Images of America: Harrodsburg

Soon to be released from Arcadia Publishing is Images of America: Harrodsburg, written by Harrodsburg’s Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer (writer) and Anna Armstrong (photography). The book will be released the week of August 8th, but is already up for pre-order on several different websites:

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Arcadia

As of this moment, we are not sure when the book launch and signing will be, but we will keep you up-to-date.

Here is an excerpt from Images of America: Harrodsburg:

“Harrodsburg is the oldest permanent settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains and was founded in 1774 by James Harrod. Images of America: Harrodsburg covers the city limits from the late 1770s to the early 1960s and provides over 220 images from the Armstrong Collection, the Harrodsburg Historical Society, the Mercer County Public Library and the Kentucky Historical Society. Within these pages, experience and explore Harrodsburg during the pivotal era at the beginning of the great commonwealth – from the settlement of Old Fort Harrod to the “Saratoga of the West” mineral springs and spas. Follow the growth, hard times, and recovery of Harrodsburg, including government and growing businesses, advancements in education, the rise of religious institutions, and local and visiting celebrities. These well-preserved photographs from the entrepreneurs, grand openings, and expert news reporting all the reader to step back in time.”

Sorry for the shameless promotion, but this is a wonderful book about Harrodsburg - the oldest permanent settlement in Kentucky. Please try to buy a copy! This will also be great for tourist who will be visiting our area on vacations.

New Writing Workship

Hello, All,

I just wanted to remind you that I will begin a new writing workshop at the library beginning this coming Tuesday. We will meet at 6:30 and all of you are welcome to attend. I really hope a lot of you will come because you will be a big help for those folks just getting interested in writing. The workshop will run for 6 weeks and we will discuss everything from basic writing to publishing. I hope to see many of you there.

Tony

6 week writing workshops

Hello, Ink Blots,

I have finally gotten all of my travels complete and would like to get The Community of Mercer County Writers up and running again. What I need to know is how many of you are interested in getting started again. For me, it is time to get back to the basic idea of the group which is to get together and encourage and inspire each other's writing. I think we may have gotten off track and involved in too many things that took up more of our time than the basic mission of the original group. We all want to succeed with out writing, to get our best work published and find the satisfaction of getting our passion on paper. If this sounds like something you want to continue to be involved in please reply to this email as soon as possible. There are a couple of places downtown where we can meet on a regular basis but I need some idea of how many will be participating, so let me know as soon as you can.

I will be starting a 6 week workshop at the library on July 12th beginning at 6:30. Each week will be devoted to a different aspect of writing from just the basics to getting published. I invite you to attend and be a part of this. Actually, I would appreciate some of you coming to help me guide any of the new writers who might attend. You do not have to commit to every week but the more you can be there to help the better.

Looking forward to sharing with all of you again and hearing from you.

Tony

Accents Publishing 2011 International Poetry Book Contest

Accents Publishing is happy to announce its 2011 International Poetry Book Contest. Two winners will be selected – one by an independent judge, Lisa Williams, and one by the Senior Editor and founder of Accents Publishing, Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. Each winner will have his/her submission published and will receive a $500 cash prize. Additionally, the winners will be invited for a featured reading at a book premiere celebration event. All contest entries will be considered for regular publication with Accents Publishing, as well.

The entry fee is $20.00. Multiple submissions are allowed, as long as each one is accompanied by a separate entry fee and submission form. Winning books may be pre-ordered at the time of submission for $10.00 each.

A complete submission should include the following:

A completed submission formYour manuscript, including:
--An acknowledgement page, if necessary
--Two title pages – one with name and contact information, one without
--Your biography or CV
--A check or a confirmation of payment via Paypal covering the $20 entry fee, plus any optional book preorders

Please do not include a SASE, as notification will be made by email only.

We will accept submissions between February 1st and July 31st. Winners will be announced in August. The contest is open to any poet writing in English. Employees of Accents or family members of judges are ineligible to participate. Simultaneous submissions will be accepted, but please notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere.

Manuscripts should conform to the following guidelines:

--60 to 120 pages of poetry
--Table of contents
--Single spaced
--Numbered pages
--11 pt font minimum

Your name should not appear anywhere within the manuscript. Please do not send your only copy of your work, as manuscripts will be recycled.

Entries should be mailed to:

Accents Publishing

Attn: Katerina Stoykova-Klemer

P.O. Box 910456

Lexington, KY 40591-0456

U.S.A.

Accents Publishing is an independent press for brilliant voices. For more information, or to download the submission form, please visit us at Accents Publishing.

Call for Submissions

Nomadic Ink (The Community of Mercer County Writers) is looking for submissions of poetry or prose for our annual chapbook, "Prose and Poetry for Pets." Submissions need to be received before the end of April. Prose and Poetry for Pets will be held in conjunction with the Bark in the Park event on May 14th at Old Fort Harrod State Park.

All the proceeds from the sale of this book will be going to the Mercer County Humane Society. The submissions should be pet related and we will give high priority to submissions about rescued animals or pets adopted from a Humane Society. Send all submissions by email to:

nomadicinkmercer@gmail.com

Bianca Sriggs

Press Release April 6, 2001:

Accents Publishing is proud to announce:

How Swallowtails Become Dragons

by Bianca Spriggs is now available from Accents Publishing. How Swallowtails Become Dragons is part of the Accents Publishing Winged Series, which features selections from Accents Publishing chapbook contests.

"In How Swallowtails Become Dragons, Bianca Spriggs proves herself to be a poet of metamorphosis - a shape shifter, a medium for the dead and imagined. She speaks for those long silenced and for those who remind us to never make a pact with our own silence. In these pages we meet Sweet Evenin' Breeze; Orfeu Negro; the Boabab Girl; and even Eurydice Thomas, a lazarus slave sold dead for parts. But in these pages we also meet a poet who is willing to welcome the wild into her own house, and even into her sleep - a poet willing to reach deep into the dark depth and mine that bit of light last remaining." - Rebecca Gayle Howell, Author of The Hatchet Buddha Perfect Bound.

Last night I dreamt you loved my earrings. They were simple: silver shells hinged by iridescent plastic beads. You wanted to see them up close, fascinated by whatever made them shine that way in fluorescent light. So you tugged too hard when I let you pull on my left lobe. Still laughing, I awoke wanting to call you and to know what your favorite candy is, what music you like to listen to while walking the dogs. I wanted to be closer to you than pages cleaving to a spine.

Affrilachian Poet and Cave Canem Fellow Bianca Spriggs is a freelance instructor of composition, literature, and creative writing. She holds degrees from Transylvania University and the University of Wisconsin. She is a Kentucky Humanities Council Lecturer and the creator and programmer of the Gypsy Poetry Slam featured annually at the Kentucky Women Writers Conference. Heralded as "the new standard bearer for the Affrilachian Poets" by founding member Frank X Walker, Bianca is the author of Kaffir Lily (Wind Publications) and her work may also be found in the anthologies New Growth: Recent Kentucky Writings and America! What's My Name? and the journals Union Station Magazine, Appalachian Heritage Magazine, TORCH, Pluck!, Alehouse, and others.

Bianca Spriggs's How Swallowtails Become Dragons has a 90-second YouTube book trailer, in which she reads the title poem from her new book, How Swallowtails Become Dragons.

Accents Publishing 2011 - $5.00 ISBN: 978-1-936628-01-8

Order directly from the publisher at Accents Publishing.

Maureen Morehead as Poet Laureate

Kentucky Arts Council News Release Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet April 1, 2011 Contact: Ed Lawrence, Communications Director at ed.lawrence@ky.gov 502-564-3757, ext. 473 Kentucky Arts Council inducts Maureen Morehead as Poet Laureate at Kentucky Writers’ Day

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Arts Council will celebrate Kentucky Writers’ Day at 11 a.m. EDT, April 25, 2011, in the Capitol Rotunda, Frankfort. Poet, writer and teacher Maureen Morehead of Louisville will be formally inducted as Kentucky Poet Laureate for the two-year term of 2011 – 2012. Morehead was appointed to the honorary post by Gov. Steve Beshear to promote the literary arts in Kentucky through readings and public presentations at meetings, seminars, conferences and events, including Kentucky Writers’ Day. Morehead will be joined by former Kentucky Poets Laureate Gurney Norman, Jane Gentry, Sena Jeter Naslund, Joe Survant and Richard Taylor in presenting readings of their work. Kentucky state Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest first-place winner Torie DiMartile of Beechwood High School in Ft. Mitchell and second-place winner Tyler Poteet of Butler Traditional High School in Louisville will recite selected poems. Lindy Casebier, deputy secretary, Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, will present DiMartile and Poteet the official awards for their accomplishments. A special reception to honor all Kentucky writers will follow at noon on the mezzanine level of the Capitol. This is an opportunity to congratulate Morehead, talk with Kentucky’s poets laureate and mingle with other readers and writers. This event is free and open to the public. The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. Maureen Morehead Kentucky Poet Laureate 2011-2012

Journal of Kentucky Studies

I have known for many months that one of my poems would be printed in "The Journal of Kentucky Studies"- published by Northern Kentucky University. The book should have been out in September 2011, but because it was a memorial tribute to James Baker Hall, it took a little long.

James Baker Hall (photo copyright Sarabande Books)

Opening the package on Monday and holding a real book in my hand was so exciting, but to see how many of my fellow peers also appear in the book just blows my mind:

• Katerina Sloykova-Klemer


• Wendell Berry


• Matthew Haughton


• Frank X Walker


• Normandi Ellis


• Rebecca Gayle Howell

If I can get my poem published in this prestiges literary journal, then anyone can. Just keep practicing.

Here is a past copy of "The Journal of Kentucky Studies" - copyright Northern Kentucky University.

Bi-Monthly Meeting

Nomadic Ink held their bi-monthly meeting this week at the United Presbyterian Ink. With Tony not present, no one had planned anything for the meeting. We eventually did a jump start:

You are finally going on your dream destination, the thing you have waited for all your life. You get to the place, and find there are no rooms to be found. What do you do? And just to make it a tad bit harder, we had to word in the song title "Great Balls of Fire."

For those who follow us on the blog, this can also be your assignment of the week.

At the beginning of Nomadic Ink (formerly known at The Community of Mercer County Writers), we all agreed the Mercer County Humane Society would be our volunteer program. Last May, we held the first annual "Prose and Poetry for Pets." We wrote volume 1 of the chapbook and sold them to benefit the Humane Society. There were also a food vendor, pet painting, and rabies clinic. The weatherman from channel 27 was the MC. We had fun and earned money for our organization.




Because we are so close to Prose and Poetry for Pets, the majority of members at the last meeting agreed we need to put Grasshopper Holler and the Literary Magazine on the back burner and work on the "Pets" chapbook. You can enter any type of pet or animal story, with preference given to rescued, adopted or stray animals. This can be poetry, prose or a short story and it is due to Bobbi by April 22nd

Torie DiMartile wins 6th annual Poetry Out Loud

March 8, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Communications Director - Ed Lawrence @ ed.lawrence@ky.gov or calling 502-564-3757, ext. 473

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Torie DiMartile, a senior at Beechwood High School, Ft. Mitchell, emerged as the winner among the 21 high school champions from across the Commonwealth who competed in the sixth annual Poetry Out Loud state finals today in Frankfort. DiMartile was the second place winner in 2010 and 2009.

DiMartile was both excited and poised when she talked about winning the statewide poetry recitation competition presented by the Kentucky Arts Council. “Wow, I didn’t believe after 3 years, I finally came in first,” said DiMartile. “I always liked all kinds of writing, but I never really enjoyed poetry until Poetry Out Loud. When I get on stage, the words seem to come off the page and into the audience and now I love poetry. Poetry Out Loud has also taught me to be a better speaker, a better reader and a better writer.”

Torie DiMartile’s mother, Pat DiMartile also had complimentary words for Poetry Out Loud. “I think it’s wonderful. Before Tori became involved, I didn’t care for poetry. Now I read poetry and listen with a different ear.”

As winner of the state finals, DiMartile and chaperone will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington D.C. to compete with other state champions in the National Finals, April 27-29, 2011. Beechwood High School will also receive $500 for the purchase of poetry books for its library. The Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest will award $50,000 in scholarships and school prizes to winners and top finalists.

Tyler Poteet, a senior at Butler Traditional High School, Louisville was named second place winner. He will receive a $100 cash prize and $200 for his school to purchase library books.

Both DiMartile and Poteet will be invited to recite poems at the Kentucky Arts Council’s Kentucky Writers’ Day celebration April 25, 2011, in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort.

The Poetry Out Loud state finals are presented by the Kentucky Arts Council in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, as part of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest, a program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition.

Competing students and their school supporters were able to travel from Kentucky cities as far away as Paducah and Pineville this year because the arts council received a state travel grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to increase the range of outreach across the Commonwealth. Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation is honored to provide travel support for regional and state finals of Poetry Out Loud in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Writers’ Workshops

Writers’ Workshops

Session 1: Kathleen Driskell, Story-telling and Poetry 11:30 – 12:30 p.m.
Session 2: Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, Something Has to Happen 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Session 3: Leatha Kendrick, Life Writing 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Fees:Advanced Registration (by March 11, 2011): $20 per session
Registration (after March 11, 2011): $30 per session

Workshop registration fee includes admission to Kentucky Crafted: The Market. Advanced registration recommended; workshop space is limited.

Publishing Panel (free admission)
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Moderator: Jessica Mohler, Carnegie Center marketing and communications director
Panelists include:
Ashley Runyon, University Press of Kentucky
Sarah Gorham, Sarabande Books
Gray Zeitz, Larkspur Press

“Kentucky’s Finest” Literary Reading (free admission)
4 – 5 p.m.

Emcee: Jan Isenhour, Carnegie Center executive director.
Readings by Kentucky’s current and past poets laureate: Maureen Morehead (2011 – 2012)
Richard Taylor (1999 – 2000)
Joe Survant (2003 – 2004)
Gurney Norman (2009 – 2010)


KENTUCKY CRAFTED: - THE MARKET
Saturday, March 19, 2011

Kentucky Exposition Center
South Wing, Room 104, Louisville

More literary arts at Kentucky Crafted: The Market publishers and writers in Row 700and children’s activities in the Children and Family Traditions booth in Row 100.

More information and advanced registration, contact the Kentucky Arts Council.

Grasshopper Holler

(Drawing by Josh Pincus)

We had such a great meeting last night! 14 members in attendance - that must be a record, and we hope to keep it up.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 11th at 6:30 in the Kentucky AG Center - we are hoping this will be our last meeting in the Ag Center before we can move back to the Mercer Public Library.

The assignment for next meeting is to begin expanding "Grasshopper Holler" - this is a concept Tony started in a workshop a few years ago. You have several options:

• Develop a character
• Construct a building
• Describe the town and/or setting
• Begin writing a story

This is an idea we are kicking around for the literary magazine we have in the works - a serial story about "Grasshopper Holler" with each member making a contribution for each magazine.

Don't Forget ...

... the next meeting for Nomadic Ink is this Friday, February 25th, 6:30 at the Kentucky Ag Center. Paula says we have plenty of chips, but we may need something sweet. We will continue to talk about the new "Nomadic Ink" literary magazine. Hope to see everyone there Friday night.

Nomadic Ink

The next meeting of NOMADIC INK will be Friday, February 25th at 6:30pm - 8:30pm - Kentucky Ag Center, across the road from the Kountry Kupboard.

We will be "Kneading" out more ideas for starting out our new literary magazine, so come prepared with more ideas and suggestions. There was no official assignment for this week - but you were asked to work on the first sentence of "The Sled" and see if it changes your story.

If you have any sketches, drawings or cartoons you would like for use to see, please bring those as well.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday - and why not invite a friend? We have been picking up new members, so we always love to have new faces.

A new season for Nomadic Ink

Welcome to a brand New Year and a new chapter for this wonderful writing group. You will notice some improvement to our site and we would love comments on whether the improvements are working or not. Although we went through some chaos and hard times the last few months of 2010, we hope to make 2011 the best year possible for Nomadic Ink.

Some of you may also know us by the name of The Community of Mercer County Writers, but this was such a long name and we now have some members from out of Mercer County, we are formally changing our name to NOMADIC INK.

If you are interested in joining our writing group, you can email us at:

nomadicinkmercer@gmail.com