We are recruiting volunteer tutors for the summer session (June 10–July 26).
FALL 2024:
FOR ADDITIONAL OFFERINGS
Tutors meet with a child in grades K-12 for one hour once a week. In-person and virtual options are available. All tutors receive a FREE class per season! Your new friend is waiting for you! Email Holly@CarnegieCenterLex.org
UPCOMING EVENTS: Black & Lit Book Club, Burn The Mic, Say It Loud, and Carnegie Classics
YOUTH & FAMILY: Young Writers Project, Lexington Youth Poet Laureate Program. Look for fall classes to be announced on our website.
ADULT CLASSES: Poetry, Screenplay & Scriptwriting, Multigenre, and Fiction
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Junior League of Lexington
Retreat led by published authors!
purchase tickets.
FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
At the Carnegie Center, the fall season is filled with excitement. While the kids are experiencing a new school year, we’re delivering a new line-up of classes for children and adults, along with author readings, family literacy events, the Black & Lit Book Club, and much more. You can find our full line-up and register on our website, CarnegieCenterLex.org.
Adults, we never leave you out. If you can't travel the world, learn a new language and gain a fun new skill. Writers–and people not yet ready to call themselves writers–do NOT miss out on the Books In Progress Conference; it's my favorite weekend of the entire year here We also have several events you won't want to miss, including the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative's Burn The Mic and Say It Loud reading series on June 27 featuring Lexington Youth Poets Laureate and other guest readers. You can also find dozens more opportunities on our website, designed for people like you.
this year celebrating Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. You can expect to be transported into the novel’s set tings and enjoy a night of creative surprises, dinner, live music, an open bar, and more!
it' s my favorite we We also have several events you won t wan including the Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative' s Burn The Mic and Say It Loud reading series on June 27 featuring Lexington Youth Poets Laureate and other gu readers. You can also find dozens more opportunities on designed for people like you.
I hope this is your best summer yet!
I hope this is your best summer yet!
Jennifer Mattox
We’ll also host our annual Carnegie Classics event on Saturday, November 9,
We hope to see you in our building soon, or online in one of our classes!
Jennifer Mattox Scan here to sign up to rec
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STAFF
Sarabeth Brownrobie (she/her) Marketing & Communications Director
Maggie Garnett (she/her) Program & Registrar Associate
Jonathan Hall (he/him) Youth Programs & Volunteer Director
Mollie Harris (she/her) Development Director
Alison Hruby (she/her) Tutoring Associate
Lucy Jayes (she/her) Development Associate
Carol Jordan (she/her) Development Associate
Karen Little (she/her) Registrar & Database Administrator
Claudia Love Mair (she/her) Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative Coordinator
Jennifer Hester Mattox (she/her) Executive Director
Kadee Whaley (she/her) Marketing Associate & Web Manager
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Veda Stewart, Chair
Maria Fischer-Boothe, Vice Chair
Jennifer Miloszewski, Treasurer
Paige Bensing
Maria Gomez
Silas House
Eugenia Johnson-Smith Bo List
Austin Mehr
Elieen O’Brien
Ryessia Jones Russell
Heather Sunseri
William S. Farish, Honorary Member
ADVISORY BOARD
Saraya Brewer, Bill Davis
Chester Grundy, Brian Hodge
Janet Holloway, Jan Isenhour
Sonja McGuire, Ramia Miller Osman
Darryl Stith
EVENTS
Instructors Meet up
September 7, 10:00 AM–2:00 PM with Youth Programs & Volunteer Director
Jonathan Hall and Program Director Z Valentine
This informational session is designed to inspire and equip you to teach your next Carnegie Center course! Whether you’ve never taught before or you are a seasoned Carnegie instructor, this session will have all the relevant info to get you started and ease you into your classroom experience. In addition, the Programming staff will be announcing big changes (Class Coordinator, increased pay, etc.) that will affect this upcoming season, so don’t miss out. Lots of exciting good news.
Carnegie Classics MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie. November 9, 7:00–11:00 PM
Join us on a luxurious trip through Europe that goes off the rails when a passenger is mysteriously murdered. Will you catch the killer before they strike again, or find yourself at the end of the line? Attendees can expect an open bar, dinner, and evening of creative surprises. Costumes are encouraged. Be on the look out for more details soon. We hope to see you there! Visit bit.ly/carnegieclassicsmoe or call 859-254-4175 ext. 21 to purchase tickets.
Black & Lit Book Club: ONLINE 6:00–7:00 PM
September 9–Minda Honey I November 11–Mariama J. Lockington Black & Lit Book Club features new books by Black Kentucky writers and open to anyone who wishes to attend. The first 25 registrants receive a free copy of the book.
Burn The Mic: Signups 6:30 PM, Event 7:00–8:00 PM
August 15–Open Mic I September 19–Renée Rigdon October 17–Alissa Sammarco I November 21–Shauna Morgan Sponsored by LexArts, Kentucky Arts Council, and the Chethik Family Fund to Advance Black Writers
ADULT CLASSES
POETRY
Turning the Line with Katie Riley
Saturday, October 26, 10:30–12:30 PM • $35
Mary Oliver describes reading a poem as “someone stepping into a row boat with a stranger at the oars; the first few draws on the long oars through the deep water will tell a lot—is one safe, or is one apt to be soon drowned?” This class will explore line length and line breaks (the turn of the line) and how to carry our reader safely to the end of the poem. Katie Riley has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, runs a poetry workshop, and a poetry Facebook group of over 200 members. [ALL LEVELS]
SCREENPLAY & SCRIPTWRITING
Screenwriting Group with Mitch Smith
ONLINE: Bi-weekly Tuesdays, September 10–December 17, 6:30–8:00 PM • $180
Led by Mitch Smith, an award-winning screenwriter and film producer, this group is a wonderful way to meet other screenwriters and film professionals from around the state, and get your work in front of a supportive, knowledgeable team of writers. The group is open to screenwriters of all levels, as well as anyone with an interest in screenwriting, or filmmaking! Mitch Smith has won or placed in screenwriting competitions through Fade In, Writer’s Digest, Stage 32, and Screencraft.org (among others); produced the feature film Ghost in the Family (available on Amazon Video); and wrote and produced a comedy television pilot that is now being taken around the industry. Mitch has years of screenwriting experience through his time working as both a screenwriter, and a script reader/reviewer for companies like SimplyScripts and Write to Reel. [ALL LEVELS]
MULTIGENRE
Free Writing Practice with Leslie Dodd
ONLINE: Fridays, September 20–December 13 (no class on November 29), 12:00–1:30 PM • FREE
This writing experience offers attendees the opportunity to engage in a creative and communicative loop without judgment. We write from a variety of prompts designed to release the inner censor and simply get words on a page. After each
timed session, writers read aloud their new work to participating attendees. This zen-like practice originated from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. Leslie Dodd is a painter, poet, songwriter, and aspiring folk opera writer, who has attended Free Writing Practice for many years. [ALL LEVELS]
Sensory Writing Workshop with Jessica Handler
ONLINE: Tuesday, October 22, 6:30–8:30 PM • $35
A character comes to life on the page through well-crafted sensory detail. In this prompt-driven workshop, we will explore how writing about sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell add dimension to your fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This workshop is open to writers of all levels, in all genres. Jessica Handler is the author of The Magnetic Girl , winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize, the memoir, Invisible Sisters , the craft guide Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss , and the forthcoming novel The World To See . Visit her online at www .jessicahandler.co m. [ALL LEVELS]
Writing Toward a Sense of Place with Tony Crunk ONLINE: Mondays, October 7–December 16 (no class on November 11), 7:00–8:30 PM • $225
A distinctive trait of much memorable writing is its (and its author’s) “sense of place.” But any “place” is much more than just its geographical location—it is also defined by history and culture, ecology and economics, sociology and ethnography, all of which may have intensely personal, as well as familial and communal dimensions. Through a series of directed exercises and workshop discussions of drafted works, we will explore and develop in our writing the many-faceted “sense” that is “place.” The workshop is multigenre writers working in any genre and all genres are warmly invited, as are writers of any and all levels. Tony Crunk’s first collection of poetry, Living in the Resurrection, was a selection in the Yale Series of Younger Poets; he has published numerous subsequent works, and has taught at the Universities of Virginia, Montana, and Alabama/Birmingham, as well as in a number of community education programs across the country. [ALL LEVELS]
FICTION
Horror Writing Workshop with Darian Bianco Thursdays, September 12–October 31, 5:45–7:15 PM • $180 Out of all the genres, horror is the only one that is also an emotion—you can feel horror. It is a genre that creeps-out, grosses-out, and psychs-out, but true lovers will keep coming back for more. Whether you’re writing in the vein of Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Nat Cassidy, Mona Awad, or Cassandra Khaw, this course will help you improve your craft. With weekly meetings, including readings and swapping work, this class will equip you with a horror toolbelt and connect you with fellow writers. Darian Bianco is a writer and teacher out of Richmond, Kentucky, teaching Creative Writing at Eastern Kentucky University, Reach Your Apex, and the Carnegie Center and a graduate of the Carnegie Center’s Author Academy. [ALL LEVELS]
WE BELIEVE THAT EVERYONE DESERVES ACCESS TO OUR CLASSES!
If paying the full price for a class would cause you financial hardship, please speak with a registrar at the Front Desk or email our registrars at info@carnegiecenterlex.org to inquire about our once-a-season, 50% off, need-based scholarships. We have awarded scholarships to people with limited or low income; students with limited means; and members of families with a recent financial setback due to major illness, a house fire, or other unfortunate circumstances.
This offer is for adult classes only; if you are interested in other programs and services at the Carnegie Center and have financial need, please check out our website or email the registrar to learn more about other potential financial assistance.
YOUTH & FAMILY
YOUNG WRITERS PROJECT 2025 COHORT APPLICATIONS OPEN OCTOBER 1
The Carnegie Center invites young women and nonbinary writers in grades 9–12 to apply to the Young Writers Project, a FREE series of intensive workshops focused on creative self-expression through writing. The selected group of up to 15 participants will attend seven workshops led by experienced writers in their 20s and 30s who will mentor on a variety of genres. The program will culminate in a public reading at the Carnegie Center. Applications will be open through January 17, 2025.
LEXINGTON YOUTH POET LAUREATE PROGRAM APPLICATION
Apply to become the next Lexington Youth Poet Laureate! The program honors poets (ages 13–18) and leaders in Kentucky who are committed to making an impact through community engagement utilizing the power of written and spoken words. The application window is November 1–30, 2024. In October, students can sign up for a weekly course that will help them improve their craft and prepare their pieces for the Lexington Youth Poet Laureate application.
TUTORING REGISTRATION: The lottery registration for new students for the 2024–2025 school year will be open on our website from August 1–31. All registrants will be contacted in September with the results. In-person and virtual options available. Only Kentucky residents are eligible to participate. Visit our website for more details. Questions? Contact Tutoring Director Holly Sanders at holly@carnegiecenterlex.org or call (859) 254-4175, ext. 22. Necesitas ayuda en español? Por favor llame al (859) 254-4175, ext. 22.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: LEXINGTON JUNIOR LEAGUE
It’s an exciting night at the Carnegie Center as the women of the Junior League of Lexington gather to stuff backpacks with school supplies for distribution the following weekend.
Although the Junior League has been involved with the Carnegie Center for years, their Community Organizer Bridget Szczapinski (pictured right) is volunteering for the first time this year. Her parents were both librarians, so the importance of literacy and learning was instilled in her at a very early age. During her first Family Fun & Learning Night, she was particularly impressed to see parents and children working on art together.
Bridget says, “In this stressed out world that we’re living in now, I think the Center provides an opportunity for folks to learn something new and be reminded of what is important. I’m happy that I get to be a small part of that.”
“As the volunteer director, I value all my volunteers! However, my experience with the Junior League is they come ready not just to work an event, but to jump in and lead. With their level of professionalism and leadership, it’s like having extra staff members on hand.”
