Zoya Abbas Named 2024 Lexington Youth Poet Laureate
LEXINGTON, KY (February 8, 2024)—On February 2, the finalists for the Lexington, Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate title, Zoya Abbas, Eva Alcaraz-Monje, Reyna Radhakrishnan, Sophie Watson, and Nina Tay, shared their work with friends, family, and members of the public during a commencement ceremony at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Zoya Abbas, 18, Lafayette High School, was named the 2024 Lexington Youth Poet Laureate (LYPL) by a panel of judges, Katerina Stoykova, Sean L. Corbin, and Maddie Mitchell.
The Carnegie Center Announces 2024 Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame Inductees
LEXINGTON, KY (January 23, 2024)—George C. Wolfe, three-time Tony award-winning director of plays and movies; Fenton Johnson, who wrote the first major work of fiction about the impact of the AIDS crisis on rural America; and Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, whose novel Come and Go, Molly Snow is a classic Kentucky story, are this year's living inductees into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.
Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning Appoints Jennifer Mattox as New Executive Director
LEXINGTON, KY (October 2, 2023)—The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning is pleased to name Jennifer Hester Mattox as Executive Director. An experienced nonprofit professional and fundraiser, Mattox will assume her new role effective Monday, October 2, 2023. She is Carnegie Center’s fifth Executive Director, and the fourth woman to lead the agency in its 31-year history.
Change in Leadership at the Carnegie Center
LEXINGTON, KY (August 14, 2023)—Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning’s executive director Shayla D. Lynch has submitted her resignation, effective August 11, 2023, to focus on her Council duties and pursue other interests. Lynch will continue to serve the Lexington community through her role as District 2 Councilmember.
Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame 2023 Inductees Announced
LEXINGTON, KY (January 18, 2023) —Marsha Norman, Suzan-Lori Parks, both accomplished playwrights, screenwriters, and Pulitzer Prize winners, and Richard Taylor, former Kentucky Poet Laureate (1999-2001) and 2018 recipient of the Thomas D. Clark Medallion, are among this year's inductees into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.
Olaoluwakiitan Adedeji Named First Lexington Youth Poet Laureate
LEXINGTON, KY (December 3, 2022) – On December 3, the four finalists for the Lexington, Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate title performed for judges at a commencement ceremony at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Olaoluwakiitan (Kiitan) Adedeji, 14, Lafayette High School, has been chosen as the inaugural 2022 Lexington Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) by a panel of esteemed judges, that included the current Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson
