books, bards, and bourbon

I’ve just returned from spending five exhilarating days (and my first time ever) in Kentucky. While the focus of the trip was to attend the 30th annual Kentucky Women Writers Conference, I made sure to maximize my stay in the areas of both Lexington and Louisville and everywhere in between. Thus, you’ll soon be reading a bit more about my adventures at Spalding University, where I met with the wonderful creative writing MFA directorial staff; I’ll brag about the incredible indie bookshops where I happily emptied my wallet in support of local lit; and I fully intend on sharing some in-depth pearls of wisdom I picked up during the conference.

Of course, since I just returned from the trip, my brain is both well nourished and overwhelmed from the time away. Thus, I will keep this post short and sweet, meant only to tempt you for what’s to come. After all, there is much unpacking to tend to… especially when you consider this photo here depicts only a small fraction of the literary souvenirs I acquired at shops such as Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, Carmichael’s in Louisville, and Poor Richard’s in Frankfort.

Oh, and who goes to Louisville without meeting The Colonel? Yes, here I am in my nerdy tourist glory and happy to have spent some time with Colonel Sanders. But y’all should know (no, no, of course I can’t pull y’all off quite so well, can I…), there is much more to Kentucky than KFC. There is a thriving literary circle or two I must tell you about…. after I unpack.

Undoubtedly, I will increase my frequency of posts this week in order to share some gems from the conference, the Spalding MFA program, bookshops and more, but for now I hope I have offered enough of a teaser you’ll look forward to hearing about my escapades.

While I’m at it, I must offer a big thank you to the lovely Miss Hatfield (Kentucky Women Writers Conference) who organized the reading series at Natasha’s last Friday evening. It was a pleasure and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to share some work from stains: early poems with a very kind audience. Another huge thanks is due to Julie Wrinn, the Director of KWWC, who must be congratulated on such a stellar program of events!

It’s time to unpack and get my list of to-dos in order, but don’t forget to check in again for more about my adventures in Kentucky.