The Kentucky Women Writers Conference begins this weekend, so we thought we’d put together a brief overview of the poetry events.

If you’re interested in signing up, you can register at the KWWC website. Tickets are $125 for full access to any events (except workshops) or $200 for full access and one workshop. Students get a generous discount (only $30 for a ticket). For more details, click here. (All events are at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning unless otherwise noted.)

Sunday evening, Katerina will be hosting the Stars with Accents reading featuring Leatha Kendrick, Paulette Livers, and Lisa Williams. This event will close out the conference, and we’d really love it if you joined us.

• Thursday, September 11:
  • Keynote w/ Asha Bandele & Patrice Muhammad
    • 7PM at the Lyric Theatre
• Friday, September 12:
  • 

    Tina Chang

    The Sensual Form: A Workshop with Tina Chang (Part 1)

    • 9AM-11:30AM
    • “This workshop is intended for writers who are interested in sensual detail (relating to or drawing from the five senses) with the understanding that poetry cannot exist without spirit, soul, shadow, intuition. In a portion of the class we concentrate feeling, narrative, memory, witness. The other half of the class is devoted to poetic devices, formal strategies, structure, rhythm, sound. On Day 1, we will have the chance to practice a traditional form such as the sonnet, sestina, pantoum, or haiku.” (source)
  • Hemisphere: Mapping the Body (a workshop w/ Ellen Hagan)
    • 9AM-11:30AM
    • “This poetry workshop will focus on the roles of women–the way we split & break into other halves/parts of ourselves. Our bodies will become poems, stories & maps of our lives.” (source)
  • 

    Life on Mars NY Times review

    And Bowing Not Knowing to What: A Workshop with Tracy K. Smith (SOLD OUT)

    • 1:30PM-4:00PM
    • “Poetry has always lived in close proximity to the sacred. Even poetry that is rooted purely in the secular, the everyday, the world of objects and real experience, often manages to alert us to other perspectives, presences and realities. Simone Weil has stated, ‘We know by means of our intelligence that what the intelligence does not comprehend is more real than what it does comprehend.’ In this workshop, we will explore the ways that various contemporary poets have used their poems as vehicles for approaching the mysteries that surround and confound us. We’ll look at how poets like Marie Howe, Franz Wright, Mary Szybist, Lucille Clifton, Adélia Prado, and others have conjured and re-fashioned a sense of the sacred in their work.” (source)
  • Poetry Panel Discussion
    • 3:00PM-4:00PM
    • TBA
• Saturday, September 13:
  • The Sensual Form: A Workshop with Tina Chang (Part 2)
    • 9AM-11:30AM
  • Hemisphere: Mapping the Body (a workshop w/ Ellen Hagan)
    • 9AM-11:30AM
  • Gabehart Prize readings by Emily Cole, Amanda Kabak, and Shuly Cawood
    • 11:30AM-12:30PM
    • Gabehart Prize Website
  • And Bowing Not Knowing to What: A Workshop with Tracy K. Smith (SOLD OUT)
    • 1:30PM-4:00PM
  • Wild Women of Poetry Slam w/ Ellen Hagan
    • 6:30-9:00PM
    • “Wild Women of Poetry Slam. Emcee Bianca Spriggs and headliner Ellen Hagan will host 8–10 spoken word poets vying for the $500 Faith A. Smith Poetry Prize. Formerly known as the Gypsy Poetry Slam, this signature event of the Women Writers Conference is one of the country’s premier opportunities for female spoken word artists. Each poet receives $100, some travel reimbursement, and free admission to the Kentucky Women Writers Conference. Email Bianca Spriggs if you are interested in competing. You may also view photos from last year’s slam. This event is free and open to the general public and is likely to feature language and content not suitable for audiences younger than high school age.” (source)
• Sunday, September 14:
  • Stars with Accents: Leatha Kendrick, Paulette Livers, & Lisa Williams
    • 7PM
    • Hosted by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer
    • You can hear last year’s reading (with George Ella Lyon, Sarah Freligh, & Ada Limón) by clicking here.