Gov. Steve Beshear has appointed George Ella Lyon as Kentucky poet laureate for 2015-16, the Kentucky Arts Council announced on March 13. She will be formally inducted during a ceremony on Kentucky Writers' Day, April 24, at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort.
"From her immense collection of poetry to her work as a teacher, George Ella Lyon's work is a portrait of Kentucky heritage and tradition," said Gov. Beshear. "The Commonwealth is fortunate to have a writer like George Ella Lyon living and teaching within our borders, and I am proud to name her the Commonwealth's next poet laureate."
Watch an interview with George Ella on Kentucky Educational Televisions's "One to One with Bill Goodman:"
Online Press Kit
What Forest Knows
Illustrated by August Hall
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
978-1442467750, $17.99, hardcover, Grades PreS-3
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The forest sees every season, from the first snowflake to the blossoming flower buds. The forest sees the ever-moving life in nature and the beauty it emanates. With lyrical language and rich and textured illustrations, What Forest Knows takes you on a hike through the trees, beyond the meadows, between the deer and foxes, and into the heart of the outdoors.
Online Press Kit
Voices from the March on Washington, 1963
By J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon
WordSong, 978-1-62091-785-5
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From the authors' introduction:
You may know the March as the occasion for Dr. King’s "I Have
a Dream" speech, certainly the most dramatic moment of the day, summing up a vision for the future and exhorting all who were
present to bring that dream into reality. You may know the March
as one of the critical steps leading to passage of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, which made segregation illegal, and to the Voting Rights
Act of 1965, which outlawed discrimination in voting. Read more
While teaching aspiring writers, Lyon asked her students to write a poem based on memories rooted in a house where they had lived. Working on the assignment herself, Lyon began a personal journey, writing many poems for each room. In this intimate book, she strives to answer lingering questions about herself and her family: "Here I stand, at the beginning," she writes in the opening lines of the volume, "with more questions than / answers."
Collectively, the poems tell the sixty-eight-year-long story of the house, beginning with its construction by Lyon's grandfather and culminating with the poet's memories of bidding farewell to it after her mother's death. Moving, provocative, and heartfelt, Lyon's poetic excavations evoke more than just stock and stone; they explore the nature of memory and relationships, as well as the innermost architecture of love, family, and community. A poignant memoir in poems, Many-Storied House is a personal and revealing addition to George Ella Lyon's body of work.
