The Christian County Literacy Council is teaming up with several local agencies to put on a writing contest in honor of the late bell hooks, one of Hopkinsville’s most famous natives.
bell hooks, also known by her name of Gloria Jean Watkins, had over 30 published works in her life time, from poetry to prose to children’s literature. She often focused on race, capitalism and gender in her writings and was a professor at numerous colleges and universities across the country before spending significant time at Berea College—she passed away in December at the age of 69.
Literacy Council Executive Director Francine Gilmer appeared on WHOP Friday morning and says they hope to honor her memory with this writing contest, with the deadline for submissions set for March 1. Work must be writings to the theme of ‘change’ and can be in poetry, essay or short story format—they can be submitted through the Literacy Council Facebook page.
She says they hope to see a wide variety of entries for this new program, and she feels bell hooks would have appreciated a memorial that encouraged both writing and reading.
Participants must be submitted by individuals who live in, work in or are educated in Christian County, and a celebration of the winners and runners up will be held at the Alhambra Theatre on March 31. For more information, contact the Christian County Literacy Arts Council.