Accents Publisher and poet Katerina Stoykova sits down with Larry Pemble and Jeanine Triplett of the James Baker Hall Foundation to discuss the organization's first annual book awards.
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“Hall was perhaps best known and loved for his mentorship of young Kentucky writers through his position as director of creative writing at the University of Kentucky for over 30 years.” — James Baker Hall Foundation
The Living Legacy of James Baker Hall
James Baker Hall in his studio, Harrison County, early 1980s (Courtesy of the James Baker Hall Foundation)
By Tom Martin
Larry Pemble is on a mission. It's been 15 years since the passing of his father — famed Kentucky writer/photographer James Baker Hall — time enough for the world to have moved on. Long enough for memory of its losses to fade. Hall's eldest son is making sure that doesn't happen to his father's legacy.
Pemble and his family have formed the James Baker Hall Foundation, and as its managing director, Pemble is preparing to celebrate the organization's inaugural book award with readings by the winner, as well as by poet Greg Pape, who served as the judge for the award.
The event takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 7:00-9:00 P.M. at the Egan Leadership Center on the campus of Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.
The foundation plans to sponsor an annual book award competition for aspiring writers, rotating among various literary genres. The initial project accepted non-published authors in poetry, requiring a manuscript of a minimum of 50 pages. There were more than 70 entries in this year's competition.
“We could not be more pleased with the first year of the book award,” said Pemble, Hall’s eldest son. “The number is impressive, but the quality of the entries is outstanding. We are just very excited to make our first award.”
The recipient of the very first James Baker Hall Book Award is George Wesley Houp for his manuscript Strung Out Along the Endless Branch. Mr. Houp will receive a $3,000 prize from The James Baker Hall Foundation and publication of his works by Accents Publishing.
George Wesley Houp, Strung Out Along the Endless Branch
Finalists:
Melissa Helton, Luckstone
Elisabeth Jensen, Airbourne
Zachary Johnson, An Offering
Biographical information about the winner and finalists is available on the website of Accents Publishing.
James Baker Hall was a Poet Laureate of Kentucky, a prolific photographer and the author of many essential works of Southern literature. He was a member of the “Fab Five” of Kentucky writers, including Wendell Berry, Ed McClanahan, Bobbie Ann Mason and Gurney Norman.
Wendell Berry, Henry County, 1970s (Courtesy James Baker Hall Foundation)
Hall was perhaps best known and loved for his mentorship of young Kentucky writers through his position as director of creative writing at the University of Kentucky for over
30 years.
His family established the James Baker Hall Foundation in 2023 with a mission to honor
and carry on Hall’s interest in mentoring writers by providing direct support to Kentucky’s literary and visual creatives.
Greg Pape, judge of this year's competition, is the author of nine books, including Border Crossings, Black Branches, Storm Pattern, Sunflower Facing the Sun and American Flamingo. His poems have been published widely in such magazines and literary reviews as The Atlantic, Iowa Review, The New Yorker, Northwest Review and Poetry. He has received the Discovery/The Nation Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Individual Fellowships, the Pushcart Prize, the Richard Hugo Memorial Poetry Award and his poems have been featured on NPR and read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac. He teaches at the University of Montana and in the brief-residency MFA program at Spalding University. Greg served as Poet Laureate of Montana from 2007-2009.