How to Become a Writer in Kentucky with a BFA, MFA or Similar Creative Writing Degree

More recently in the modern century, Kentucky is proud to have ties with writers like bell hooks and James Anderson.

Born in 1952 Hopkinsville, hooks wrote over 30 books throughout her career, often exploring issues like capitalism, feminism, and race. Inducted into the Kentucky Writers’ Hall of Fame, in the last decades of her life she taught at a college in Berea, Madison County.

hooks wasn’t shy of voicing her opinion, even if it caused controversy. She summed up a popular Beyoncé album not with empty accolades, but by recognizing it as being a way for the singer to make money.

James Anderson is another of Kentucky’s home-grown writing talents. His career has included two decades of writing for NBC’s Saturday Night Live, and his latest endeavor is a web series called Hudson Valley Ballers.

Creative writing is a versatile field. You can use it to do things like change the course of human civilization, chronicle a period in history, challenge centers of power, and make people laugh. Kentucky writers have done it before you, and you can do it next.

Kentucky’s Creative Writing Classes, Courses, and Workshops Can Prepare You for a Creative Writing Degree

Everyone has their own strategy for inspiring creativity: exercise, drugs, prayer, deprivation, meditation, and much more. And what all them, people will tell you that creativity is capricious.

For better or worse, there’s no formula for inspiring your creative side. But there is one for improving your writing side, and that is the sheer act of doing it. Writers write, as they say, and Kentucky abounds with opportunities for you to gain experience and grow.

If you’re near Frankfort, then check out the Bluegrass Writers Coalition. It’s made up of poets, novelists, editors, and otherwise aspiring authors. Striving to provide a community of encouragement and writing analysis, they meet once a month at the local public library.

The Lexington Writer’s Room is a unique opportunity for area writers to land in a supportive writing space. You can sign up for time in this writing space and find support among the other local writers who are doing the same.

One of the state’s largest literary events, the annual Southern Kentucky Book Fest, is made possible through a partnership with Barnes & Noble Booksellers, a university library system, and the Warren County Public Library. Prominent authors participate in the festival’s Kentucky Writers Conference to teach craft workshops and answer questions on key topics like getting published.

Conferences are a great place to hob-nob with your fellow writers and bump elbows with publishers looking for new material.

The Kentucky Christian Writers Conference is another such event. This interdenominational experience brings together authors, readers, and publishers from across the region to celebrate the art of writing that includes Christian themes. It’s an annual occurrence that’s planned out of Elizabethtown.

If publishing is at the forefront of your mind, check out these local book houses: