Turn ordinary life into legend. In this generative workshop, we’ll remake and rewrite folktales as poetry, giving contemporary experiences (grief, work, love, place) a modern mythic frame. Participants will draft myth-based poems and leave with prompts, a list of writing moves, and a reading list for further exploration. This class is suitable for all levels. […]
The Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative continues the popular Black & Lit Book Club, celebrating Black Kentucky writers’ recent books. We will explore issues related to race and discuss the characters’ relationships, family, home life, dreams, and challenges. We’ll also study aspects of their writing, such as word choice, themes, character, plot, and setting. Registration will […]
In this online workshop, participants will explore poetic devices beyond the lineation toolkit or completely outside of it. While we will focus on writing the prose poem, we will touch on haibun, monostich, concrete, and various types of erasure work as well. The workshop will conclude with timed prompts for participants to try out the […]
As hermit crabs are creatures born without a home, they investigate hollow objects, looking for that perfect fit. For this generative workshop, we’ll explore different homes for our creative nonfiction—using non-literary structures like recipes, letters & lists, official forms & “how-to's.” We’ll look at examples by established and emerging writers, and discuss the ways that […]
Join us for the March installment of our Burn The Mic poetry open mic series with this month's featured reader Kevin Nance. Kevin is a photographer, arts journalist and poet. His work has been published widely, including in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Poets & Writers, The North American Review, Poet Lore, Willawaw, and […]
Character and plot are forces that interweave, strand over strand, where a character’s actions drive the plot and the events of the plot change the character. Together they create a braid which is the story. In this class, we will explore the relationship between plot and character and tactics that you can use to craft […]
James B. Wells and Peter Berres, a Vietnam War veteran, will discuss the multigenerational impacts of war in a conversation on Thursday, March 26, 2026. This discussion is scheduled in honor of National Vietnam Veterans Day, which falls on the following Sunday, March 29. The focal point of their conversation will be James's search for […]
Now that you’ve finished your play, what comes next? This one-time, two-hour class will be devoted to demystifying the sometimes-confusing world of new play development. We’ll spend the first hour talking about play revision and development, and the second hour will cover submission opportunities and strategies for getting your work onstage. Whether you’re interested in […]
Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame 2026 Induction Ceremony Honorees: Debbie Dadey Lowell Harrison Silas House Marcia Thornton Jones Frederick Smock Jeff Worley Literary Impact Award: Pamela Papka Sexton Monday, March 30th, 7PM (doors 6PM) At the Kentucky Theatre To learn more about each inductee: https://carnegiecenterlex.org/events/kentucky-writers-hall-of-fame/ Event is free and open to the public. The Kentucky […]
Poetry is news that stays new, Ezra Pound said. What is it of our own lives that will stay new? How do we give voice to this moment in time? It is not so much the what as it is the how of our poems—the line and its mystery, our images and diction, the unexpected […]
Join us at Wisebird Cider Co for a special edition of our Kentucky Great Writers series celebrating the upcoming Books In Progress conference with featured reader Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr
Winter Into Spring – A Series of Writing Retreats with Leatha Kendrick Bring your blank pages or your current writing project to the Carnegie Center for a series of intensive and generative writing retreats. Leatha Kendrick will provide writing exercises and prompts designed to help you find the heart of the writing you want to […]
