The Reigning Belle of the Bluegrass Region

The Paul Sawyier Public Library welcomes Rose Buckner for a performed reading of her solo play, The Reigning Belle of the Bluegrass Region. Inspired by her grandmother's life, Belle is the true story of a Kentucky woman who defied social expectations (and risked death threats) to marry a Japanese man in 1903.

Rose Buckner is an actress, playwright, oral historian, and teacher. A Kentucky native now based in Chicago, she has worked in professional theater for 40 years. Buckner has conducted hundreds of oral history interviews, created and performed solo shows based on historical figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt and poet Sara Teasdale, taught arts and humanities to incarcerated young people, and presented to audiences from all backgrounds and of all ages. She has performed her solo comedy show, Save the Ducks and other Stories of Courage, Dignity, Embarrassment and Total Cowardice at venues in Chicago and throughout Illinois. Buckner is also the recipient of the Peter Lisagor Award for Journalism, the Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize for Public Humanities in the Community, and the Lawrence W. Towner Award for Best Humanities Project.