Literary Calendar

Saturday, April 15

• W: “Increase your Sales with Effective Customer Communication,” led by Dr. Kathy Werking. This hands-on workshop will be filled with interesting and important information about how to effectively communicate with your customers, whether they are wholesale buyers, retail buyers, or tourists. In addition to the workshop activities, you will take home a manual filled with tips and activities so you can continue to develop your communication skills! Runs 9-11:30 a.m. in the Perkins Building on the Eastern Kentucky University Campus in Richmond. Pre-registration required by April 12: Phone: (606) 986-3192 Email: Kentucky Guild Fax: (606) 985-9114. Cost is $10, $5 for Arts Kentucky and KY Guild of Artists and Craftsmen members.
  
• K: “Kentucky Writes!” Discover creative works by Kentucky authors for Kentucky kids--and let kids explore their own literary creativity! See performances of "James Still's Schoolroom Primer" at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. This Super Saturday program is scheduled for 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort, and is free and open to children of all ages. Craft activities are primarily for children 5-12. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Groups of ten (10) or more must register in advance. For more information, contact Jennie Bare Boyd at (502) 564-1792 ext. 4424.
  
• D: Time to register for “The Writers Community” with James Baker Hall -- see May 3 for details.

Sunday, April 16

• R: The Rain Stick Poets will hold a reading today at 2 p.m. as part of the Spring Fest Activities at Mammoth Cave National Park. The reading will be held in the lower lobby of the Mammoth Cave Hotel and will feature poets Elizabeth Lapinski, Lorreta Murrey, Natilie Lund, Larry Pike and Billy Vincent. Mammoth Cave is located between Elizabethtown and Bowling Green off I-65.
  
• B: Frank X Walker will be signing his new volume of poetry, Affrilachia, today at 3 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rockwood Pavilion, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, (513) 731-7770, X 113.

Tuesday, April 18

• R: Hawley-Cooke Booksellers hosts “Pass the Poetry—And the Basket” tonight, 7-8 p.m. at the Glenview Pointe location. Donation baskets will be passed to collect contributions for the Kentucky Writers’ Coalition. Thank you, Hawley-Cooke!

Thursday, April 20

• D: Deadline for entry in the Nimrod Literary Contest, featuring the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction and the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry. First prize is $2,000, second is $1,000. Word limits are 1,000-1,900 for poetry, 7,500 for fiction. This contest is for unpublished work only. Submission fee is $20 and includes a one-year subscription. For complete details, check out the website Nimrod or send an SASE to Nimrod Literary Contest, University of Tulsa, 600 S.College, Tulsa, OK 74104.
  

Monday, April 24

Friday, April 28

• R: Hawley-Cooke Booksellers hosts “Drive-Time Poetry” from 5-6 p.m. at the Shelbyville Road location. To sign up to read for this open mic session, you need to arrive by 4:30 p.m. There is a five-minute limit per person.

Monday, May 1

• D: Deadline for submission to the Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition. There is a $5 entry fee for the first poem, $2 for each additional. Prizes are $2,000, $500, $250. Send a SASE to International Poetry Competition, PO Box 8248, Atlanta, GA 31108.

Wednesday, May 3

• W: “The YMCA Writers Community” led by James Baker Hall, Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m. through July 19, The Carnegie Center in Lexington. This master class focuses on poetry and is limited to 12 participants. Admission to the class is by competitive submission: the deadline for submission of not more than 10 pages of poetry is April 15. Submissions should be sent to The Carnegie Center, 251 We. Second Street, Lexington, KY 40507. Tuition is $110. James Baker Hall is the author of ten books, including his newest collection of poems, The Mother on the Other Side of the World. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including a Stegner Fellowship from Stanford, an NEA Fellowship, the Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship, a Southern Arts Federation Fellowship, the Frank Stanford Memorial Prize from Ironwood, an O.Henry Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and the University of Kentucky Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Teaching. Currently Hall is Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at the University of Kentucky.

Thursday, May 4

• R: Open Mic for High School Writers, 6-7:30 p.m., The Carnegie Center, 251 W. Second Street, Lexington, 606-254-4175.

Saturday, May 13

• R: Mayfest--Open Mic & Poetry Slam, featuring some of Lexington’s best performance poets, 3 p.m., The Carnegie Center, 251 W. Second Street, Lexington, 606-254-4175.

Friday, May 19, 2000

• D: Deadline for submission to the 15th Annual New Letters Literary Awards for 2000. Prizes include a $1,000 cash award and publication in a 2001 edition of New Letters. Competition categories are: The Alexander Patterson Cappon Fiction Award for best short story; The New Letters & Professional Writing Program Poetry Award for the best group of 3-6 poems; and the Dorothy Churchill Cappon Creative Nonfiction Award. Reading fee is $10. For contest details, send SASE to New Letters Literary Awards, University of Misouri- Kansas City, University House, 5101 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110. Or you can email inquiries to New Letters or check out the webpage at New Letters Website .

Saturday, May 20

• D: Deadline for manuscript submission to Eastern Kentucky University's “Creative Writing Conference” to be held 19-22 June, 2000. Visiting poets and writers are James Baker Hall, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, and Kentucky Poet Laureate Richard Taylor. For information, see Creative Writing website , or send SASE to Conference Director Dorothy Sutton for a brochure. Lunchtime readings by these writers each day are free and open to the public.

Sunday, May 21

• P: Carnegie Songwriters’ Series, hosted by Wishing Chair, featuring Tanya Savory and Stefanie Fix, 7:30 p.m. Open mic at 9:30 p.m. $5 suggested donation, The Carnegie Center, 251 W. Second Street, Lexington, 606-254-4175.

Ongoing

• S: Kentucky Monthly is seeking short fiction and poetry. The magazine features fiction in every issue under "Kentucky Voices." We have used works of some of the state's well- known writers, such as Bobbie Ann Mason, James Still, Gurney Norman, and Wendell Berry, as well as newcomers. For non-fiction, writers can look for guidelines at our Web site - Kentucky Monthly . Please send submissions to Michael Embry, Executive Editor, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602-0559.

Coming Up

• P: Lorna Littleway's Juneteenth Festival of New Plays presents three weekends of new plays, June 2000. The schedule is as follows:
  June 9-11, Barnstormers by Cheryl Davis--The fascinating story of Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman aviator; Mitote by Maisha Baton--Three women confront post-slavery life in the western territories; Harriet Tubman Visits a Therapist by Carolyn Gage--A humorous encounter pitting the past against the present; Mrs. Jones and the Man from Dixieland by Steven Sater--Mysterious visitors from a white salesman unnerves Mrs. Jones; Birthright by Thomas Dunn--Very carefully a Black girl reveals the personal betrayal of her mistress' son.
  
  June 16-18, DWB: Driving While Black by Samuel L. Kelley--The sordid reality of racial profiling as a campaign of highway terrorism against Black folk; An Affinity for Angels by Reggie Lewis--A deathrow inmate writes about the hope his contact with school children inspires; Teens Today by Arthur French III--Peer pressure and sex from the perspective of a teenage boy; The Last Dust Track by Laurence Holder--The final day in the life of Zora Neale Hurston, "Queen of the Harlem Renaissance."
  
  June 17, Juneteenth Day in Shelby Park, 10AM performance of Fin'lly Free by Linda Baldwin and Lorna Littleway and Malinda by Nancy Gall-Clayton.
  
  June 23-25, The Carelessness of Love by Michael Dinwiddie--The tragedy of love denied by Angelina Grimke, Harlem Renaissance author of "Rachel"; Serving Two Masters by Shirlene Holmes--A married pastor wrestles with his conscience as he engages in dangerous homosexual liaisons; A Collective Piss and the Devil's Beating His Wife by Lorna Littleway--A chance encounter between Brenda and Lenore turns into a night neither will soon forget; Unquestioned Integrity: The Hill/Thomas Hearing by Mame Hunt--The hearings that rocked the nation and brought sexual harrassment out of the closet.
  
  These staged readings will be performed in the Victor Jory Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Fridays and Sundays at 8pm and Saturdays at 3pm. Tickets are $5.00. Each performance will be followed by a talkback.
  

Thursday, June 1

• D: Deadline for submission to Senior Voices, Seasoned Vision Literary Contest sponsored by the Arts Club of Louisville, Louisville Senior Writers S.C.E, and Senior Citizens East, Inc. Categories are fiction (short story up to 10 pages, double-spaced, 27 lines/page); poetry (any subject, any form, single spaced, 40-line limit); essay (dealing with one subject or idea—no anecdotes—up to 10 pages, double spaced, 27 lines/page); and memoir (personal memory, up to 10 pages, double spaced, 27 lines/page). You must be at least 50 years old to enter. No names on entries, and all entries must be titled with the category on the first page of the piece. Only unpublished work will be considered, and there is a limit of one entry per category per person. There is a flat rate fee of $5 for submission of all material. For full contest details, send SASE to Louisville, Senior Writers, Ruth Plock President, 7311 Glen Arbor Road, Louisville, KY 40222.
  

June 11-17

• C: The Rope Walk Writers Retreat begins Sunday in New Harmony, Indiana. Participants of this week-long retreat attend workshops and confer privately with one of five prominent writers. Pre-conference events take place on Saturday and Sunday. For more details, call for a brochure at 800-467-8600 or email Rope Walk
  

Friday, June 30

• D: Entry deadline for the Penumbra 2000 Poetry & Haiku Contest sponsored by the Tallahassee Writers’ Association, send SASE for guidelines or submissions with fees of $5/poem, $3/haiku, to Tallahassee Writers’ Association, PO Box 15995, Tallahassee, FL 32317-5995. Cash prizes of $100, $30, and $20 for poetry up to 50 lines; $50, $20, and $10 for 3-line haiku. Plus publication. Unpublished work only. For full details, go to Penumbra 2000 .
  

July 21-29

• C: The Green River Writers host their annual Workshop Week & Retreat 2000 July 21- 29. This year they are offering two tracks. The “Creativity Workshop Track” is for those who can commit to the entire week. It is a hands-on workshop starting the evening of July 21 and running throughout the next week. The cost for this session is $150. Lodging is additional. The “Retreat-Only Track” allows people to attend different sessions without participating in the actual workshops. The cost is $10/day, or $50 for the entire conference. The Creativity Workshop Track is limited to 30 people. For registration info, contact Retreat 2000, Green River Writers Inc., 11906 Locust Road, Middletown, KY 40243-1413. You can also call or email Ernie O’Dell at (502) 245-4902 or Green River Writers .