Kansas Authors Club will host a monthly “Author Talk” featuring an award-winning writer, with first priority given to authors who have won KAC book awards. The author will talk about an aspect of writing, publishing, or marketing (author's choice). The presentations are expected to last an hour to an hour and a half and will include time for questions and answers.
These events are being planned via Zoom, to take place on the 4th Tuesday of each month. The event will be open to all Kansas Authors Club members. A recording of the event will be made available to members who cannot attend live.
You must be a Kansas Authors Club member to attend an Author Talk. Not a member? Join today!
These events are being planned via Zoom, to take place on the 4th Tuesday of each month. The event will be open to all Kansas Authors Club members. A recording of the event will be made available to members who cannot attend live.
You must be a Kansas Authors Club member to attend an Author Talk. Not a member? Join today!
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January Author Talk: Jon Kelly Yenser
The News as Usual
Winner: 2020 Nelson Poetry Book Award
The News as Usual
Winner: 2020 Nelson Poetry Book Award
The News as Usual is available from Twice Told Tales Bookshop, and wherever you buy books! Support Kansas literature by supporting a Kansas Author!
"The title for Jon Kelly Yenser’s 2019 collection of poems, The News as Usual, accurately and profoundly describes his poetry although the “usual” here is shown to be startling and wondrous and occasionally wry and subtly humorous. Yenser writes from the ground up in choosing both his words and the subjects for his poems, reflecting his recognition that the "news," that is, ordinary life during all seasons in Kansas—in fields, in the backyards of its small towns, and in friendships—can be astonishing.
"Neither idealizing nor prettifying his Kansas, Yenser chooses language precisely and astonishingly. He creates metaphors that make the familiar spring wondrously into new life, thereby making the usual news become unusual."
--Elizabeth A. Schultz, judge, 2020 Nelson Poetry Book Award
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February Author Talk: Chuck Warner
Birds, Bones, and Beetles: The Improbable Career and Remarkable Legacy of University of Kansas Naturalist Charles D. Bunker
Winner:
2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award
2020 "Looks Like A Million" Design Award
Birds, Bones, and Beetles: The Improbable Career and Remarkable Legacy of University of Kansas Naturalist Charles D. Bunker
Winner:
2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award
2020 "Looks Like A Million" Design Award
Tuesday, February 23, 7pm
Click here to register (must register to attend).
Click here to register (must register to attend).
University Press of Kansas has agreed to offer members of KAC a 30% discount on copies of Warner's book. Beginning today, this offer is good through March 31, 2021, and applies only to online purchases from University Press of Kansas using the Promo Code KAC30. (https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-2773-8.html)
“While reading Chuck Warner’s book, I felt myself being transported back in time and seeing life through the eyes of Charles Bunker. Birds, Bones, and Beetles tells the story of naturalist Charles Bunker's life from his early years in Illinois in the late 1800s through his long career at the University of Kansas. Much like Charles Bunker, the book itself is unassuming and down to earth. Warner takes care to not only reveal Bunker's strengths but also his flaws. Yet, the book is more than a biography. Warner ties Bunker into a larger world that include his relationships with his colleagues and family, developments within the University of Kansas, and the natural history of the state. This well written and well researched book is not only a treat to read but is a valuable contribution to the history of Kansas.”
-Thomas C. Percy, PhD, judge, 2020 Martin Kansas History Book Award
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March Author Talk: Michael D. Graves
All Hallows' Shadows
Winner:
2020 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award
All Hallows' Shadows
Winner:
2020 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award
"In All Hallows’ Shadows, Michael D. Graves serves up both homage and an original take on the hard-boiled detective genre. The mean streets of the novel are historic Wichita, Kansas, which Mr. Graves renders impeccably, edging in a history lesson with his mystery. Graves, an evident baseball fan, hits through the cycle of the genre’s tropes, but does so in a manner entirely his own, realizing a style entirely his own. Out of a field of strong competition, my choice for the J. Donald Coffin Book Award is Michael D. Graves’s All Hallows’ Shadows."
-William Sheldon, judge, 2020 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award
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