The following authors have had to cancel their appearances this year: John Warner Smith, Larry Armstead II, Andrew Reeves, Elizabeth Weitzman, Rebecca Gayle Howell, Ladson Mills III, Michael Croley, Dana Wildsmith, James Duane Bolin, Ronni Lundy, Grant Maloy Smith, J.D. Wilkes, Eliot Parker, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, and Casey Cep.
Many of their books will still be available for purchase at the event, including Casey Cep's Furious Hours.
Please note: Author applications for 2019 are closed. The application for the 2020 Book Fair will be available in January.
One of the WPA's most innovative programs was the Pack Horse Library Project of Eastern Kentucky. Thoroughly researched and illustrated with photographs, Down Cut Shin Creek tells the story of these young, determined librarians who brought hope and knowledge to the hollows of Kentucky's Cumberland Mountains in the mid-1930s. Kathi Appelt is the author of over 50 books for young readers. She and her husband live in Texas.
J is for Justify is an alphabet book written and illustrated by Lesley A.J. Baumann. It is inspired by the 13th Triple Crown winner and features 26 famous racehorses. If you turn through the pages as if they were from a flip book, the horses appear to run. Born the year Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown, Baumann is a graphic designer and nationally-known animal portrait artist.
Trains of all shapes and sizes are coming down the track! All aboard! Skila Brown's first-class poems reflect the excitement of train travel, while Jamey Christoph's vintage-style illustrations provide a wealth of authentic detail to pore over. Brown is the author of verse novels Caminar and To Stay Alive, as well as the picture books Slickety Quick and Clackety Track. She grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee and now lives in Indiana.
One hundred brand-new, perplexing and adorably illustrated puzzles for kids ages 8 and up. To make the puzzles more flexible for a wide skill range of puzzle-solvers, some include secret hints. Evelyn is a former educator who loves to create resources to make learning fun. More than 40 of her educational puzzle books have been published. She writes picture books and children's magazine articles. She and her husband live in Lexington.
Their grandfather's farm has always been a magical place for 11-year old cousins Liam and Samantha. Even before the wormhole in the woods transported them to the magical world of Nelliah where they encountered a variety of magical creatures with special powers, they'd known the farm and surrounding area was unlike any other place they'd ever been. In book two, they settle in quickly to life aboard the Queen Anne's revenge. Lisa Colodny has written approximately 34 publications in the health and science industry and five book contributions.
One very stormy day, Sonny learns that the things that scare him the most actually have a very positive impact on our world and can also be fun for him. Come along with us as Sonny learns from his new friend, Little Cloud, exactly what makes a storm. Carol Wilson Covington was born and raised in Mayfield, KY. She is the mother of three and grandmother of seven super smart children. She served 21 years on the Mayfield City School Board.
A biography that brings Winston Churchill to life. Born into an aristocratic British family with an American mother, Churchill considered the United States his second home. Cynthia A. Crane, PhD is the author of the acclaimed historical nonfiction Divided Lives: The Untold Stories of Jewish-Christian Women in Nazi Germany and is Associate Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati.
In this latest installment of the Mermaid Tales series, Kiki and her friends learn about coding as they compete to be the escort for young narwhal who will visit Trident Academy with her famous parents. Debbie Dadey is an award-winning children's book author who has written more than 150 books. She is best known for her series The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, written with Marcia Thornton Jones. Debbie lives with her husband, three children, and three dogs in Tennessee.
This imaginative alphabet book teaches young learners not only how to move from A to Z but also how to creatively have fun as they stay active and keep their bodies healthy and strong. Connie Bergstein Dow attended Denison University and received her MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan. She danced professionally in the US and Latin America. She has written two books for teachers and has written articles in journals and verses in Highlights magazines. From A to Z with Energy! is her first children's book.
Way down south in New Orleans, there’s a jazzy little sound on Halloween. As a mummy is transported down the street in a silver casket, a spooky parade follows, with a witch on bass drum, a skeleton on snare, a black cat on trombone, a jack-o-lantern on clarinet, and more. Johnette Downing is the author of twenty-four picture and board books for children, eleven recordings for children, and one nonfiction book for adults. Her book Today is Monday in Kentucky is part of a four-book series.
Willa was a true pioneer who broke barriers to become the first licensed female pilot in the country. She fought for the rights of young black pilots to serve their country during World War II. These fine young men, under Willa’s training, became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Peggy Goodman is a children's book author who began writing after retiring from teaching. She is a life-long resident of Kentucky and lives in Glasgow with her husband Charles.
A cloud with a mind of her own and a gift for making awe-inspiring shapes encourages her friends to go beyond their practical functions and expand their imaginative horizons. Wendy Greenley has been an ice cream scooper, microbiologist, attorney, Cub Scout leader, and dog rescue PR. She has lived in NJ, DE, PA, England and TX. One son currently lives in KY.
Santa is ready to leave on Christmas Eve, but he can’t find his reindeer! It isn’t until he remembers their tradition—reading a Christmas story together—that the reindeer are ready. This charming tale honors celebrating holiday customs with those you love. Hillenbrand is a celebrated children’s author and illustrator whose published works include over 65 books. He uses mixed media to create his magical illustrations.
Kuda is a grump who doesn't like change. When he wakes up to find new neighbors and loud, strange noises in his woods, he is not happy. Will his desire to be with his friends overcome his objections to loud sounds? Features helpful backmatter about Sensory Integration and insider jokes for parents with autistic kids. Sherry Howard lives with her kids and silly dogs in Middletown, Kentucky. She used to be a principal and now writes about fascinating things and tells lies for fiction stories.
When a kid on the planet Trinichia crashes a drone into a government monitoring pole, he floats home fearing arrest. But at home his family is planning an escape. They steal a spaceship and head to Bardstown, Kentucky. The space alien now masquerades as a human named Iko Newman. Gail Kamer spent the years before becoming a children's book writer as a teacher and principal. Gail is married and lives in Kentucky.
All aboard for the fourth book in George Ella Lyon’s transportation series, and this time learn all about trains! Lyon has published award-winning books for readers of all ages, and her poem, "Where I'm From," has been used as a model by teachers around the world. Originally from the mountains of Kentucky, Lyon works as a freelance writer and teacher based in Lexington, where she lives with her husband, writer and musician Steve Lyon. They have two grown sons.
This is the story of a small family farm across several generations. Part historical fiction and part personal memoir, it reminds us of what is most important in life. Jessica Madison earned her PhD from the University of Kentucky and teaches history courses online. She is a wife, mother of four children, and shepherdess in rural Southeastern Kentucky, where her family has lived for seven generations.
The Wielders books are written by a father-daughter team Lucas McWilliams and Sophia McWilliams (age 19). They get up together early each morning before the sun rises to write down the stories that fill their dreams. Lucas and Sophia live with their family on a hilltop close to the Kentucky River Palisades.
Featuring original nursery rhymes in a time-honored Appalachian style, this volume celebrates the language, art, and music of the mountains. Illustrated by folk-artist Minnie Adkins, this multifaceted book extends traditional Appalachian culture to a new generation of readers. Mike Norris was the director of communications at Centre College for sixteen years before he retired. Minnie Adkins is a folk artist with permanent collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, American Folk Art Museum, Huntington Museum of Art, and the Kentucky Folk Art Center.
Watch the miracle of life unfold through two cardinals, Jim and Ginny, as they prepare for their baby birds to hatch. Ed Paxton spent his entire career in the automotive industry, retiring from Toyota Motor Sales USA INC. Ed finds joy in sharing his first book with children. He lives in Lexington, KY with his wife Suzanne. They have three grown children and four beautiful grand children.
Little Miss Grubby Toes doesn't obey her mother and follows Tommy Sims into the pool area. She cannot swim. What do you think will happen? Eddie Price is a retired history teacher and author of two award-winning historical novels set in Kentucky, Widder's Landing, and One Drop--A Slave! His Little Miss Grubby Toes books are illustrated by Mark Wayne Adams.
Cash & Carrie return in all-new adventures! It's all fun and games at Summer Camp Sobol until strange things start happening. Campers go missing, Bigfoot might exist, and does anyone know what's really in the coleslaw? Shawn Pryor is the creator/co-writer of the all-ages graphic novel mystery series Cash & Carrie, writer of Kentucky Kaiju, and writer and co-creator of the 2019 GLYPH Nominated football/drama series Force. He is one of the co-founders of Action Lab Entertainment and serves as their President of Creative Relations.
Henry Clay Morrison was a Methodist minister raised in rural Kentucky. Born in 1857, he was blessed with the treasure of a righteous upbringing founded on faith, church, love, and “old time religion” so practiced in that day. Nancy Richey is an Associate Professor and the Visual Resources Librarian at WKU. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and WKU where she received degrees in Information Science and Southern History.
Stephen and his friends have three days to undo a sorcerer’s magic before the spell becomes permanent! This inventive mystery-adventure is perfect for fans of Pseudonymous Bosch and R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. Christopher Rowe has been a finalist for many awards, including the Hugo and Nebula. He lives in Lexington with his wife, the writer Gwenda Bond.
After her mother's boyfriend robs a convenience store, and her mother is wrongly jailed for assisting him, 12-year-old Ruby and her pet pig, Bunny, head to the home of Ruby's estranged Aunt Eleanor, an ornery nun. Corabel Shofner is a wife, mother, attorney, and author. She graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University with a degree in English literature and was on Law Review at Vanderbilt University School of Law.
The Meatshower is a new children's book by author Mick Sullivan that tells the true story of the day meat fell from the sky on March 3, 1876 in Bath County, Kentucky. Mick Sullivan is a musician and museum educator with a passion for sharing stories and history. He lives with his wife and two sons in Louisville, KY. Mick is the creator and producer of The Past and The Curious, a history podcast for kids and families.
Roll With It is a middle grade novel that follows 12-year-old Ellie, who dreams of being a famous chef instead of just "the kid with cerebral palsy" as she tries to find her place after moving to small-town when her grandfather's Alzheimer's takes a turn for the worse. Jamie Sumner's essays have appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post. She writes and speaks about disability in literature and loves stories that celebrate the grit and beauty in all kids.
A full-color children's picture book on one side, and an interactive coloring book on the other. Printed on accordion-style pages, the message of the book is simple: we all have gifts to share with the world, and there's room for each of us to express ourselves. Liz Swanson is an artist and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Kentucky. Her work explores the relationship between architecture, art, and storytelling.
Daisy has only 10 weeks to prove her usefulness or be sent back to the pound. Determined to become an elite protector, Daisy vows to ace the service dog test. She’ll accept the leash and learn to sit, heel, shake, even "do your business, Daisy" when told to. Daisy must learn how to face her fears from the past or risk losing the family she’s so desperate to guard. Kristin Tubb writes books full of heart and humor from her home in Tennessee, where she lives with her family.
Max and Ruby’s family is expanding, and soon enough nobody will be getting any sleep! Mama has a baby in her tummy, and soon the family will be bigger and better. Luckily Ruby knows all about babies, and she tells Max all about it. Beloved author-illustrator Rosemary Wells has published dozens of books for young readers, including the popular Max & Ruby series. Max and Ruby even have their own TV show on Nick Jr.!
The Greatest Escape Artist of All Time is Trapped. And he thinks I have the key. We better have some fantastic tricks up our sleeves, or we're going to all end up imprisoned with Houdini. Or worse. William Wolfe was born at the weirdly fantastical confluence of the Mississippi River and the Ohio River near the community of Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky, where he read every science-fiction and fantasy book he could lay hands on. He lives in Louisville with his weird family and their weirder cat, Mr. Bitey.
Strange creatures at school, a murder mystery, a time traveler, and more. Hang on to your hats as you read six short stories of excitement and adventure. Thrilling tales for middle grade children and others. Ben is a (mostly) retired adventurer who has traveled across Tibet, climbed to 18, 000 feet on Mt. Everest, and solo backpacked wilderness areas. He now writes adventure stories for boys and girls. Tales of lost gold and river caves and flying with eagles. Stories of friendships that endure through adversity and danger. Adventures that inspire and educate and most of all entertain.
While overcoming a caddywompus split between his mother and little sinister, Driew recovers a lost family memoir uprooting tragic family secrets. A mysterious aint may be the key to unraveling his past and finding his story. The Australian girl-next-door coerces Driew into accepting Magic Man's purpose and seeking a hidden Aboriginal songline Outback. Mark Wayne Adams illustrated over 60 children's books that have won over 100 book awards. He promotes reading and writing via public speaking engagements, book signings, and participation in book events.
An adaptation of the spell-binding lore of the Egyptian Sky God Horus, one of the most powerful gods in ancient history. Embark on a mythical journey of self-discovery with extraordinary revelations. P. Anastasia's storytelling resonates with darkness, charm, and wonder. She has authored 8 novels, including the Fluorescence series, Fates Aflame, and Dark Diary. She is also a professional voice talent.
This is Noah Oakman → 16, Bowie believer, historian, swimmer, son, brother, friend. Then Noah → gets hypnotized. Now Noah → sees changes. Everything in Noah’s world has been rewritten. A stunning surrealist portrait, this is a story about all the ways we hurt our friends without knowing it and all the ways they stick around to save us. David Arnold lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with his (lovely) wife and (boisterous) son. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Kids of Appetite, Mosquitoland, & The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik.
When Nomi is banished from Bellaqua, she finds herself headed towards certain death. Her only hope is to find her sister, Serina, on the prison island of Mount Ruin. When Nomi arrives, the island is in the grip of revolution, Serina its leader. The stakes are higher and the battles bolder in Banghart's sequel to Grace and Fury. Tracy Banghart grew up in Maryland and spent her summers on a remote island in northern Ontario. Always a nomad, Tracy now travels Army-wife style with her husband, son, and pets.
A mysterious lab. A sinister scientist. A secret history. If you think you know the truth behind Eleven’s mother, prepare to have your mind turned Upside Down in this thrilling prequel to the hit show Stranger Things. Gwenda Bond is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels. She created Dead Air, a serialized mystery novel and scripted podcast written with Rachel Caine and Carrie Ryan. She and her husband Christopher Rowe also co-write a middle grade series, the Supernormal Sleuthing Service. She co-hosts Cult Faves, a podcast about the weird world of cults and extreme belief.
to fall for Dylan, her foster brother. They are soon enveloped in a secretive romance and must decide what they want more: first love with each other or for Dylan to be adopted by Emma’s family. They can’t have both. Tiffany Brownlee is a graduate from Xavier University of Louisiana working as an English teacher in New Orleans. Wrong in All the Right Ways, a YA retelling of Wuthering Heights, marks her debut novel.
Gravity “Doomsday” Delgado is good at breaking things. Since she started boxing with at a gym in Brooklyn, Gravity is finding her talent for breaking things has an upside. With Olympic dreams, Gravity will have to decide what is worth fighting for. Sarah Deming assisted on the New York Times bestselling memoir Eat & Run. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and works with young boxers.
Firefly Valley, nestled deep within the Smoky Mountains, is better kept in Briony’s past. But when her grandmother needs a caretaker, Briony returns to the valley where she lost everything. With the help of a strange boy, Briony begins piecing together her missing past to find a hidden world of nature spirits Lindsey Duga is a young adult and middle grade author from Baton Rouge, LA. She is the author of the YA novel Kiss of the Royal. Her middle grade debut, The Haunting, is slated for Feb. 2020.
Dee, a poor boy from Bowling Green, struggles to overcome obstacles in school and in life. Cathy, a poor girl from Owensboro, yearns for recognition and acceptance. Cathy and Dee experience setbacks, successes, and joy as they strive to live the American Dream. Lauren Hudson, a Singletary Scholar at the University of Kentucky, has authored four award-winning books. Her latest title, co-authored with her father and illustrated by her grandfather, tells Kentucky stories of family success in overcoming hardship to live the American Dream.
Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important graphic memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction and finding the art that helps you survive. New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka has more than 30 published books to his credit, including picture books, his Lunch Lady graphic novels, and the Platypus Police Squad middle-grade novels. He also recently launched a new story arc in the Jedi Academy series. Krosoczka is a two-time winner of the Children’s Choice Book Awards Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year and has been a finalist for the prestigious Will Eisner Comic Industry Award. He lives in Massachusetts with his family and their pugs. Krosoczka's visit is sponsored by the Kosair Charities Face It ® Movement.
In the city of Craewick, where memories and talents are bought and sold, memory thief Etta Lark must return to complete the greatest heist of her life and save her mother’s memories from the auction block. Mansy grew up in Chicago, where she spent years working with youth. The Memory Thief, inspired by her own journey with her mother, is her first novel.
For fans of Love, Simon and Eleanor & Park, a romantic and sweet novel about a transgender boy who falls in love for the first time and how first love changes us all. New York Times bestselling author Amber Smith is author of the young adult novels The Way I Used to Be and The Last to Let Go. An advocate for increased awareness of gendered violence, as well as LGBTQ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can foster change. She lives in Charlotte, NC with her partner and their family of dogs and cats.
In the desert kingdom of Achra, Princess Kateri must fight to prove her right to rule. Winning means fulfilling a promise to her mother that she’d protect her people, who are dealing with drought and a gang of Desert Boys who raids the wells. The punishment for stealing water is a choice between two doors: behind one, freedom; and behind the other, a tiger. Annie Sullivan loves fairytales, Jane Austen, and traveling.
Jude never thought she’d be leaving her older brother and father behind, across the ocean in Syria. When things in her hometown become volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. This life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and finding yourself. Jasmine Warga is a writer from Cincinnati, OH who currently resides in Chicago, IL. She is the internationally acclaimed author of My Heart and Other Black Holes, and Here We Are Now. Jasmine lives in an apartment filled with books with her husband, two tiny daughters, dog, and cat.
Nora Pennington, owner of Miracle Books, believes that a well-chosen novel can bring healing and hope. She and the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society know that sometimes practical help is needed too. Such is the case with the girl hiding in Nora’s store, wearing a patchwork of faded bruises. When a customer is found dead, Nora uncovers a connection that points to the girl as either a suspect—or another target. When a second death hits, Nora and her friends must help the sheriff discern fact from fiction. New York Times bestseller author Ellery Adams has written over 30 novels. She lives with her family in central North Carolina.
It's 1898 in Lexington, Kentucky, and Robert O'Hara Benjamin, the African-American lawyer, preacher, and editor of The Standard, shows little fear in his fight against the corrupt and racist Democratic machine. This novel covers the life and tragedies of these times. Joseph G. Anthony's six books (five set in Kentucky) have generated high praise. Raised in the North East, he moved from Manhattan to Hazard in 1980. He and his wife of 40 years live in Lexington.
Drawing upon the author’s two decades teaching medical ethics as well as his work as a psychiatrist, this addictive book offers up challenging ethical dilemmas, asking readers, "What would you do?" This book is designed to stimulate thought and debate among professionals and armchair ethicists alike. Jacob Appel is the author of three novels, nine short story collections, an essay collection, a cozy mystery, a thriller, and a volume of poetry. He is a physician in New York City.
In this high-concept psychological suspense novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Somebody's Daughter, a chance meeting with a woman in an airport sends a man on a pulse-pounding quest for the truth. David Bell is an award-winning author whose work has been translated into multiple foreign languages. He's currently an associate professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky where he directs the MFA program.
After solving two murders, bike shop owner Evie Bloomfield thought life on Mackinac Island would settle into boredom until she finds out Nate Sutter, police chief and once-upon-a-time under cover cop is on the run. With the help of Fiona, Evie’s BFF and newspaper editor, Evie is determined to prove Nate innocent and not wind up taking a long walk off a short pier herself. Duffy Brown's national bestselling Consignment Shop Mystery series is set in Savannah, and the Cycle Path Mysteries are set on Mackinac Island.
In college, Lilly Jameson and Adin Driscoll are as close as friends can get, until Lilly leaves unexpectedly at the end of their sophomore year. Nearly 10 years pass without contact when a sudden invitation from her parents brings them back together. Tasha Cotter is the author of the two poetry collections and three chapbooks. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and the Bluegrass Writers Studio. This book was co-written with Christopher Green.
Americus follows the lives of identical twins Asar and Set Americus. When Set contracts vitiligo at age 10, he goes from family favorite to stare-provoking freak. When his mother can’t keep her promise to cure him, Set blames her, but not more than she blames herself. Dr. Michael Datcher has degrees from UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Riverside. His book Raising Fences was a New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of Animating Black and Brown Liberation: A Theory of American Literatures and co-editor of Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur.
If you've ever wished you could go back and experience the 1960s and '70s, this novel is for you. Deaton examines both sides of the political fence with references to the genius music that made those tumultuous decades as bright and shining as the ideals of love and peace. Ellen Everman Deaton teaches creative writing in Covington, Kentucky and is former Editor of Arts Across Kentucky magazine.
Darcie and Walter Goodwin join the Shakers to escape a cholera epidemic, planning a temporary stay. When Walter dies in an accident, Darcie and her child have to stay with the Shakers. In this celibate community, Darcie is in a lonely position. Ann H. Gabhart, bestselling author of over 30 novels, writes stories using Kentucky history and locations.
In rural Georgia two decades after the Civil War, 13-year-old Lulu Hurst finds an obscure book, The Truth of Mesmeric Influence. She wants more than a lifetime of caring for her disabled brother, Leo, with whom she shares a supernatural mental connection. After Lulu convinces a cousin she conducts electricity with her touch, her father grooms her into a new woman: The Magnetic Girl. Jessica Handler is the author of Invisible Sisters and Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss. She teaches at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.
A birding guide is found dead. The murder rattles locals and birders who flock to Galveston for the influx of Sandhill Cranes. With sidekick Ned "The Pelican Man" Quinn, Xena Cali and her team explore the tenuous relationship between commerce and nature to solve the case. Lisa Haneberg has published over 15 nonfiction books and 3 books in her Spy Shop mystery series. She lives with her husband in Lexington, Kentucky.
In a mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. She finds a strange book that tells a tale of secret doors; of love, adventure and danger. Each page-turn reveals truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own. Alix E. Harrow is a part-time historian with a full-time desk job and excessive library fines. She and her husband live in Kentucky with their kids and pets.
A troupe of players has arrived in Bess Ellyott’s town, a diversion from talk of witches. When one of the men is found dead on an ancient Druid’s mound, the villagers are terrified. Could the woman who arrived at Bess’s door have the answer to the murder? Herriman left an engineering career to take up the pen. She has won the RWA Daphne du Maurier award.
In his latest novel, award-winning writer Lamar Herrin explores the kaleidoscopic effect of memory while examining the rise and fall of life in the South. Herrin, professor emeritus at Cornell University, is the author of seven novels. He is also the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and winner of the Associated Writing Program’s Award for the Novel.
If you like female sleuths who are snarky, brassy, and fun, you'll love Josiah solving murder mysteries along with her friends in the glamorous Bluegrass: where Thoroughbreds race, bourbon is oak-cured, and antebellum mansions keep their secrets. Abigail Keam is an award-winning author who writes the Josiah Reynolds Mystery series about a Southern beekeeper turned amateur female sleuth in the Bluegrass.
After four bridge players are poisoned, newspaper reporter Wendy Winchester sets out to catch a killer who's not playing with a full deck. R.J. Lee was born and grew up in the Mississippi River port of Natchez. A graduate of Sewanee, where he studied creative writing, Lee now resides in Oxford, MS.
Artist Sophia Orsini is in Paris on the day French revolutionaries storm the Bastille, and America's Ambassador to France (Thomas Jefferson) comes to her rescue. She travels with him to America, where she finds herself in New York City painting the Founding Fathers. Katherine has been writing full-time since 2010 and has published nine novels. She is the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of five and lives in Lexington, KY.
Patchwork contains short stories; chapters from Mason's acclaimed novels; and riveting excerpts from Mason's eclectic nonfiction. Mason's writing glows with a nuanced understanding of the struggles and pathos of American life in the 20th and 21st centuries. Bobbie Ann Mason is best known for Shiloh and Other Stories and the novels In Country and The Girl in the Blue Béret. Her memoir, Clear Springs, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Join seven couples who live through the rise of the canals and the problems the waterways brought to each community. Can these couples hang onto their faith and develop love during times of intense change? Rose began writing over 10 years ago after retiring from teaching. Author of seven books, she loves writing both historical and contemporary fiction, especially stories set in small towns with huge hearts.
Bloodied and disoriented from a head wound, Darrick MacBrehon staggers out of the mine crack in Redbird, West Virginia a much more powerful man. Lourana Taylor is a sweepstakes operator in search of her missing daughter. With help from deputy Marco DeLucca and local journalist Zadie Person, Darrick and Lourana push against everyone who tries to block the truth. Valerie Nieman is the author of four novels, three poetry collections, and a collection of short fiction. She teaches creative writing in North Carolina.
A Folly Beach Mystery Collection II presents three novels in the best-selling Folly Beach Mystery series. Bill Noel is the best-selling author of 15 novels in the popular Folly Beach Mystery series. Besides being an award-winning novelist, Noel is a fine arts photographer and lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Susan.
A collection of stories told mainly from the perspective of Norman's fictional protagonist Wilgus Collier. A professor of English at the University of Kentucky, where he has taught creative writing for 40 years, Gurney Norman is known for his fiction, mentoring of young writers, and media work about Kentucky and Appalachia. He was Kentucky Poet Laureate 2009-2010 and inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame in 2019.
Six months after a drug cartel infiltrated Charleston, Ronan McCullough continues to fight the drug war that plagues the city. His investigations are halted when the body of a mutual acquaintance, Sarah Gilmore, is found in the trunk of a burning car. As Ronan seeks answers, his life and the lives of those closest to him are used as pawns in a deadly game. Eliot Parker is the author of four thriller novels. A graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and Murray State University, he teaches English in West Virginia.
Emmalene Richman, a young wife in 1911s Nelson County, Kentucky, honeymoons and visits Louisville. She is faced with the decision to move to the city where her husband has a business or stay in the country in the home that she loves. Mary Popham graduated from Spalding's MFA Program. The Wife Takes a Farmer is a sequel to Back Home in Landing Run. Third in the Landing Run series, Emmalene's Diary is in progress.
USA Today bestselling author Tiffany Reisz returns to the world of The Red with The Rose, an imaginative sequel full of lust and magic and the dangers unleashed when the two are combined. Reisz is the author of the Romance Writers of America RITA-winning Original Sinners series. She also writes mainstream women's suspense fiction, including The Bourbon Thief and The Night Mark. Her erotic fantasy The Red was named an NPR Best Book of the Year.
In the southeastern Kentucky town of Pine Gap, coal is the economy, faith is the community, and comings and goings are few and far between. Jamie Eskill may want more from life than Pine Gap can offer, but leaving is complicated. Brooks Rexroat is the author of Thrift Store Coats and Pine Gap. He holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and teaches at Brescia University in Owensboro, Kentucky.
When Amy Simms grabs her binoculars for a look at the woodpecker who’s been waking her up, she can't believe her eyes. She sees a body being tossed out of an upstairs window at the old McKutcheon place. Or at least she thinks she does...Ripley is the national best-selling author of A Bird Lover’s mystery series, Maggie Miller mysteries, TV Pet Chef mysteries (writing as Marie Celine) and other novels--also writing as Glenn Meganck. He's a critically-acclaimed singer/songwriter and musician.
Everyone has been talking about Grayson Armstrong ever since this dark-haired 28-year-old preacher drove into town 12 years before with his pretty wife and two boys. It's his untimely death, though, that has everyone trying to understand who they thought he was. Robinson's calming prose and timely story encourages us to open our hearts and challenge our perceptions. Sherry Robinson earned an MA from Eastern Kentucky University and a PhD from the University of Kentucky specializing in Southern American and Appalachian literature. She is the Vice Provost at EKU.
Obama and Biden reprise their roles as BFFs-turned-detectives as they chase Obama's stolen cell phone through the mean streets of Chicago and right into a vast conspiracy. Andrew Shaffer is the New York Times bestselling author of Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery and its sequel Hope Rides Again. He is a two-time Goodreads Choice Award nominee and a finalist in the Humor category. Shaffer lives in Kentucky with his wife, novelist Tiffany Reisz.
Bakery owner Jillian Green's best friend is getting married. Preparations for the desserts-only reception are well under way until the news that the sheriff has been shot. Can Deputy “Gooder” Jones and Jillian find the madman before he strikes again? Virginia Smith is the bestselling author of almost 40 novels. A native Kentuckian, she enjoys introducing readers to the charms of the Bluegrass State by setting many of her books there.
Standing in shock at the grave of her husband, Claire Avery wonders what she and her daughters will do now. Struggling for answers, she accepts her brother-in-law's offer to stay at his beach house at Edisto. Even the peace and beauty of the coastal island bring new problems and unexpected joys as Claire seeks to find her way. Author Lin Stepp has been on faculty at Tusculum College for over 16 years and has worked in marketing, sales, production art, and regional publishing for over 25 years.
When a video call between friends captures a shocking incident no one was supposed to see, the secrets it exposes threaten to change lives forever. Jessica Strawser is the editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest, where she served as editorial director and became known for her cover interviews with such luminaries as David Sedaris. She’s also the author of Almost Missed You and Not That I Could Tell. The 2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Strawser has written for the New York Times and other publications and lives in Cincinnati with her family.
Thompson’s collection combines personal and family experiences into a patchwork quilt of gripping stories inspired by childhood days at his granny’s western Kentucky country store, listening to regulars spin yarns. Bob Thompson is chairman and program director for Louisville-based Corn Island Storytelling, which produces the Corn Island Storytelling Festival and the Kentucky Homefront radio show.
Margaret Verble is the author of Maud's Line, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2016). Her new novel, Cherokee America, was released in February of this year and praised in the New York Times as a gift to historical fiction lovers and as "an essential corrective to the racially tinged myths created to justify the annihilation of indigenous cultures and the theft of native lands." Margaret, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, lives in Lexington, KY.
The Vine That Ate the South is a mesmerizing fantasia ambitiously grappling with the contradictions of the contemporary American South while considering how well we know our own family and friends. It was praised by NPR as "one of the smartest, most original Southern Gothic novels to come along in years." J.D. Wilkes is an artist, author, and musician living in Paducah. He has recorded with Merle Haggard, Hank Williams III, and John Carter Cash and is the founder of the Legendary Shack Shakers. He is also the author of Barn Dances and Jamborees Across Kentucky.
The Birds of Opulence centers on generations of women in a southern black township as they live with and sometimes surrender to madness. Crystal Wilkinson is the author of Blackberries, Blackberries, winner of the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature, and Water Street, a finalist for both the UK’s Orange Prize for Fiction and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. She serves as Appalachian Writer-in-Residence at Berea College and teaches in the Spalding low residency MFA in Creative Writing Program.
A rom-com-obsessed romantic waiting for her perfect leading man learns that life doesn't always go according to a script in this delightfully charming and funny novel. Apart from Waiting for Tom Hanks, Kerry Winfrey is the author of the YA novels Love and Other Alien Experiences and Things Jolie Needs to do Before She Bites It.
Two sisters riven by tragedy struggle to heal themselves and their family. Set in Kentucky and in the natural beauty and danger of an Indian tiger reserve, this story is about saving all that is precious, from endangered species to familial bonds. Yocom received a 2019 Al Smith Fellowship Award for artistic excellence from Kentucky Arts Council and holds an MFA from Spalding University, where she is associate director of the School of Creative and Professional Writing.
Recipient of a Governor's Award in the Arts, Constance wrote From Cradle to Grace as a result of a civic journalism project. Her record of publishing and productions includes poetry, plays, fiction, and memoir. Her award-winning column appears in the Murray Ledger & Times and KyForward.
Bernard Clay grew up in the west end of Louisville, Kentucky. He received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Kentucky in 2017 and is a member of the Affrilachian Poets collective. He currently lives in Berea. English Lit is his first book, creating a portrait of a young African-American writer coming of age in Louisville in the 1980s and '90s.
Pauletta Hansel is author of seven poetry collections, including Palindrome, winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for best Appalachian poetry book. Pauletta is from eastern Kentucky and was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate (2016- 2018). Artist in residence at Thomas More University, she is managing editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the literary publication of Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative. She leads writing workshops and retreats in the Greater Cincinnati area and beyond.
Harshman's collection Woman in Red Anorak won the Blue Lynx Poetry Prize from Lynx House/University of Washington Press. His 14th children's book, Falling Water, (co-author Anna Smucker) was published in 2017. His poetry collection Believe What You Can won the Weatherford Award from the Appalachian Studies Association. His poems have been anthologized by many universities, including Kent State. Appointed 2012, he is seventh Poet Laureate of West Virginia.
Black women freedom fighters have braved violence, scorn, despair, and isolation in order to lodge their protests. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, DaMaris Hill honors their experiences with at times harrowing--at times hopeful--responses, illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Hill is the author of The Fluid Boundaries of Suffrage and Jim Crow: Staking Claims in the American Heartland, and \Vi-zə-bəl\ \Teks-chərs\ (Visible Textures). Similar to her creative process, Hill's research is interdisciplinary. She teaches creative writing at the University of Kentucky.
This is a collection of poems written in the imagined, posthumous voice of Abraham Lincoln. Maurice Manning's seventh collection of poetry is Railsplitter. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a former Guggenheim fellow. He teaches at Transylvania University.
Map to the Stars, the fourth poetry collection from National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Adrian Matejka, navigates the tensions between race, geography, and poverty in America during the Reagan Era. In the time of space shuttles and the Strategic Defense Initiative, outer space is the only place equality seems possible. Adrian Matejka was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1971 and grew up in Indianapolis. He is a Cave Canem fellow and the current Poet Laureate of Indiana.
Cradled by Skeletons (English & Spanish bilingual edition) is a raw expression of identity and place. Miranda-Straub relates personal and professional experiences with trauma, resilience, and transformation. Her writings exalt the grit and grace of humanity. Marta Miranda-Straub is a Latinx poet and storyteller, member of the Affrilachian Poets, and a contributor to Black Bone (UPK, 2018). She has read and performed in Kentucky and throughout the US and lives in Louisville.
Meet an array of characters described in the observer’s peaceful, precise voice. Owen’s work has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and she was a finalist in the Atlantic Review International Poetry Competition. Her debut poetry collection, Crossing the Sky Bridge, was published by Larkspur Press.
Poetry generated by Lee Pennington's experiences in a Kentucky mountain community, where he literally put his own life on the line to protect his students who had published a book of poetry expressing their feelings. A graduate of Berea College and University of Iowa, Pennington holds two honorary doctor degrees. He taught writing for 40 years and is the author of 22 books, nine produced plays, and over 1,300 published poems. In 1984, he was designated Kentucky Poet Laureate.
Broken Frequencies confronts the disconnect between present and past. Each poem searches for meaning in an otherwise random sequence of events which lean always toward relationships which lend significance to our lives connections between those we love and those we have lost and the many possible futures each moment implies. James Alan Riley is a Professor at the University of Pikeville. His work has appeared in numerous literary publications. Riley is the recipient of an NEA Arts Fellowship, two Al Smith Individual Artists Fellowships from the Kentucky Arts Council, and an Individual Artist's Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council.
This debut poetry collection explores what it is to be a queer woman in Appalachia and is rooted in its culture and in the author's body. Savannah Sipple is a writer from east Kentucky. She has been published widely and is the recipient of grants from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
Signing from 9-2
Misty Skaggs tells the stories of generations of women who have learned to navigate a harsh world with a little help from the Farmer's Almanac and the stars. The collection is separated into 3 sections that reference the best times to grow and harvest. Skaggs still lives in and works from a holler in Elliott County, where she tends to her poetry, her Mamaw, and her garden. She is an artist and activist as well as an author and editor, and her Appalachian roots are tightly entangled in her work.
Second Skin by Katerina Stoykova discusses the horrors of growing up in domestic violence and focuses on some of the long-term effects of such upbringings. Stoykova is both author and translator of Second Skin. The Bulgarian edition of Second Skin was awarded a grant from the European Commission's program Creative Europe to be translated and published in English. Katerina owns and operates Accents Publishing.
Bittersweet poems of childhood, home, and life with an alcoholic father. Allison Thorpe (pen name of Sylvia Ahrens) has published several collections of poetry, received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and works as a writing mentor at the Carnegie Center. She serves on the board of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference.
Retracing My Steps is the most recent selection in the New Women's Voices Chapbook Series by Finishing Line Press. Jayne Moore Waldrop is a writer, attorney, and eighth-generation Kentuckian. She's a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Murray State University's MFA in Creative Writing Program. She's a former Kentucky book columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal and a Kentucky Foundation for Women grant recipient.
Multidisciplinary artist Frank X Walker is a native of Danville, KY, a graduate of the University of Kentucky, and completed an MFA in Writing at Spalding University in May 2003. He has lectured, conducted workshops, read poetry and exhibited at over 300 national conferences and universities.
Award-winning poet Jeff Worley returns with a chapbook of short poems, several previously published but all brought together here for the first time. The result is a distillation of his ever-present wit and scattered bits of wisdom accumulated over seventy years, a spirit as pure and clear and bracing as any backwoods liquor. Jeff Worley is the current Poet Laureate of Kentucky. He has published six books, four chapbooks, and edited a poetry anthology. Jeff’s poems have also appeared widely in magazines in the United States and Canada for the past 45 years, and he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
A Careful Hunger expresses the urgent need to find a voice amidst life’s ever-changing circumstances. Judy Young (1940–2015) was a graduate of Transylvania University and later earned an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. Her son, John K. Young, is a professor in the English department at Marshall University, specializing in histories of textual production in the American and British literatures of the 20th and 21st centuries
Elliot Ackerman sits in a refugee camp in southern Turkey, across the table from a man named Abu Hassar, who fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq. At first, Ackerman pretends to have been a journalist during the Iraq War, but after establishing a rapport with Abu Hassar, he reveals that he was a Marine. This extraordinary memoir tells why Ackerman came to that refugee camp and what he hoped to find there. Ackerman is a National Book Award finalist and the author of 3 novels including Waiting for Eden. His work has appeared in the New York Times and many other publications. He is both a former White House Fellow and a Marine.
An explosive, first-hand account of the dangers Acosta faces reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in the war on truth. When the leader of the free world incites hate and violence, Acosta doesn’t back down, and he urges his fellow citizens to do the same. Acosta is CNN's chief White House correspondent. He previously reported on the Obama administration from the White House and around the world. He regularly covers presidential press conferences, visits by heads of state, and issues impacting the executive branch of the federal government. Acosta's visit is sponsored by Campbellsville University.
After his divorce, Adams wanted a more meaningful role in the lives of his children. He turned around his priorities, focused on parenting, and established a set of principles that he believes will work for any divorced father. Adams is a successful real estate agent in Louisville. But his main occupation, for the past 10 years, has been as a father to his children after his divorce. It has become his new definition of success.
Acclaimed photographer James Archambeault (1943-2019) photographed the Kentucky landscape for over 40 years, authoring six books and 35 Kentucky calendars, a perennial favorite of Kentucky natives and non-natives alike. His wife Lee has compiled a commemorative 2020 calendar featuring some of the breathtaking images Jim shot over the years.
This is your personal guide to walk, roll, and stroll your way across Kentucky. This newly revised full-color edition describes over 80 hikes, urban walks, and public gardens, complete with maps, photos, and side trips. Valerie Askren is the author of several outdoor guide books. The mother of four, Valerie lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
A rare bone cancer robbed Jarrett Mynear of a normal childhood when he was two years old, but it didn't steal his spirit. At age 9, he became a pint-sized Santa Claus, delivering thousands of toys to sick children in hospitals. This is the story of his legacy 20 years later. Marvin Bartlett is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who has anchored The Fox 56 Ten O'clock News in Lexington since 1995. He is well known for his weekly feature segment, "Spirit of the Bluegrass."
October 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Volstead Act. The law didn't stop George Remus from amassing a fortune that eclipsed $200 million ($4.75 billion today). Bob Batchelor covers the life of the man who ran the largest bootlegging operation in America and was considered one of the best criminal defense lawyers of his era. Batchelor has published widely on American history and literature, including books on Stan Lee and Bob Dylan. He teaches at Miami University in Ohio.
Bourbon has continued to grow as the spirit of choice by alcohol lovers across the globe, but many drinkers have a limited understanding of how bourbon is made. A university professor for 50 years, Dr. Berra has developed this authoritative guidebook on bourbon in a straightforward format. Berra received a PhD in biology from Tulane University and is academy professor and professor emeritus at The Ohio State University. Tim and his wife Rita live in Bellville, OH.
At a farm in Henry County, Kentucky, Tanya Berry photographed a celebratory ritual of farm life: hog killing. These photographs, collected for the first time alongside Wendell Berry’s expressive essay, reveal the American agrarian tradition at its most harmonious: strong men and women toiling with shared purpose toward a common wealth. Tanya is an artist and agrarian who is deeply entwined with the Kentucky community surrounding the hillside farm she shares with her husband, Wendell Berry. Her visit is sponsored by the Snowy Owl Foundation, Inc.
The indispensable writings of our foremost voice on the current ecological and cultural crisis, more relevant now than ever, in a special two-volume edition prepared in consultation with the author. Wendell Berry, a novelist, poet, farmer, and environmental writer and activist, has published over 50 books. In 2010 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, and in 2013 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2016 he received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle. He has made his home with his wife, Tanya Berry, in Henry County, Kentucky, for the last 50 years.
In this work of cultural criticism, Jeffrey Bilbro explores how Wendell Berry’s poetry, fiction, and essays call for thinking that fosters healthy relationships with the earth and its beings. Specifically, Bilbro suggests that Berry’s literary style models these virtues of renewal for readers through literary forms, demonstrating the humanities’ importance in sustainable economies. Jeffrey Bilbro is Associate Professor of English at Spring Arbor University in southern Michigan.
A fresh look at Union Col. Frank Wolford, the celebrated Civil War cavalier and rival of Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan. Ron Blair, who is the great-great-nephew of Col. Wolford, is a member of the Civil War Trust for the preservation of Civil War Battlefields, the Kentucky Historical Society, Friends of Henry Clay, and the Morgan’s Men Association. He has lectured on the subject of Wolford and the Civil War in various cities and states, and has contributed to several Civil War publications. He and his wife live in Lexington, KY.
The founder of the first female-run manufacturing company in the United States, Rookwood Pottery, Longworth Storer was passionate about women’s rights and issues of poverty and the arts. Historians Moore and Broermann expose the narrative of Longworth Storer’s life without letting her spirit and accomplishments become overshadowed by them. They co-authored this book to share Maria’s extraordinary story.
This work provides a contemporary and refreshing examination of the American presidency through the prism of race and race relations in America, revealing a long complicated relationship between the US presidency and the African American community. Dr. F. Erik Brooks, Professor of Public Administration in the College of Public Service and Leadership Studies, is the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Director of the Whitney Young Honors Collegium at Kentucky State University.
Weaving together the history of the Senate with lively portraits of 15 prominent Kentucky lawmakers, Sen. Mitch McConnell* and Roy Brownell demonstrate how Kentucky senators played an important role in shaping these leadership institutions. Sen. Mitch McConnell is the longest-serving US Senate Republican leader and longest-serving senator from Kentucky. Roy E. Brownell II is an attorney and coeditor of the book Magna Carta and the Rule of Law. He is former deputy chief of staff and counsel to Sen. McConnell. *McConnell is unable to attend but will sign copies in advance.
This book captures the people, places, and things that are the essence of the Bluegrass State. Linda Bruckheimer is an American novelist, photographer, and preservationist. Raised in Kentucky, her family moved to California when she was a teenager, a trip that inspired her novels Dreaming Southern and The Southern Belles of Honeysuckle Way as well as her passion for photography. She divides her time between Kentucky and L.A., where she lives with her husband, film and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Beautifully rendered and rippling with family dysfunction, secrets, deaths, alcoholism, and old resentments, Shonda Buchanan's memoir is an inspiring story that explores her family's legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots. Literary editor of Harriet Tubman Press, Buchanan is an award-winning poet and educator. She is also the author of Who's Afraid of Black Indians? and Equipoise: Poems from Goddess Country and editor of two anthologies.
From 1870 to 1900, Louisville became a larger part of the American Industrial Revolution. Bryan S. Bush details those behind the massive industry in the City of Progress. Bush was born in Louisville and has been a native ever since. He has been a member of many different Civil War historical preservation societies; consulted for movie companies and other authors; coordinated with museums on displays of various articles and artifacts; written for magazines; and worked for different historical sites.
Erin Chandler weaves her own lessons and struggles with our histories most celebrated artists and thinkers from Albert Camus to Tennessee Williams to Anthony Bourdain. Chandler holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding and Masters in Theatre from UK. She teaches playwriting and screenwriting at the Carnegie Center, has a weekly column in the Woodford Sun and a second novel in the works.
A century after Jackie Robinson's birth, his impact on baseball and America is freshly considered through nine important lives that he changed forever when he integrated baseball. Lifelong Kentuckian Joe Cox has chronicled a variety of interesting lives, games, and rivalries in writing about the inherent human drama of sports. He has been part of 8 different sports books since 2012.
An anthology of stories, essays, and poems, by people born between 1946 and 1964 who have lived or are living now near the Ohio River featuring more than 300 pages of lush, provocative, and accessible prose and poetry that will appeal to baby boomers and the people who love them. Co-editors Kimberly Garts Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson are graduates of the Spalding MFA in Writing program in Louisville, Kentucky. This is their first published book.
A Familiar Wilderness follows the author's solo hike tracing the route of Daniel Boone's iconic Wilderness Road. The story braids together the region's past with present-day descriptions and reflections on its changes. S. J. Dahlman is professor of communications and humanities at Milligan College. A long-time journalist, editor, and freelance writer, he earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College.
The book breaks down the 1980 baseball season from spring training through the World Series and also examines the year in pop culture. J. Daniel spent more than 20 years working in sports television, including four years as the producer/director of Rays Magazine on Fox Sports Florida. He currently lives in Brownsburg, Indiana.
Beginning her career when sculpture was considered too physical and messy for women, Yandell excelled in elite circles across the country, challenging gender norms to became an award-winning sculptor and activist for women’s suffrage. Juilee Decker is associate professor of museum studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has curated numerous exhibitions and served as a consultant to public art projects and programs in the US.
Hunter S. Thompson is often misremembered as a wise-cracking, drug-addled cartoon character. This book reclaims him for what he truly was: a fearless opponent of corruption and fascism, one who sacrificed his future well-being to fight against it, rewriting the rules of journalism and political satire in the process. Timothy Denevi is also the author of Hyper. His essays have recently appeared in New York Magazine, Literary Hub, and Salon.
Professor Joshua A. Douglas of the University of Kentucky College of Law teaches and researches election law and voting rights, civil procedure, constitutional law, and judicial decision making. He is the author of Vote for US: How to Take Back our Elections and Change the Future of Voting, a popular press book that provides hope and inspiration for a positive path forward on voting rights.
Accessible to both casual hikers and seasoned naturalists alike, this book is the only comprehensive natural guide to the Red River Gorge. Dan Dourson is a wildlife biologist who worked with the US Forest Service specializing in nongame management. He is the author of 10 books. Judy Dourson is an educator, researcher, and field technician, and has served as Dan’s field assistant, primary researcher, and editor and has coauthored several books with him.
see Dan Dourson
Volume #5 of the Kentucky's Everyday Heroes series profiling everyday Kentuckians who nobly live their daily lives inspiring others along the way. Steve Flairty is a teacher, public speaker and an author of 7 books. He is a senior correspondent for Kentucky Monthly and a columnist for KyForward and NKyTribune.
Actress Kathy Garver and director/screenwriter Scot Weaver team up to share some of their favorite dishes. With recipes ranging from simple to elegant, the authors take the stress out of preparing the perfect meal for any occasion. Garver is best known for her role as Cissy on the classic CBS sitcom Family Affair. She has written four books, including her memoir Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood.
A diverse group of authors, primarily from Kentucky, have written more than 40 non-fiction stories about Christmas in Appalachia from 1900 to the present. James M. Gifford is the CEO & Senior Editor at the Jesse Stuart Foundation. Wayne Onkst is the retired Kentucky state librarian and archivist. Judith F. Kidwell is the Administrative Assistant to the CEO & Senior Editor at the Jesse Stuart Foundation.
This coloring book is a celebration of chromatic homes, the alluring structures that grace our most charming cities. Containing 57 pages of illustrations, this edition offers a fun-filled way to enjoy the homes’ beauty while creating a unique work of art. John I. “Hans” Gilderbloom is a professor at the University of Louisville, where he also directs the highly lauded Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods.
Cop, Secret Service agent, private consultant, and bodyguard: Greg Gitschier has led an exciting life. He’s protected presidents and royalty, tracked down international criminals, and cracked tough cases. An assignment to protect Pope John Paul II forever changed Greg’s life, however, leading him down a path toward “sacred service.” He now serves as a deacon in the Catholic Church, a police chaplain, and Secret Service chaplain.
In this well-paced narrative, Nancy Grant combines quirky travel anecdotes during an almost 4,000 mile solo road trip with in-depth natural history insights. With lyrical descriptions of more than 150 bird species in varied habitats, readers will also meet fascinating people and pick up fresh ideas for bird-watching fun. A Louisville native, Grant is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, with three previous books and more than 350 magazine articles published since 1986.
Brian Haara tells the history of America through the development of commercial laws that guided our nation from an often reckless laissez-faire mentality through the growing pains of industrialization, past the over-correction of Prohibition, and into its final state as a nation of laws. Haara is a public speaker and legal writer and practices law with a business litigation firm. He writes about bourbon history and law on his blog. Sipp'n Corn and was featured in the documentary Straight Up: Kentucky Bourbon.
Joe B. Hall was the head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky from 1972 to 1985. In this riveting memoir, Hall presents intimate details about his life on and off the court, expressing the joys and challenges of his life and career. His record at UK was 297–100, and 373–156 over his career. Marianne Walker is a retired professor of English and philosophy at Henderson Community College.
From growing up during the Great Depression to serving in executive management roles at large international companies, James Hardymon’s life has been full of twists, hard work, and achievement. Born in Maysville, he earned BA and MA degrees in engineering from the University of Kentucky. He began his career with the Browning Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming CEO of Textron, Inc., a $10 billion global, multi-industry company. Dr. Terry L. Birdwhistell is Senior Oral Historian in the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries.
A retort, at turns rigorous, critical, angry, and hopeful, to the long shadow Hillbilly Elegy has cast over the region and its imagining. It also moves beyond Hillbilly Elegy to allow Appalachians from varied backgrounds to tell their own diverse and complex stories through an imaginative blend of scholarship, prose, poetry, and photography. Anthony Harkins is a professor of history at Western Kentucky University. He is the author of Hillbilly: A Cultural History of an American Icon.
An international pantheon of 67 writers share their heartfelt remembrances of beloved southern storyteller Pat Conroy, who was a lifelong mentor and champion to his fellow writers. Edited by novelist Nicole Seitz and Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt, the collection includes essays by Barbra Streisand, Cassandra King Conroy, Rick Bragg, Kathleen Parker, Mary Alice Monroe, Nikky Finney, Ron Rash, Janis Ian, and more.
A collection of homilies by Father Larry Hehman of Lexington, KY. Fr. Larry Hehman is a retired Roman Catholic priest who now serves at local parishes, where he shares in sacramental, teaching, and preaching ministry. Weekly, since 2013, he has produced a Sunday homily on YouTube. His ministry of preaching the Word has touched the hearts and lives of generations of parishioners in the Bluegrass and far beyond.
Cameron M. Ludwick is a bookworm, trivia nerd, and former band geek who still relies on the survival skills she learned at Girl Scout camp to cope with nature. A Kentucky native, she now has bigger hair and lives in Texas. Blair Thomas Hess is a born-and-bred Kentuckian who resides in Frankfort, Kentucky with her daughter and her picture-taking, bourbon-collecting husband. Together, these long-time friends travel across Kentucky exploring its various wonders and uncovering its best-kept secrets, sharing their secrets in the My Old Kentucky Road Trip books.
When aspiring violinist Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman lands a job with a professional ensemble in New York City, she imagines she has achieved her dream. But the ensemble proves to be a sham. When the group "performs," the music blares from a CD. The mastermind behind this scheme is a peculiar figure known as The Composer who is gaslighting audiences with music that sounds suspiciously like the Titanic movie soundtrack. Hindman’s holds a BA and an MFA from Columbia University and a PhD from the University of North Texas. She teaches at Northern Kentucky University and lives in Newport.
Although the faith of the Ingalls' family pervades books in the Little House series, the more specific details of Laura's faith have never been fully explored. Laura drew not just on her character, but found hope in her relationship with God. Stephen W. Hines, a recognized authority on Laura Ingalls Wilder, has authored or compiled several best-selling volumes on her life.
Let's Be Friends offers practical ways to nurture meaningful friendships that will enrich your life and deepen your faith, including creative ideas and recipes to try with your own friends. Elizabeth Hoagland loves reading and writing. When she's not interviewing authors or writing book reviews, she and her husband savor family time.
Royally bred, Sir Barton broke track records, outran champions, and inspired the ultimate chase for horse-racing greatness—the Triple Crown. In this definitive account, Jennifer S. Kelly draws together extensive research and sharp storytelling in order to explore the legacy of Sir Barton. Kelly is a lifelong horse racing fan using her experience as a writing instructor and technical writer to chronicle and preserve the history of her favorite sport.
In the early 1960s, the Appalachian Volunteers determined to eliminate poverty in the mountainous southeastern United States through education. In this book, Thomas Kiffmeyer demonstrates how the activists ultimately failed because they were indecisive and distracted by unrelated causes. Kiffmeyer, associate professor of history at Morehead State University, is the author of numerous reviews and articles.
Written with the help of grandmothers from all over the world, this book provides a spiritual blueprint to help mitigate the impact of a transient society, fragmented families, and strained relationships while sustaining godly Christian traditions. For 13 years, Teresa wrote a column for Kentucky Living magazine called "Kindred Spirits." Her blog NanaHood.com has been chosen as one of the Top Ten Grandparent blogs in the world 5 years in a row.
Despite his humble beginnings as a foal born in a mud puddle, Spectacular Bid became one of the greatest American racehorses of all time. Only a safety-pin lodged in his hoof kept him from the Triple Crown. Peter Lee, a former journalist, maintains the blog The Way to Churchill Downs, which reports on Derby hopefuls for the coming year.
Award-winning author Steve Luxenberg draws from letters, diaries, and archival collections to tell the story of Plessy v. Ferguson through the eyes of the people caught up in the case. Sweeping, swiftly paced, and richly detailed, Separate provides an urgently-needed exploration of our nation’s most devastating divide. During his thirty years as a Washington Post senior editor, Luxenberg has overseen reporting that has earned numerous national honors, including two Pulitzer Prizes. He lives in Maryland. Luxenberg's visit is sponsored by the Lexington History Museum.
The first biography of Powell since 2009, Jeffrey J. Matthews utilizes a wide variety of new sources that have come to light in the intervening years. Matthews traces Powell's life from his youth in the South Bronx to his tenure as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State. Matthews, author of four books, is an award-winning professor of leadership and history at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
Andrew and Verlaine McDonald explore the cross-cultural life of Louisville-native Paul Rusch. In 1925, Rusch dedicated his life to promoting democratic and Christian ideals throughout Japan. During WWII, he organized the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project, a vehicle for feeding, educating, and uplifting the rural poor of highland Japan. Andrew is a journalist who has traveled to Japan and written articles about KEEP for the Lexington Herald-Leader and elsewhere. Verlaine is professor of communication at Berea College and the author of The Red Corner: The Rise and Fall of Communism in Northeastern Montana.
Rooted in Appalachian ingredients and flavors, more than 70 recipes use modern cooking techniques to transform traditional comfort food with a mountain sensibility into inspired meals and menus for anyone. Lauren is a writer, food stylist, photographer, and creator of the award-winning food blog Harvest and Honey. All of Lauren's work supports her belief that food is simply bets when shared. She lives in Indianapolis with her family.
A collection of bizarre but true stories from America's western states, including tales of ghosts, lynchings, body snatchings, historic murders, monsters, giant skeletons, and ever so much more. Keven McQueen is a senior lecturer in English at Eastern Kentucky University and the author of 18 books covering the entire USA.
A layperson's introduction to Kentucky-born Abraham Lincoln's letters. The book hopes to answer how Lincoln acquired the literary power his writing has. Marshall Myers is from Battletown, in rural Meade County. He earned degrees from Kentucky Wesleyan, Eastern Kentucky University, and the University of Louisville. He has been freelancing for 30 years, publishing over 300 articles, poems, short stories, and five books.
Lexington native Foster Ockerman Jr. details the rich and the lesser-known history at the tracks in the Bluegrass State. Ockerman Jr. is seventh-generation Kentuckian. He is a practicing attorney as well as a historian and the author of five histories. His law practice over the past 40 years has covered business, real estate, and more. He is president and chief historian for the Lexington History Museum Inc.
Fort Boonesborough served as one of the most important American strongholds throughout the Revolutionary War. In this book, Nancy O’Malley examines the historic landmark from its founding into the nineteenth century. O’Malley is a professional archaeologist specializing in early settlement and Revolutionary War Kentucky. She is the author of Stockading Up: A Study of Pioneer Stations in the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky and other publications.
Alex* and Sonja Overhiser first fell for each other—and then the kitchen. The writer-photographer duo went from eating fast food to cooking vegetarian meals, unraveling a “pretty simple” approach to cooking that kicks the diet in favor of long-term lifestyle changes. They are writer and photographer behind the food blog A Couple Cooks and have a worldwide following. *Alex is unable to attend.
From horses to tobacco to bourbon, the barn is at the heart of Kentucky's heritage and industry and is a staple of the Bluegrass landscape. From elegant Thoroughbred farms to historical treasures like the 1803 stone barn of Runnymede Farm in Bourbon County, Peachee travels across the state to capture and preserve the diverse architecture, heritage, and design that make these structures special. Carol Peachee is an award-winning fine art photographer of numerous publications.
Truth Worth Telling introduces us to unforgettable people who discovered the meaning of their lives in the historic events of our times. For readers who believe that values matter and that truth is worth telling. Scott Pelley has been a reporter and photographer more than 45 years. He is best known for his work on 60 Minutes and the CBS Evening News. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including 37 Emmy Awards. He has been married to the love of his life for 35 years. They have 2 children. Pelley's visit is sponsored by Campbellsville University.
The inside story of how serial predator Larry Nassar got away with abusing hundreds of gymnasts for decades and how a team of brave women banded together to bring him down. Pesta is an award-winning journalist. She coauthored How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child. Her reporting has been honored with five National Headliner Awards, five Exceptional Merit in Media Awards, and many others. She has written for major media outlets including TIME, The New York Times, and many others. Pesta's visit is sponsored by the Kosair Charities Face It ® Movement.
In this book, Tammy Horn Potter weaves botany, biology, biogeography and practical advice gained from planting pollinator habitat on large scale areas in Appalachia. Filled with color pictures, maps, more, Horn Potter shares a future for pollinators in which everyone can participate. Horn Potter became a beekeeper in 1997. In 2014, she became the Kentucky State Apiarist, working with stakeholders in the Kentucky Pollinator Protection Plan.
This primer presents a history of the development of Kentucky’s bourbon distilling industry, tracing its evolution from a farmer’s artisanal craft to a large-scale industry. Karl Raitz spotlights the places where bourbon’s heritage was made and why the industry continues to thrive. Raitz is professor emeritus of the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on the geographical history of the American landscape.
Reigler and Veach are pleased to share this tasting logbook for American whiskeys, featuring nearly 250 brands. Award-winning writer Susan Reigler was born in Louisville. She has been a restaurant critic, beverage columnist, and travel writer and is a judge for the James Beard Foundation Restaurant Awards. Michael Veach is one of the foremost authorities on all things Bourbon, and has spent over 15 years with The Filson Historical Society.
This book explores two enduring issues: our age-old pursuit of better lives and how the media impacts our choices. Cynthia W. Resor was a middle and high school social studies teacher before earning her PhD in history. She is currently a professor of social studies education at Eastern Kentucky University.
Linda Ruffenach is a businesswoman, entrepreneur, and the founder of Whisky Chicks. She believes that sharing a glass of bourbon and learning about America’s native spirit are great common denominators to bring people together. Ruffenach takes pride in creating experiences that make learning about Kentucky bourbon approachable, fun, and informative. Her sense of community and commitment to paying it forward drive her to empower others to bring out their inner badass.
There is no right or wrong way to drink bourbon— in a cocktail, straight up, on the rocks, or with a splash of soda. You will never know which is your way until you try them all, and How to Be a Bourbon Badass will guide you on the path of your own bourbon adventure.
One of the simplest concepts in human understanding has suddenly become one of the most important, most challenging, and most fluid. She/He/They/Me is a groundbreaking and relevant exploration of what gender means (or doesn't mean) in our traditions, cultures around the world, and in today's society. Dr. Robyn Ryle is an author, speaker, and Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Hanover College, IN.
This book contains many selections from a family recipe book dating from the early 1900-1940s. All recipes were carefully chosen bourbon dishes that have been perfected through the years and are guaranteed to become your family and your guest's favorite dishes. Dayna Seelig is a retired professor of 27 years from Morehead State University. She lives in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky with her husband Mike.
This book traces the life and times of Justify, who became the 13th Triple Crown winner in Thoroughbred history with his thrilling race through the series in 2018. Shulman has been the Features Editor of Bloodhorse magazine in Lexington for 20 years. He is an Emmy Award-winning TV writer and the author of four books. He lives in Nonesuch, Kentucky.
Afterword by Ronni Lundy*
Blue ridge tacos, kimchi with soup beans and cornbread, African American mountain gardens—this anthology considers all these and more. Smith, a founding member of the Appalachian Food Summit, directs the Appalachian Impact Fund. Her work has appeared in the New York Times and elsewhere. Engelhardt is John Shelton Reed Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author of multiple books. *Lundy will attend to sign this title, along with select backlist titles.
A conversational, revealing, and humorous peek into becoming a breast cancer survivor, this book is for those who have wondered, "Am I the only one?" It is for those who have faith, want faith, need faith, question faith in a God who will not leave us to face tragedy alone. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, Amy Luscher Smith is a survivor, author, speaker, and encourager of others. She has two published works.
Chef Belinda Smith-Sullivan, granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers, is the go-to resource for everything peaches. She is a chef, food writer, spice blends entrepreneur, and a commercially-rated pilot. She has a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University and writes a monthly column for both South Carolina Living and Bella Magazine. Smith-Sullivan is an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Les Dames d'Escoffier. She lives in Trenton, SC.
Linda Solomon met Aretha Franklin in 1983 when she was just beginning her career as a photojournalist. Franklin's brother and business manager arranged for Solomon to capture the singer's major career events while Franklin requested that Solomon document everything else. And she did just that. Solomon is an award-winning photojournalist and author known for her natural light portraits of celebrities and her nonprofit foundation Pictures of Hope. She is a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.
During the Civil War, women on both sides of the border shared recipes through national magazines, and so northern, southern, and immigrant cultures mixed together in kitchens throughout the country. Including many recipes that can be used today, this book highlights how frugal cooks substituted for wartime shortages and brought their values to the table.
Over 900 Appalachian women have graduated from the New Opportunity School for Women programs. Eleven of these women share life-changing journeys that enabled them to believe in themselves, their values and abilities, and to display courage to succeed. Jane B. Stephenson, former First Lady of Berea College, founded the New Opportunity School for Women in 1987. She has received Oprah's Use Your Life Award and other awards and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.
Tells the stories of hundreds of thousands of enslaved men, women, and children who fled plantations and sought protection behind the lines of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It follows the journeys of individuals as they moved in and out of newly established refugee camps, taking enormous risks to find freedom. Amy Murrell Taylor is a professor of history at the University of Kentucky.
In the 19th century, German immigrants living in Louisville worked as proprietors of small trades, captains of industry, physicians and pharmacists, attorneys and judges, and artists and musicians. This book presents a series of essays relating how German immigrants shaped the industry and culture of Louisville. Bob is an emeritus professor of civil engineering at the University of Louisville, and Vicky is a retired medical technologist.
John van Willigen explores Kentucky’s history through its changing food culture, beginning with pre–Civil War recipes served by teams of enslaved people and concluding with contemporary “eat local” cookbooks. Believing in the social significance of food, this book offers a unique journey through the history of the commonwealth. Van Willigen is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Kentucky and the author of many books.
Exacting and courageous, this book is part memoir, part true crime record, and part testament to the strength of female friendships. Jeannie Vanasco examines and dismantles long-held myths of victimhood, discovering grace and power in this genre-bending investigation into the trauma of sexual violence. Vanasco is the author of the memoir The Glass Eye. She lives in Baltimore and is an assistant professor at Towson University.
After Carrey Dewey was diagnosed with ALS in 2014, she was determined to “show ALS from the inside.” Nearly 4 years of her personal blog posts and photos chronicle the vast support she engendered and the devotion of family and caregivers until her death in 2018. Barbara Victoria was Dewey’s hospice volunteer and assisted with her writings. Barbara is a graduate of Stephens College and the University of Kentucky.
Southern Accents explores the ways in which Tom Petty's record of the same name was an artistic failure that mired him in debates about American culture and history. Michael Washburn, a native and resident of Louisville, is Director of Programs at Humanities New York. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, and elsewhere.
This study offers a wide-ranging overview of Northern Kentucky’s rich history, including details about early indigenous nations, pioneers such as Simon Kenton, and significant historic moments like the Battle of Blue Licks and the Ohio River Flood of 1937. Robert D. Webster is a Northern Kentucky native and has written numerous articles and books on the region’s history.
Identifies a distinctive kind of urban neighborhood that is on the rise throughout the USA: the dense, walkable, mixed-use bourgeois-bohemian suburb or the "boburb." It looks at case studies of areas in Louisville. Based on scores of interviews with college graduates, backed by survey data and Census figures, it provides a clear account of how these spaces arose. Beau Weston is Van Winkle Professor of Sociology at Centre College. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and Yale University.
If you have visited the beautiful grounds of Ashland, the 19th century Lexington estate of Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, you understand why it is such a popular tourist destination. To celebrate the structural achievements of this historic mansion, The Henry Clay Memorial Foundation is proud to offer a signature book featuring over 200 photos of the Ashland mansion, its rooms, furniture, outbuildings and grounds, taken by celebrated Kentucky photographer Bob Willcutt.
The War on Poverty quickly took aim at the coalfields of Appalachia. There, the federal government found unexpected allies among working-class white women devoted to a tradition of citizen caregiving and seasoned by decades of activism. Jessica Wilkerson tells their stories within the larger drama of efforts to enact change. This book reveals Appalachian women as the indomitable caregivers of a region and overlooked actors in the movements that defined their time. Wilkerson teaches at the University of Mississippi.
Empowers experienced and novice brewers alike to defy the dogma of modern brewing manuals. Using alternatives to standard grains, hops, and commercial yeasts, Jereme Zimmerman encourages readers to brew a range of ales and other styles that have taken a backseat to the IPA. Zimmerman is a writer and traditional brewing revivalist who lives in Berea, KY with his wife, their daughters, and herds of wild yeast that he corrals into various fermentation creations.