LEXINGTON, Ky.—Richard Taylor, Poet Laureate of Kentucky from 1999-2001, and current Kenan Visiting Writer at Transylvania, will sign his newest release, Rail Splitter, a collection of poems based on Lincoln’s life, Friday, November 6, from 3-5 p.m. at Transylvania’s bookstore in the Glenn Building. The event is open to the public.
“We are delighted to have a former Poet Laureate of Kentucky teaching in our English and Foundations of the Liberal Arts programs,” said William F. Pollard, vice president and dean of the college. “Richard Taylor knows Kentucky and Kentucky history, but—more importantly—he knows the talent that continues to come from Kentucky writers and how to help develop that talent in his students through an appreciation for literature and the encouragement to write well.”
This term, Taylor is teaching a Foundations of the Liberal Arts class and an English class, Prospectives on Literature. During winter term, he will again teach Prospectives on Literature and will also lead a fiction workshop in the writing, rhetoric and communication program.
Taylor has won a variety of honors for his extensive publications in both poetry and prose. As director of Poetry in the Schools for the Kentucky Arts Commission, he served as poet-in-residence at a dozen public elementary and secondary schools across Kentucky. He has also served as a professor of English at Kentucky State University for many years.
Taylor earned a B.A. in English from the University of Kentucky in 1963, an M.A. in English from the University of Louisville in 1964, a J.D. from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1967 and a Ph.D. in English from UK in 1974. His publications include Sue Mundy: A Novel of the Civil War in Kentucky, Stone Eye (poems) and Girty (novel).
For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120.