Lifting Black Voices

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Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative expands opportunities for Black writers in Kentucky

The years 2020 through 2023 marked a disruptive and transformative time for many businesses and organizations. Much of this was caused by the effects of the pandemic, but also by the deep political unrest spurred by the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police officers and a coinciding uptick in conversations surrounding racial inequalities.

The leadership of the local literary hub Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning was among those who felt a strong pull to help affect change during this time, sparking conversations about what it meant to be a Black writer in Kentucky. It was in the midst of these discussions, in the spring of 2020, that the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative was formed under the umbrella of the Carnegie Center.

“There was an uprising in response to the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd all over the world. Businesses and non-profits began to ask themselves, ‘What are we doing to support the black community?’” said Claudia Love Mair, a writer who had taken classes at the Carnegie Center and was involved in those initial conversations. She now serves as the coordinator for the KBWC. “The Carnegie Center was no exception. We asked, ‘Are we doing enough for the Black community? Is putting a Black Lives Matter sign in the window enough?’ And the answer was ‘No, it’s not enough.’”

The Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative was formed to foster increased opportunities for Black writers across the state to learn, grow and create in an uplifting space. Free to join and open to any Black writer in the state, the organization provides its members with access to free classes at the Carnegie Center as well as scholarships to the organization’s Author Academy, a nine-month certificate program that provides writers with the support to grow rapidly in their craft and to prepare their work for publication, and the Carnegie Center’s annual Books-in-Progress Conference. In the short time since its inception, the Collaborative has also come to organize a collection of new events for its members and the surrounding community, including a poetry series called “Burn the Mic,” a book club called “Black and Lit,” and an event for Black writers to share their work called “Say It Loud,” which is produced in partnership with WUKY Public Radio.

It’s a long way for the Carnegie to come, Mair said: The Carnegie hasn’t always been an inviting place for the Black community.

“Like many predominantly white spaces, Black people didn’t always feel welcomed here,” she said. “If you look at the history of this place, when it was originally an Andrew Carnegie Library, Black people were not even allowed to go through the library. They were sequestered in what was called the ‘Colored Reading Room.’… The librarian would have to pick the book out and bring it to the colored reading room (for Black residents).”

The KBWC seeks to rectify some of the economic, educational and publishing disparities Black writers have faced over the years.

“The decision was made to offer free classes to any Black Kentuckian who wanted to take any class at the Carnegie Center,” she said. “The Black Writers collaborative has become one of Carnegie Center’s most visible organizations — we’ve brought in over 500 participants between 2022 and 2023 to the Carnegie Center to enjoy these events. We’ve done a lot to amplify and elevate marginalized voices.”

According to Carnegie Center executive director Jennifer Mattox, the program extends beyond central Kentucky.

“It’s not just for Lexingtonians,” she said. “[KBWC] has a lot of events that are reaching out to Black writers at all stages of their writing. People who come to these [events] are seeing people who look like them, who have stories that are like theirs that they can relate to.”

And the work produced is not just for Black audiences, she said.

“For so long, Black voices were suppressed and you didn’t find as many books by Black published authors,” Mattox said. “Now we’re celebrating them in a way that readers from all backgrounds can really learn about these wonderful books and read them for themselves.”

Mattox, who has worked at the Carnegie Center for nearly 20 years, said the change in classes and events since KBWC’s inception has been striking, with the organization serving a more diverse demographic in its classes than ever before.

“It used to be that we saw the most diverse demographic in our Family, Fun and Learning events, which continue to be very diverse. But now we’re seeing more diversity in our class students as well,” Mattox said. “We’re really reaching people who need these classes and who want these classes, and are helping them especially with their writing and getting their voices heard.”

For KBWC member Eugenia Johnson-Smith, the program has helped her in her writing career and in publishing her book, “Positive Power.” Smith said she started taking classes at the Carnegie in 2016, but KBWC has provided her with greater access to classes and other opportunities over the past few years, she said.

“I think that everyone who’s able to take advantage of it should,” she said. “It helps [Black writers] to know that they’re not the only one — it helps them to connect with other writers.”

Smith said she gets more than just instruction out of it.

“It has provided me with support, encouragement and opportunity,” she said. “I’ve been able to share what I’ve written in various venues because of KBWC.

For me personally, [getting published] was going to happen anyway, but I think KBWC helped to make it happen faster and gave me access to classes that helped me hone the skills that I needed to get it done.”

Membership to the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative is free to any Black writer in Kentucky at any stage of their writing journey. Anyone interested can sign up on the Carnegie Center website or contact Claudia Love Mair at ClaudiaLove@CarnegieCenterLex.org.

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