An Evening of Kentucky Poetry

Join us for an evening of Kentucky poetry featuring readings by Lynnell Edwards, Lennie Hay, and Missy Brownson Ross.

A book signing will follow, with copies available for purchase.

Lynnell Edwards’ most recent collection of poetry, The Bearable Slant of Light (Red Hen Press, 2024), documents the burden and beauty of mental illness in one family and across this history of writers and artists. Her other collections are: This Great Green Valley (Broadstone Books, 2020), a chapbook of documentary poetry based on revisionist narratives of Kentucky’s pioneer founding in the 18th century. Three additional full-length poetry collections, Covet (2011), The Highwayman’s Wife (2007), and The Farmer’s Daughter (2003), were published by Red Hen Press. A chapbook, Kings of the Rock and Roll Hot Shop, from Accents Publishing (2014), chronicles the work and art of a glass-blowing studio. Her short fiction, book reviews, and essays have appeared in Plume, Another Chicago Magazine, New Madrid, Connecticut Review, Cincinnati Review, Pleiades, and elsewhere. Awards include a 2007 Al Smith Fellowship and a fellowship at The Hermitage in Sarasota, Florida, for 2020-2021. She currently serves as faculty in poetry and Associate Programs Director for the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University where she is also book reviews editor for the program's literary journal Good River Review.  She is a founding member and past president of Louisville Literary Arts and also served on the Kentucky Women Writers Conference Board of Directors. She holds the Ph.D in Rhetoric and Composition as well as the MA with Creative Writing Thesis, both from the University of Louisville. Her work often investigates the deep connections between a people and their place, including the natural, political, and family narratives in its history.  More about her work and writing at: http://lynnelledwards.com

Lennie Hay grew up in the Midwest living between two cultures—Chinese immigrants and German Ukrainian farmers. She now lives half of the year on the banks of the Ohio River in Southern Indiana and half of the year in Indian Shores, Florida. She earned her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Minnesota, master’s and doctorate degrees in education from the University of Louisville and an MFA in poetry from Spalding University. For more than 40 years, Lennie worked as a teacher, principal, district leader and educational consultant. She grew up studying piano and pipe organ and indulges her love of jazz and classical music whenever and wherever possible. Lennie’s work has been published in various regional, national, and international print and online journals such as The Louisville Review, Accents, Shanghai Literary Review, The Heartland Review, and City Lights e Magazine among others. Additionally, her work was included in the 2019 literary anthology Boom and in the 2024 Florida Bards Poetry Anthology.

Missy Brownson resides in Georgetown, Kentucky, and works as the associate director of communications and outreach at a Frankfort-based educational organization. Her chapbook, Hush Candy, was published by Broadstone Books in 2018. In 2021, Missy’s poetry appeared alongside the visual art of Melissa T. Hall in two exhibits at the Lexington Art League, Memento Mori and Pandemia; full-color catalogs featuring these poems and images were published by Broadstone Books. Missy is a graduate of Earlham College and former participant in the MFA program at Murray State University. Her work has appeared in The Lumberyard Magazine, The Louisville Review, Open 24 Hours, Seppuku, and The Heartland Review, where her work was awarded “finalist” and “honorable mention” designations for the Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize. Her work has also been distributed via the email poetry service of tweetspeakpoetry.com, Every Day Poems. Missy lives with her good husband and some bad cats. www.missybrownson.com