Lexington, KY - In Kentucky - a state that has made repeated marks on the national media radar over the years for being poor, unhealthy and uneducated - our rich history in literary tradition is something to relish.
Many of us are familiar with the talent and accomplishment of the generation of Kentucky writers that includes current, upcoming and past state poet laureates Jane Gentry Vance, Gurney Norman and James Baker Hall, as well as Bobbie Ann Mason, Ed McClanahan, Wendell Berry, Richard Taylor and others. Prior to them, many generations of nationally renowned writers that include James Still, Robert Penn Warren and Jesse Stuart have all called Kentucky home at one point. More recently, between 1994 and 2001, Kentucky-bred poets Maurice Manning, Tony Crunk and Davis McCombs were each awarded the Yale Younger Poets Prize, considered by many to be the most prestigious national award for young poets. And Frank X. Walker, Crystal Wilkinson, Nikki Finney, Bianca Spriggs and Jude McPherson are among the numerous Affrilachian poets who have helped put Kentucky on the literary map. Erik Reece, Silas House, Mary Ann Taylor HallÖindeed, the list of notable Kentucky writers goes on, far too long to complete in these pages.
"From its beginnings, Kentucky has been rich in writers, and never richer than it is today," Jane Vance said in her 2007 poet laureate induction speech. It's a history born from the Appalachian tradition of story telling, she continued, which was a response to the pioneer spirit of "adventure, self-challenge and journey into the unknown" that extends back to a time when Kentucky was still a frontier. Stories were passed down from that frontier to the front porches and fireplaces of our ancestors, and many continued unto us.
While the setting may have changed, the desire to tell a story remains alive and well in Kentucky today, according to Vance, whose job as poet laureate has included traveling around the state to advocate the act of writing.
"Poetry comes from a very primal kind of urge to extend a part of yourself beyond your own skin," Vance said in a recent conversation. "It goes back to that pleasure in making something. The word poem comes from the Greek poesis, which means to make in generalÖ and being blessed with a desire to make things, and having the capacity to make things, is one of our saving human graces."
Interestingly, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, a native Bulgarian poet (and co-founder of Lexington's weekly open writing workshop Poezia), finds similarities between the acts of making poetry and making computer hardware and software, which was her former career.
"It's the same joy and instant gratification, because you follow form and you use creativity," she said. "There is so much beauty in creating something concise that does something."
Klemer started writing poetry as a child in Bulgaria. In her 20s, with minimal English language skills, she moved to Dayton, Ohio, and later to Lexington, to pursue her career in computer engineering. Upon moving to the United States, Klemer said she initially found herself in a creative depression of sorts, going over a decade without writing a poem.
"I didn't have the creative support from friends; I didn't know any poets in the United States," she said, adding that the language barrier was also a challenge. "All of a sudden though, two years ago I started writing again - in English. I felt like this huge gift had been given to me."
It's a gift Klemer wanted to share with other like-minded writers. Because she couldn't find a local open writing workshop, she decided to start one.
"Writers need to meet with one another. It's critical, I think," she said. "You write in private, but you typically don't write for yourself."
Poezia, which she co-founded with Colin Walker, has been meeting regularly at Common Grounds for just over a year. The group recently split in to two entities, poetry (every other Thursday at 7 p.m.) and prose (each Tuesday at 7 p.m.).
"It's important for poetry to be spoken, to be heard," Klemer said. "The feedback may or may not help a certain poem, but it will help the next poem you write."
Vance, who has been meeting regularly with a creative group for years, agrees that this type of group can be vital to a writer's development. While the impulse to create a poem cannot be taught, she said, "there are principles of the craft that can be conveyed and that can useful to a beginning writerÖ and later, when that impulse comes, he or she will have a sense of what to do with it."
The purpose of poetry, Vance said, is the same as the purpose of any art - to grab a moment (or to grab something) from of a constantly moving stream of time, and make an experience that preserves it.
"That experience gives you the satisfaction of preserving temporarily your own self," she said, "your moment of seeing and feeling and knowing something."
For Vance - and many other writers, to be sure - being a poet is the most valuable byproduct of her life. "It's a pleasure and a consolation and a prize to the person who can do it," she said. "And if you do it artfully, you hope that it's a pleasure and a consolation to other people."
Kentucky writers Eric Sutherland, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer, Theo Edmonds and Donna Ison will be representing the Bluegrass at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City on April 5. For more information visit www.coolrooster.com/Fire.html.
WHERE TO FIND IT
While Jane Gentry Vance points out that the literary history in Kentucky comes from the Appalachian tradition of storytelling, the contemporary literary community in Lexington has come a long way since the frontier days. Today, poetry manifests itself in a variety of new and different places - having shifted out of classrooms and front porches to bars and coffee shops, Internet and the radio.
"The current trend of spoken word poetry really takes it to a new place," Vance pointed out. "You don't need to be academically trained in how to read or how to write to enjoy and be enriched by the experience of this kind of poetry."
According to Poetry Out Loud, a National Endowment for the Arts & Poetry Foundation program, performance and recitation are two new trends in the poetry world. On April 28, Barbara Gooding, a junior at western Hills High School in Frankfort, will represent Kentucky in Poetry Out Loud's national competition in Washington, D.C. The event brings high school students from across the country together to compete in memorizing and performing a poem of their choice. Among the judges this year will be "Prairie Home Companion's" Garrison Keillor.
Among the most non-conventional locations for poetry in Lexington is the LexTran bus route, via ELandF Gallery's experimental Public Transit Poetry Project. In this project, a poet is chosen to compose a poem on the bus and read it aloud at the transit center after the route. Open writing workshop Poezia co-founder Katerina Stoykova-Klemer discusses poetry and art on a weekly radio show, called Accents on WRFL, 88.1FM (Fridays at 2 p.m.). The Cat's Figment, a new literary magazine started by University of Kentucky students, publishes local poetry (along with art, fiction and essays) both in print and online. And the LexArts gallery opening of last November's Pet Milk, an experimental collaboration between local artists, musicians and writers, was so popular that it was resurrected as an exhibit at University of Kentucky's art museum earlier this year.
But providing perhaps the most energetic and regular dose of poetry in town is the Holler Poets Series, hosted by Al's Bar and local literary enthusiast Eric Sutherland. Sutherland (also known as Erock Poet) founded the series almost two years ago with a simple mission: to bring together new and established writing talent on the same stage. The event, which virtually packs the house at each monthly installment, has thus far allowed a platform for lesser-known, up-and-coming poets to share the same stage with renowned writers including Ed McClanahan, Gurney Norman, Rebecca Howell and Crystal Wilkinson. The event typically starts with an open mic (anyone can sign up to read one piece), followed by a "featured writer" who reads a number of his or her works, and culminates with a local music act. The next Holler Poets installment on April 22 will feature Kentucky author and playwright Donna Ison (Ison will also be signing her new novel, "The Miracle of Myrtle: Saint Gone Wild," at Half Price Books in Hamburg Pavillion on April 25, from Noon - 4 p.m.).
Following suit with the notion of bringing poetry to the "mellow and relaxed" atmosphere of a local watering hole, Lexington hip hop artist Devine Carama will be resurrecting Poetry in Motion, an event that he has "sporadically hosted" over the past three years. The event, which will take place at DaVassa Bar & Grill (in Victorian Square) every other Tuesday from 8:30-11:30 p.m. starting March 31, will be open to all poets, singers and a capella emcees.
For more information on any of the events or programs listed, e-mail saraya@smileypete.com.
APRIL LITERARY EVENTS
The Kentucky Writing Program presents An Evening with the Mountain Keepers. April 9. A celebration of grassroots and public writing efforts to address Appalachia's endangered culture and its uneasy relationship with coal. Featuring readings and music by Erik Reece, Silas House, Judy Sizemore, George Ella Lyon, Dave Coope, and more. 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. The University of Kentucky Student Center Ballroom. For more information contact Anne Mareck at (859) 257-6995 or anne.mareck@uky.edu.
Holler Poets Series No. 11. April 22. Join emcee Eric Sutherland, featured reader Donna Ison and an unpredictable group of Holler open-mic readers for a night of poetry and literature. Ison, an established Kentucky playwright, will read selections from her recently published first novel, "The Miracle of Myrtle: Saint Gone Bad." Music by Warren Byrom will follow. Al's Bar, Sixth and North Limestone. Open mic starts at 7 p.m. (show up early if you want to sign up to read); featured reader starts around 8 p.m.
Kentucky Writers Day. April 24. Gurney Norman will be inducted as the Kentucky Poet Laureate at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort. The event is free and open to the public. Ceremony begins at 11 a.m. with a reception to follow at noon.
The Book Reader. April 24. As part of its Small Projects Accelerator, the ElandF Gallery will choose a reader to read a book of his or her choice in an outdoor public parking space (weather permitting) on the corner of Short St. and N. Limestone. The space will be equipped with a nice rug, comfortable chairs and a very small but excellent library. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. To apply, submit no more than 100 words on why you might like to read a book that has some real meaning to you in a public parking space to ELandFgallery@yahoo.com, no later than April 15. For more information on the ELandF Gallery, visit ELandFGallery.blogspot.com.
Accents Radio Hour. Fridays at 2 p.m. on WRFL, 88.1fm. Hosted by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer and produced by writer James K. Brown. The weekly guests are "interesting people who work in the area of literature, art or culture. I try to bring people who can give interesting perspectives and can say something new about art, and also people that I know deserve to be heard and have a good message." The show also features a "Pimp my Poem" segment, where poems submitted by listeners prior to the show are workshopped (constructively) on the air by Klemer.
The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, a longtime major supporter of the local literary scene, regularly offers workshops in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and journaling. Call (859) 281-1151 or visit www.carnegieliteracy.org for more information on those workshops or any of the events listed below: