September 20-21, 2013
Lexington, KY

Registration Open for Kentucky Women Writers Conference - 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, - more...
Past events - Many thanks to Heather Pritchard, reference librarian at Lexington Public Library Tates Creek, and the 14 people who attended her March 20th discussion of Once Upon a River, a novel by Bonnie Jo - more...
Book discussion: Once Upon A River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell - May 2, 12 noon - 1 p.m., Carnegie Center Brown. Jan Isenhour and the Brown Bag Book Group discuss Once Upon a River, a novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell, whose keynote talk for the KY Women Writers - more...
Preview Party with Kiki Petrosino - Morris Book Shop, 882 East High St. Poet Kiki Petrosino makes her Lexington debut to read from Fort Red Border. Books by all conference presenters will be available for browsing and purchase, plus - more...
Jan Isenhour and the Brown Bag Book Group - Carnegie Center. Jan Isenhour and the Brown Bag Book Group discuss Mrs. Kimble, a novel by Jennifer Haigh, who will teach a fiction workshop at the September conference.  - more...

Free Events

Each year, the Kentucky Women Writers Conference offers a number of events that are free and open to all.


Book discussion groups on conference authors will take place in spring and summer at public libraries throughout Central Kentucky. See March 20, above, for our first such event.


Click here to see all the free events happening during the conference weekend

2013 Presenters

Kia Corthron - Kia Corthron was recently awarded the 2012 Lee Reynolds Award, sponsored by the League of Professional Theatre Women. Her plays include A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick (Playwrights Horizons co-production with The Play Company and the Culture - more...
Kiki Petrosino - Kiki Petrosino’s newest collection of poems, Hymn for the Black Terrific, is forthcoming from - more...
Claire Dederer - Claire Dederer’s bestselling memoir Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses came out in January - more...

About the Kentucky Women Writers Conference

Welcome to our literary community! There are so many ways to become involved with the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, and foremost among them is simply to attend the Conference in Lexington in September 2013. The Kentucky Women Writers Conference is the longest running literary festival of women in the nation.

An annual event launched by the University of Kentucky in 1979, it has become a premier destination for the celebration of women's arts and letters. The incredible caliber of writers and artists that we bring to Lexington each year would not be possible without the ability to pay them a fair fee, and that ability depends upon...READ MORE >