Morehead State Public Radio (WMKY/90.3FM) will present a program showcasing Kentucky writers.
The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame announced the 2016 Hall of Fame class at an induction ceremony on Jan. 28 at the Carnegie Center in Lexington (KY). This is the fourth class to be inducted.
MSPR will air a program showcasing the introductions and readings as recorded from that evening. The broadcast will be at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 29th and at Noon on Memorial Day.
Typically reserved for prose and poetry authors, the Hall of Fame is actually open to writers of all stripes – and this year voters headed by the Kentucky Arts Council approved the addition of Appalachian folk singer and songwriter Jean Ritchie, who passed away last June.
"We previously had nominations for her, but this year I think people just recognized how much she represented Kentucky all over the world and how she represented Appalachia in a really powerfully positive artistic way," says Carnegie Center executive director Neal Chethik.
Ritchie joins three other deceased inductees: James Lane Allen, Harlan Hubbard, and Alice Hegan Rice. Famed short story author Bobbie Ann Mason will also become only the second living member, alongside writer and activist Wendell Berry.
"She has been a pioneer of sorts, particularly in short story writing," Chethik adds. "She's been living in Kentucky for the last 20 years or so and, of course, she was born here and went away for some of the middle portion of her writing life. But she's come home and she loves Kentucky, we love her, and we're excited to be honoring her."
The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame was created to recognize Kentucky writers whose work reflects the character and culture of our commonwealth, and to educate Kentuckians about our state’s rich literary heritage. For a writer to have been eligible this year, he/she must be 1) deceased (excluding one living writer); 2) published; 3) someone whose writing is of enduring stature; and 4) someone connected in a significant way to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The ceremony was recorded and produced for broadcast by WUKY.
