Writing and literature will be the subject of a local awards ceremony Thursday.
Lexington’s Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning is holding its fourth annual induction ceremony for the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. The event has honored the Commonwealth’s most notable literary figures, such as Thomas Merton, Hunter S. Thompson, and Rebecca Caudill. In 2015, the Center presented Wendell Berry as its first living inductee, and will do the same this year with short-story author Bobbie Ann Mason. Spokeswoman Jessica Faye Mohler says 2016’s ceremony also features several important writers from the past.
“We have James Lane Allen, who’s kind of a Lexington favorite, we have Harlan Hubbard. Our first songwriter is being inducted this year, that’s Jean Ritchie, and then we also have Alice Hegan Rice, who was a children’s author," she said.
These writers works will be honored through readings by relatives and local literary figures, while Mohler says Ritchie will receive a musical tribute.
"These are Jean Ritchie’s actual nieces, which is really cool. They’re dulcimer players and they’ll be performing music for us that evening," she said.
The induction ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Carnegie Center on 251 West 2nd. Street Thursday night at 7:00.
More information on the event is available at carnegiecenterlex.org.