The East Kentucky Grassroots Poetry Project collection (dated 1981-1984, undated; 0.35 cubic feet; 1 box) primarily comprises correspondence and grant proposal materials that document the Appalachian Center’s project to bring Appalachian poetry to Kentucky public school children in five Kentucky counties: Oswley, Harlan, Clay, Laurel, and Leslie. The correspondence is predominantly to and from project coordinator George Ella Lyon; grant proposal materials relate to the Kentucky Humanities Council’s sponsorship of the program. The collection also includes poetry workshop materials for public school teachers, University of Kentucky press releases, Appalachian Center administrative records, and newspaper clippings.
Organized by the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and funded with a grant by the Kentucky Humanities Council, the East Kentucky Grassroots Poetry Project began in the fall of 1982 with poet and teacher George Ella Lyon as project coordinator and Appalachian Center director John B. Stephenson as project director. The project consisted of three phases. In the first phase, public junior and high school teachers participated in a series of poetry workshops led by Lyon. In the second phase, Lyon and fellow Appalachian poets Lee Howard and Jo Carson read poems in the classrooms of affiliated institutions, engaging directly with project participants. The project culminated with a panel at UK’s 1983 Women Writers Conference, with special guest poets Betsy Sholl, Maggie Anderson, and Jane Wilson Joyce joining Lyon, Howard, and Carson in a discussion on the role and issues of poets in schools.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Property rights reside with the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky holds the copyright for materials created in the course of business by University of Kentucky employees. Copyright for all other materials has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.
1987ua020 : [identification of item], East Kentucky Grassroots Poetry Project records, 1981-1984, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
1987m39, Appalachian Poetry Project papers, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
2013ua007, Ron Eller papers, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
2009MS209, George Ella Lyon papers, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
1984ua029, Appalachian Center records, 1978-1981, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Transfer, 1987