LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A diverse group of Kentucky women writers will share their experiences and works with participants at the 7th Annual Kentucky Women’s Book Festival at the University of Louisville.
Author presentations and workshops, book sales and signings and a keynote luncheon will give participants a chance to connect over their favorite pastimes — reading and writing—Saturday, May 18, at Ekstrom Library. Doors will open at 9 a.m. The festival officially begins at 9:30 a.m. with refreshments and socializing and ends at 2:30 p.m. with the start of a poetry slam.
Judith C. Owens-Lalude will open the festival with a talk on the Underground Railroad. The author drew inspiration for her novel, “The Long Walk: Slavery to Freedom,” from stories she heard about her enslaved great-grandfather and his mother, travel to her husband’s native Nigeria and books by men who had been slaves in the same Kentucky counties as her family.
Other speakers include:
- Kristen Gentry, assistant professor of creative writing at SUNY Geneseo
- Nora Rose “Rosie” Moosnick, author of “Arab and Jewish Women in Kentucky”
- Judi Jennings, researcher and writer
- Bianca Spriggs, Affrilachian and performance poet who will give the luncheon keynote
- Sarah Garland, education journalist
- Erin Keane, Sheri L. Wright and Amy Tudor, who will give a poetry reading
The lunch session is the only one that requires registration and has a charge. Registration for it is required by May 15 and can be made by calling the UofL Women’s Center at 502-852-8976. The cost is $16. People who do not want to eat lunch can attend for free.
The Women’s Center sponsors the event with University Libraries.
Information is online at louisville.edu/womenscenter/kwbf. Or, for more information, call co-chairs Robin Harris, 502-852-6083, or Phyllis Webb, 502-852-8976.