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LEXINGTON,
Ky. (Feb. 16, 2004) -- One
of the most celebrated voices in jazz history,
Shirley Horn, will make a rare performance to
help the Kentucky Women Writers Conference (KYWWC)
celebrate its 25th anniversary as the oldest
writers conference of its kind in the country.
The conference is scheduled for March 25 through
March 27 in Lexington, Ky.
“The
Kentucky Women Writers Conference, based at the
University of Kentucky, is partnering with the
city of Lexington and UK to offer an unprecedented
number of readings, workshops, panel discussions,
receptions, exhibits, screenings and concerts – all
with acclaimed women writers and artists of global
interest and renown,” said Rebecca Howell,
director of the KYWWC.
All
events will take place on the UK campus and other
locations in Lexington. The full conference fee
of $125 will cover all events, and individual day
or event fees also are available. For more information,
access the KYWWC
Web site or call (859) 257-6420.
The
Shirley Horn Trio concert will end the conference
on a high note Saturday evening, March 27, in the
UK Singletary Center for the Arts. Horn, who has
won countless awards in her career, including a
Grammy and most recently was voted #1 female vocalist
in the New York Jazz Critics Awards, continues
to record but offers a very limited live performance
schedule due to health concerns.
“We
are proud to have Ms. Horn bring one of these rare
and extraordinary performances to UK in a special
final tribute to our 25th anniversary,” said
Howell.
The
concert is part of a grand finale that includes
the first of a permanent addition to the conference,
that of the Hardwick/Jones Reading Series named
in honor of literary giants and Lexington natives
Elizabeth Hardwick and Gayl Jones. Each year the
keynote reading will host a major national writer
and a major emerging writer upon whom the former
has had a lasting influence.
“This
year we are fortunate to have two of the most important
African-American women writers of our time,” said
Howell. “That Saturday night we will be hosting
history itself when we welcome Sonia Sanchez and
the great Shirley Horn in the same extraordinary
evening.”
Individual
tickets are available for the grand finale, which
includes a 6 p.m. reception/signing with the authors,
followed by the reading at 7 p.m. and the concert
which begins at 8 p.m. Tickets, $35 for the general
public and $25 for students, are available through
the Singletary Center Ticket Office at (859) 257-4929.
Another
new feature of the KYWWC this year is the addition
of the Nell Stuart Donovan Exhibit Series, which
will host an annual one-woman show of a world-class
artist and is made possible by a generous grant
from the Donovan Trust. This year’s inaugural
exhibit hosts one of Great Britain’s most
prominent photojournalists, Harriet Logan. Her
collection of documentary photographs of Afghani
women under Taliban rule from her book “Unveiled:
Voices of Women in Afghanistan” will be on
display at both the UK Art Museum and the Ann Tower
Gallery.
Logan
also will present the UK Art Museum’s Robert
C. May Lecture at 4 p.m. Friday, March 26, in Worsham
Theatre located in the UK Student Center. A reception
with the artist will follow this lecture at the
Ann Tower Gallery. Both events are free to the
public.
The
Writers Block Party, a festival in downtown Lexington
to celebrate women writers, also is new this year.
Made possible by a new partnership between the
Lexington Public Library, the Lexington-Fayette
Urban County Government, the Downtown Lexington
Corporation, the Carnegie Center for Literacy and
Learning, and the KYWWC, the Writers Block Party
will feature a number of public exhibits and offerings
at many participating businesses and music and
art venues.
Among
them is a full screening of the acclaimed film “Monsoon
Wedding” at
6 p.m. at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, followed
by an Indian feast at the Lexington Public Library.
A discussion with the film’s screenwriter Sabrina
Dhawan will precede the dinner. Tickets are $10 and
are available through the conference office at (859)
257-6420.
A
free event at 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 26, will
feature three of the conference participants reading
from their works in the Lexington Public Library
rotunda. This event, The New World Reading, will
include globally acclaimed authors Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni (an award-winning author and poet whose
work has been translated into 11 languages), Yoko
Tawada (winner of the Akutagawa Prize, Japan’s
equivalent of an American Pulitzer), and Rebecca
Walker (author and social activist who was named
by Time Magazine as one of the fifty future leaders
of America).
The
Kentucky Women Writers Conference was established
at the University of Kentucky in 1979 in an effort
to bring world-class writers and thinkers to Central
Kentucky. Among the presenters at the first conference
were Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Ruth Whitman.
The
KYWWC was based at UK until 1998 when the university
made the decision to no longer support it due to
budgetary constraints. The conference returned
to UK in late 2002 after UK President Lee T. Todd
Jr. provided funding at the urging of his newly
created President’s Commission on Women.
“The
theme of this year’s conference, History
in the Making: Choosing to Participate, honors
the many volunteers and institutional partnerships
that have kept the conference alive and strong
these past 25 years,” Howell said. “The
conference thrives today because people continue
to come together to make it a vital event in our
community and in our nation.”
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