Poor Richard's Books
233 Broadway
Frankfort, KY
(502) 223-8018

Bohannons' Books With a Past
152 East Main Street
Georgetown, KY
(502) 863-3003

Arbor Books
4000 Fort Campbell Boulevard
Hopkinsville, KY
(270) 886-2665

Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Suite B1
Lexington, KY
(859) 273-2911

Carmichael's Bookstore
1295 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY
(502) 456-6950

CoffeeTree Books
240 Morehead Plaza
Morehead, KY
(606) 784-8364

Bardstown Books
One Court Square
Bardstown, KY
(800) 638-4877

Robie and Robie: Fine Books
307 Chestnut Street
Berea, KY
(859) 228-0499

Eldora's Books, Etc.
10 Marion Street
P.O. Box #119
Cadiz, KY
(270) 522-1995

Abby's Books and More
1650 Houstonville Rd, Ste 233
Danville, KY
(859) 236-9989

Lincoln's Loft
25 Public Square
Hodgenville, KY
(270) 358-0124

Karen's Book Barn and Java Stop
127 East Main Street
LaGrange, KY
(502) 222-0918

The Morris Book Shop
408 Southland Dr.
Lexington, KY
(859) 276-0494

A Reader's Corner
138 Breckenridge Lane
Louisville, KY
(502) 897-5578

Marketstreet Bookstore
224 Market St.
Maysville, KY
(866) 571-5036

Available from Kentucky Council of Teachers of English /Language Arts

Gurney Norman
Gurney Norman was appointed by Governor Steve Beshear to serve as Kentucky Poet Laureate for the 2009-2010 term. As Poet Laureate, Norman promotes the arts and leads the state in literary endeavors, including Kentucky Writers’ Day which is celebrated on April 24th of each year to honor the birth date of Kentucky author and poet Robert Penn Warren, the nation’s first Poet Laureate.
More information on this state's laureateship

The Affrilachian Poets
A grassroots group of poets of color living in the Appalachian region. The term was coined by Frank X. Walker and poets and fiction writers identified with the movement include Nikki Finney, Kelly Ellis, and Paul Taylor.

Arts Kentucky
A statewide membership organization for individual artists, performers, craftspeople, community and arts groups. Their mission is to provide resources and tools for people who are working to improve their communities through the arts.

The Carnegie Center
Supports writers and the community by offering writing (poetry, memoir, songwriting, nonfiction, young adult fiction writing, and miscellaneous), computer, and foreign language workshops. The Center also holds book discussion groups. Workshops are listed along with their dates and times.

Kentucky Council of Teachers of English /Language Arts
The Kentucky Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts is a non-profit, service organization for Kentucky English and Language Arts teachers of all levels (Kindergarten-Graduate School). In addition to supporting funded projects, the KCTE/LA connects English and Language Arts teachers to the Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Writing Projects, and the Kentucky Reading Association (KRA). A number of KCTE/LA board members either direct or coordinate outreach programs for state Writing Projects, and both the KDE and KRA send liaisons to quarterly KCTE/LA board meetings.

KY LIT: A Site Devoted to Kentucky Writers
Eastern Kentucky University houses this site which is a good beginning towards making information about Kentucky writers available.

The Kentucky State Poetry Society
"The Kentucky State Poetry Society was founded in 1966 by a group of Kentuckians with a love for poetry.... Membership in the Society is not limited to Kentuckians.... Our common bond is an appreciation for poetry. If you share this trait you are invited to join us."

Green River Writers
Green River Writers is a not-for-profit organization founded in Kentucky in 1984 to support writers through education, promotion and fellowship. Green River Writers encourages poets and writers by offering workshops, retreats, monthly critique sessions, an annual writing contest and a tri-annual newsletter.

Kentucky Literary Newsletter
Announcements of Kentucky literary events and other news; also available via email.

Kentucky Shakespeare Festival
Kentucky Shakespeare Festival began with the vision of actor, director and producer C. Douglas Ramey in the late 1950's. His desire to bring the works of William Shakespeare to the neighborhoods surrounding historic Old Louisville has grown tremendously, now serving the Commonwealth at large. The 2003 Summer Season runs from June 19 to July 23.

Special thanks to Joe Survant for assistance in compiling this information.

Robert Penn Warren Birthplace: Guthrie, KY
Though Warren spent much of his adult life outside of the South, his language and imagination were deeply rooted in the South.

Two recurring words in the descriptions of Kentucky by the first Europeans to enter it were "fertile" and "paradise." Lewis Craig, a Virginia minister, frustrated in an attempt to describe heaven in a sermon, reportedly exclaimed "It is a mere Kentucky of a place," and one of the possible origins of the word "Kentucky" is a Wyandot word meaning "land of tomorrow." At any rate, the physical beauty and fertility of Kentucky have engendered a strong poetic tradition beginning in earnest in the twentieth century with fiction writer and poet Jesse Stuart. The dean of Kentucky letters is Robert Penn Warren, the first poet laureate of the U.S., and the only writer to win a Pulitzer Prize in both poetry and fiction. Poet, essayist, fiction writer and environmentalist Wendell Berry is a contemporary man of letters in the mode of Warren.

More recently, Kentucky has produced three Yale Younger Poets in the last nine years: Tony Crunk, Davis McCombs, and Maurice Manning. Poets laureate include: Jesse Stuart, James Still, Jim Wayne Miller, Joy Bale Boone, Richard Taylor and James Baker Hall.

Appalachian Heritage
Since 1973, Appalachian Heritage has been a leading literary magazine of the Southern Appalachian Region, featuring poetry, short stories, literary biography, criticism, and art.

Blair Mountain Press
Publishes new poetry books by contemporary writers.

The Louisville Review
The goal of the magazine continues to be to import the best writing to local readers, to juxtapose the work of established writers with new writers, and to export the best local writers to a national readership.

Pikeville Review
Founded in 1987, The Pikeville Review is an annual publication of contemporary fiction, poetry, creative essays, and book reviews.

Sarabande Books
Sarabande Books, a nonprofit literary press located in Louisville, Kentucky, publishes quality poetry, essays, and short fiction. Founded in 1994 as an alternative to mainstream publishing, Sarabande Books strives to provide talented authors with a final product and visibility, in short, a real "home" for their work.

Spalding University Creative Writing Program
Offers a two-year, brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program with concentrations in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and writing for children. This new program offers the best of workshop learning, authors' readings, and lectures on craft at the 10-day residency, followed by a semester of individualized mentoring through correspondence as well as supportive interchanges among students.

Western Kentucky University The MA in English is a 30-33 hour degree with five options: literature, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, teaching English as a second language, and teaching. The degree prepares students to pursue a Ph.D. or to teach in a community or junior college. For those students who have an undergraduate teaching certificate, the MA in English is certified for Rank II and Rank I in the secondary schools. There is a thesis option in all but the creative writing option, in which a thesis is required. Near the end of course work, students take an oral examination with a committee of three faculty members.

Writing Programs in Kentucky
A great resource for students and teachers searching for creative writing programs, conferences, workshops, or literature events in Kentucky.