poetry

Frank X Walker on Black Jockeys From Isaac Murphy to Kevin Krigger

Gabe Bullard — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

In today's Kentucky Derby, jockey Kevin Krigger will have a chance to become the first African-American jockey to win the Derby since 1902. African-American jockeys were dominant in the Derby's formative years. Most of the jockeys in the first Derby were black, including the winner.

One of the most legendary African-American jockeys was Isaac Murphy. Murphy rode to victory in three Kentucky Derby races and is considered one of the best jockeys of all time. Murphy is the subject of a collection of poems by Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X. Walker.

National Poetry Month: Frets, Beats and Breaks

Erin Keane — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:57:23 +0000

Louisville native Mitchell L.H. Douglas returns home tonight to read from his new collection of poems, “\blak\ \al-fə bet\,” which won the 2011 Lexi Rudnitsky Editor's Choice Award from Persea Books. Douglas reads from his new work tonight at the InKY Reading Series, 7-9 p.m. at The Bard's Town on Bardtown Road.

Douglas' first collection, "Cooling Board: a Long-Playing Poem," a finalist for the 2010 NAACP Image Awards, explored the life and death of soul singer Donny Hathaway, but “\blak\ \al-fə bet\” is a more personal collection of poems about Douglas' Southern family after the death of its matriarch.

Something in the Water: Talking Kentucky Literature with Frank X Walker

Erin Keane — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:12:38 +0000

Danville native Frank X Walker made history last week when Governor Steve Beshear appointed him the next Kentucky poet laureate. Walker is the state’s first African American poet laureate, and at 51, he’s also the youngest.

Axton Reading Series Opens with Poet Laureate

Erin Keane — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Kentucky’s poet laureate will read from her new book in the Axton Reading Series at the University of Louisville tomorrow.

Morehead will read from her new collection of poems, “Late August Blues: the Daylily Poems,” in U of L’s Ekstrom Library, in the Chao Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Morehead is also the author of "In a Yellow Room," "Our Brothers’ War," "A Sense of Time Left" and "The Melancholy Teacher." She teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing program at Spalding University.

Poet Maurice Manning Opens Natural Habitat Reading Series

Laura Ellis — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:20:24 +0000

Typecast Publishing, founded in 2006, is a boutique publishing house based in Louisville, which WFPL's Erin Keane says, "has blossomed into a bit of grassroots mini media empire." Thursday night, they kicked off their summer reading series with Kentucky poet Maurice Manning.

National Book Award Winner Reads at 21C

Erin Keane — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Lexington poet Nikky Finney has been on the road, visiting 20 cities in three months.

Today Is Poem in Your Pocket Day

Erin Keane — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:11:43 +0000