You’re ‘Bound’ to Like It! Jesse Stuart Foundation Launches New Book

You’re ‘Bound’ to Like It!

Jesse Stuart Foundation Launches New Book

Gwen Akers

The Ashland Beacon

This past Saturday, the Jesse Stuart Foundation hosted a launch party at the Delta Marriott Hotel in downtown Ashland to celebrate the 39 authors represented in its newest anthology, Song of Life: Poetry and Prose from the 2026 Jesse Stuart Writers Workshop. Twenty-nine of the 39 authors published in the book were recognized at the event, and the public had the opportunity to have their books signed and meet some of these amazing authors.

    “It was an important event to celebrate the writers in our region and highlight the work that was done at our writers’ workshop,” commented Dr. Jim Gifford, senior editor and CEO of the Jesse Stuart Foundation.

    Song of Life, named after a previously unpublished Jesse Stuart poem discovered and edited by Jesse Stuart Foundation Board Member John W. McCauley, showcases the essays, articles, poems, and short stories composed by presenters and attendees of the foundation’s 2026 writers’ workshop. The workshop took place in April and featured writers and publishers such as Al Cross, Carol Boggess, Brenda Evans, John W. McCauley, Adam Vankirk, and others. At the event, aspiring writers came from all over to learn about writing poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and even journalism.

The launch party celebrated the release of this anthology, edited by Gwen Akers, Brenda Evans, Jim Gifford, and Linda Harbison, and brought together both experienced and new writers. Authors sat side by side, signing books and striking up conversations with other literary enthusiasts in the area.

    “I really enjoy meeting new people, especially those who like to read. At the launch, I met a reader who is a clogger, another who is a UK football fan and the father of identical twin daughters—one a poet, the other a math whiz. I talked to a percussionist who is also an artist, a woman who collects both Barbies and Jesse Stuart books, and another who is the only person I know who has read West with the Night, a 1940s book by Beryl Markham that I love. In every way, it was a great event,” said co-editor Brenda Evans.  

The authors represented several states and communities throughout the region and ranged from established, published authors to aspiring writers just beginning their writing journeys.

    “It was nice to see so many in attendance. Several authors drove long distances to be there, and they stayed busy signing books from the beginning to the end,” explained co-editor Linda Harbison.

    Song of Life is just one of the Jesse Stuart Foundation’s new publications for the year, but it also marks the beginning of a new tradition. In future years, the foundation plans to continue compiling and editing anthologies after each writers’ workshop.

    The 2027 Writers Workshop will take place April 16–17 at the Ashland Delta Marriott Hotel. It will feature Kathleen Driskell, Kentucky’s poet laureate for 2025–2026 and chair and professor of creative writing at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University.

    If you missed the launch party, there is still time to pick up your copy of Song of Life by visiting the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore at 4440 13th Street in Ashland, Kentucky, or by ordering online at jsfbooks.com. You can also visit the foundation’s website and Facebook page for more information about registering for next year’s writers’ workshop.