Gabehart, Hindman, Bayeza, Majok, Gatwood, Link, Morris

March 6, 2020
I remember the days when book reviews were a staple of local newspapers, written by journalists whose taste I knew and trusted. Books are still being reviewed in national publications, of course, but I miss the local voices. Now more than ever, amidst the bombardment of a 24/7 news cycle that seems to drown out everything else, critics play a crucial role in helping readers find books that are meaningful to them. Since 1975 the National Book Critics Circle has adjudicated book awards in 6 categories, the only national awards determined by critics and reviewers themselves. This year, they've nominated one of our own.
            We know that literary prizes can boost emerging writers’ careers in many ways. Here at Kentucky Women Writers, we’ve been awarding the Betty Gabehart Prizes for most of this century, and it’s a little different from other prizes. First, we don’t anoint a famous author to judge submissions. Instead, our Board does that, one of their most cherished responsibilities. However, winners do have a chance to connect with a renowned writer by sharing the stage with her for a joint reading during the conference on September 17–20, 2020. A $300 honorarium is awarded to help defray travel expenses, and full tuition support is provided to attend the conference and enroll in a small-group writing workshop. In other words, you get to be one of the brightest stars at one of the best writers conferences in the country! Please visit the Gabehart Prize guidelines, which include a $10 entry fee, a June 1 deadline, and options for either online or mailed submissions.
Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman won the Gabehart prize in 2016 with an excerpt from her memoir-in-progress, and we asked her to return to our conference in 2019 to read from the published work, Sounds Like Titanic. Now, we are enormously proud to share the news that Jessica is one of 5 finalists for the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award in autobiography for Sounds Like Titanic. I’m thrilled that our pair of Board judges who chose that work were so discerning! Please keep your fingers crossed for Jessica as we await the announcement of winners on March 12, 2020.

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            A few other past presenters have been in the news lately:           
Ifa Bayeza, who did double duty as our playwriting judge and Sonia Sanchez speaker last year, will have all three works in The Till Trilogy performed in Washington, D.C., April 1–June 21, 2020. Martyna Majok, who judged our playwriting prize in 2017 and won the Pulitzer Prize the next year, has a new play, Sanctuary City, running March4-April 12, 2020 in New York. Those of you who were present for Ifa’s and Martyna’s appearances at KyWomenWriters in 2017 and 2019 understand how privileged we were to have the unique experience of seeing these playwrights perform their own stunning work.
Olivia Gatwood, who packed the house as headliner for the Wild Women of Poetry Slam in 2017, continues to grow in renown, with hundreds of thousands of views for her performances on YouTube and a new book, Life of the Party. Her thoughts on male violence are explored in this recent New York Times profile, including comments from another Wild Women alumna, Melissa Lozada-Oliva.

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            Kelly Link, who taught a fiction workshop at KyWomenWriters in 2012, won a MacArthur “Genius” grant in 2018 and, proving the genius behind giving unrestricted funds to great writers, is using some of that on her latest venture, an independent bookstore called Book Moon in Easthampton, Mass., which she operates with her husband, Gavin Grant. Book Moon joins the Link-Grant portfolio of awesomeness, which also includes Small Beer Press. Read Poets & Writers’ Q & A with Link here.
            Closer to home, Kentucky writer Ellen Birkett Morris’s poem “Abide” was featured on the NPR program “A Way with Words.” Morris presented on Paths to Publication at our conference last year. Congratulations, Ellen! You can listen to that segment here.
            Next week I’ll turn my attention to the growing 2020 KyWomenWriters roster, its own galaxy of stars!
Sincerely,
Julie Wrinn