2011), a river odyssey through rural
by Sarah Geegan
The 73rd annual convention of the College Language Association (CLA) will blossom in the Bluegrass this year. Themed, "Mason-Dixon and Maginot Lines: Borders, Boundaries and Barriers in Languages and Literatures," the conference will last from April 11-13, with pre-convention events on Wednesday, April 10.
The CLA, an organization that fosters high professional standards for teachers of languages, literature and creative writing, will hold its annual convention at the University of Kentucky. The event will include scholarly presentations, opportunities to exchange ideas with other colleagues and dialogues with specialists brought in by the association.
UK English professor
By Gail Hairston, Amy Jones, and Kody Kiser
The University of Kentucky Alumni Association presented its 2013 Great Teacher Awards to six recipients last night at a recognition dinner, followed by an appearance at Rupp Arena’s center court during halftime of the South Carolina vs. UK basketball game.
The recipients are:
• Karen Badger, associate professor, College of Social Work
• Roberta Dwyer, professor, College of Agriculture
•
The James S. Brown Award is given to honor the memory of Professor James S. Brown, a sociologist on the faculty of the University of Kentucky from 1946 to 1982, whose pioneering studies of society, demography, and migration in Appalachia (including his ethnography of “Beech Creek”) helped to establish the field of Appalachian Studies at U.K. and beyond.
The Award supports graduate student research on the Appalachian region. To be eligible, students must be actively enrolled in a master’s or doctoral degree program at U.K. The Award must be used to meet costs of doing research relevant to social life in Appalachia including travel, lodging, copying, interviewing, ethnography, data collection, archival research, transcribing, and other legitimate research expenses. Except under special circumstances, awards will not exceed $1,500. The award does not cover registration or travel
by Sarah Geegan
English professor and 2011 National Book Award winner Nikky Finney was recently appointed the inaugural Guy Davenport Endowed English Professor, an award honoring one of UK's most distinguished professors.
Guy Mattison Davenport, author, poet, painter and critic, retired in 1990 as a UK Distinguished Alumni Professor of English. Throughout his career, he received national and international recognition by several educational and professional institutions for his many achievements. Honoring this legacy, the endowed professorship was made possible through a generous donation to the College of
by Whitney Hale
The Thomas D. Clark Foundation and the University Press of Kentucky will host a symposium to honor the life and literary legacy of James Still. The Thomas D. Clark Medallion Symposium, which is free and open to the public, will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15, at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, located at 251 West Second St.
The symposium will celebrate Still’s posthumous collection of short stories, "The Hills Remember: The Complete Short Stories of James Still," winner of the Thomas D
By Whitney Hale, Amanda Osborne
Award-winning poets Kim Addonizio and Julia Johnson are among the featured presenters at this year's Kentucky Women Writers Conference being held Sept. 21-22, in Lexington. The literary festival will include sold out workshops with both poets, as well as readings and a craft talk that are open to all registrants.
One of the nation's most "provocative and edgy poets," Kim Addonizio is the California poet behind "Tell Me," a collection of poems that was a National Book Award Finalist. Her latest book "Lucifer at the Starlite" was a finalist for the Poets Prize and the Northern CA Book Award. Addonizio also wrote "Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within," "Jimmy & Rita," "Little
By Sarah Geegan
The S.T. Roach Community Conversations series, "Rebuilding the Block," will conclude its seven-month sequence on Father's Day weekend by honoring outstanding men in the community.
The Sankofa Awards, honoring African-American men who have demonstrated excellence in the categories of service, social and environmental justice, scholarship, philanthropy, creativity and entrepreneurship, will provide a symbolic end to the series that began in December 2011. Consisting of monthly public forums led by UK experts at
By Sarah Geegan, Amanda Osborn
Imagine being a University of Kentucky student in Lexington, but sharing a "global classroom" with students in China, France or India. In collaboration with the associate provost for International Affairs and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT), the UK College of Arts and Sciences recently established a program called Global Classroom Connections that will promote international learning and experiences through the use of contemporary technology.
As university graduates increasingly require international perspectives, skills and knowledge to succeed in the multicultural and interconnected world,
By Whitney Hale
Two students from the University of Kentucky and one 2006 alumna have been selected as recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among 1,700 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2012-2013 academic year through the prestigious program.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and