Board membership; Katy Yocom's new book

December 5, 2019
Dear Friends,
If you are a Kentucky resident looking for ways to positively impact the literary community, you might consider joining our board. Now is the season when we recruit new members, and you can nominate yourself or a friend at this link: https://womenwriters.as.uky.edu/nominate-board-member. Board members are patrons and volunteers who:

• assist with the annual conference 
• advocate for our programs throughout the state and region
• liaison with community volunteers and partnering businesses 
• contribute or raise funds for conference activities
• attend board meetings (7 meetings per year, with option to Skype in)

Visit this section of our website to see the current board roster, some of whom will be rotating off when their three-year terms end in 2020. An ever evolving organism, the 2019 Board was exceptionally active and ambitious, and last month they drafted a new mission statement:
Of, by and for women, the Kentucky Women Writers Conference is a nonprofit organization that creates compassionate artistic environments that affirm, challenge, and energize women writers and readers, through an annual conference and programming dedicated to women’s words.
As an example of the impact our board had on the 2019 conference, here are some responses from the 65 (!) feedback forms we received, in answer to the question, “To what extent did you feel welcome and comfortable at the conference”:

• “Very—even at the reception, felt like being at a friend's party.”
• “It really helped that there were so many board members around to help us. There was always someone available to answer questions.”
• “I found this to be a very welcoming conference—good energy and spirit!”
• “Very. Everyone is gracious and smart.”
• “Everyone has been exceptionally helpful.”
• “110%!”

Katy Yocom joined our board in 2018 and in that same year landed a contract, after many years of trying, to publish her novel in 2019. Naturally we were dying to feature her at KWWC2019 to celebrate her fictional debut in Three Ways to Disappear. But it’s vital that there to be no appearance of quid pro quo involved in board service, and so Katy served only in the same capacity at KWWC2019 as every other board member, their omnipresent smiles welcoming you and answering all of your questions.
But I was thrilled to learn, just this morning, that Katy is reading in Lexington tonight! I do hope you can join me there. Details are:
Thursday, December 5, 7 p.m.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green, (859) 273-2911
About Three Ways to Disappear: In her powerful debut novel about sisters, secrets, and the endangered Bengal tiger, author Katy Yocom takes us from Louisville, Kentucky, to rural India in an unforgettable story about those who must risk everything to save what is precious.
“What a fabulous ride! The characters—both human and tiger—are so alive they practically leap off the page. The drama feels absolutely real. And the urgency of the book’s message has never been greater.” — Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus (National Book Award finalist) and The Good Good Pig
Katy Yocom is Associate Director of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Spalding University. Three Ways to Disappear (Ashland Creek Press, 2019) won the Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature and was named a Barnes & Noble Top Indie Favorite. If you can't attend tonight, there will be another opportunity to hear Katy read at the Carnegie Center's Kentucky Great Writers series on February 11, 2020.
Yours truly,
Julie Wrinn, director