Current News from the Kansas Authors Club

Member Helps Kick Off Bonner Springs Library Summer Reading Program

6/1/2026

Tuesday, June 2 at 6:30 PM: KAC member and western Kansas native Melanie Bonner Thomas will deliver a presentation on her book Old Man of the Fossil Beds in Bonner Springs to kick off their multi-library summer reading program, One Book, Many Neighbors. The presentation and reading take place at the Alden-Harrington Family Event Center, 218 Oak St., Bonner Springs, KS at 6:30 pm. More information about the reading program:
https://www.onebookmanyneighbors.org/

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Robert Phillips Presenting in Eureka on June 6

6/1/2026

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Robert W. Phillips, member from Lawrence, will be presenting a program on his new book, Big Boys Don't Cry; a memoir of his growing up in the Flint Hills, 1940-50s, near Virgil, Kansas.

The presentation will take place at the Greenwood County Historical Society, Eureka, Kansas, June 6, 2026, 1:30 pm

The public is invited.

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Save the Date - June 20 State Program with Laurie L. Dove

5/29/2026

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The recording of the May program by Leslie Von Holten is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.) State programs remain online for viewing by members for approximately one month. Take a moment to watch today so that you don't miss it!

SAVE THE DATE

Program: Write for Your Life: How to Create Your Ideal Writing Routine
Presented by Laurie L. Dove

Wondering how to get to “there” from “here”? You’re in the right place! We’ll explore the surprising challenges well-known authors have faced, and we will complete personalized exercises that will help you create an ideal writing routine — one that works with, and is supported by, your daily life. Plus, we’ll map out those Big Dreams too! I’ll share my (almost) unbelievable story of turning a short story into a novel that was then published by Penguin Random House and became an instant national bestseller.

Laurie L. Dove is an award-winning journalist and the national bestselling author of MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN (Berkley/Penguin Random House). This suspenseful mystery was chosen as a The New York Times “best new release” and reviewed as a “powerful read…rooted in justice and resilience” by The Seattle Times. Recently, MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN was nominated for a prestigious Lefty Award by the Left Coast Crime Convention. The next book in this series, CRY OF THE RAIN CROW, will release in December 2026, followed by a third installment in 2027. Dove is currently writing a nonfiction book, TWICE GONE: THE VANISHING INDIGENOUS WOMEN OF THE HEARTLAND, which will be published in November 2027 by University Press of Kansas. Dove is a national keynote speaker fond of cheering “it’s never too late!” She earned a graduate degree in Creative Writing and Literature at Harvard University, offers consulting services to writers, has an always-free newsletter at LaurieDove.com, and is on all the socials at @LaurieDoveAuthor.

Members may use this link (Member sign-on required) for access to the state program.

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April Pameticky's Poetry Collection Release - June 7, 2026

5/28/2026

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April Pameticky's poetry collection book release party will be held at Harvester Arts in Wichita, The Lux @ 1st & Market, 120 E. 1st St N., Ste 115, June 7, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

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May 16 Program - Leslie VonHolton

5/4/2026

The recording of the April program by Ken Spurgeon is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

SAVE THE DATE

May 16, 2026

State Program

Program: PsychoGeography and the Landscapes of Kansas

Presented by Leslie VonHolton

Psychogeography is a writing approach that explores physical landscape and the writer's imagination in ways that bring readers along in the act of discovery. This talk will journey across the varied and beautiful lands and waters of Kansas and imagine the stories within.

Leslie VonHolten writes about art and the environment of the prairie and Great Plains regions. She is co-editor of Kansas Matters: 21st-century Writers on the Sunflower State with Thomas Fox Averill, published by University Press of Kansas.

Members may use this link (Member sign-on required) for access to the state program.

Are you ready for the Free State Book Festival in Lawrence?

4/28/2026

Free State Book Festival

Join us at the Raven Bookstore at 4pm on Sunday, May 3rd for the Prose Keynote of the Free State Book Festival, given by Lawrence sci-fi author, editor, and educator Christopher McKitterick. Chris McKitterick will read from his new short-fiction collection, Visions of Space & Time, and a collector's edition reprint of his novel, Transcendence, created especially for this festival. Books will be available for sale and signing.

Learn More - Raven Book Store

Kansas Author Celebration in Larned, Kansas

4/26/2026

Head's up members, this event conflicts with our annual convention, but we are excited to see an author celebration taking place in western Kansas and are talking with them about coordinating schedules for future years. If you can't make the 2026 convention this year, perhaps this event will be a good fit for you.

Wish we could be both places at once!

Note from the Jordaan Memorial Library in Larned:

My name is Amy, and I work at the Jordaan Memorial Library in Larned, KS. We are working on putting together an event that celebrates Kansas authors on Saturday, Oct. 3rd. We are hoping to reach as many Kansas authors as possible, to provide the opportunity to join us. There is no registration fee for authors, and they will be able to sell their books during the event. We will provide a table and two chairs.

Our guest speaker is going to be Trooper Ben and his ghostwriter, Elaine McAllister, as they discuss how his forthcoming book came to be.

To be a vendor at this event, you can find the form at our website www.jordaanmemoriallibrary.wordpress.com

We are hosting this at the Larned Community Center so we have more room, but space will still be on a first come first served basis.

Matt Spezia will be Words in the Wind's featured poet next Wednesday, April 22 at Round Table Bookstore

4/18/2026

Matt Spezia is a community-driven, team-effort artist, combining an eight individual and six group national award-winning poetry style, along with 17 other nominations I Kansas City hip hop and thespian teachings. Matt has published three albums and book and has appeared in an anthology CD and book. He also has been in the 2020 award-winning national poetic album of the year, “Babylon.”

Matt uses his platform to promote self-confidence and personal betterment, social awareness, and cultural change. He has worked to directly influence schoolchildren in 43 different school districts across Kansas, Illinois and Missouri.

Matt will begin at 6:15 p.m.

April is poetry month.
Sign-up for open mic
begins 6 p.m.

Words in the Wind is sponsored by
Kansas Authors Club Topeka Chapter
& Round Table Bookstore

Member Jenna Brack Reading & Craft Talk at Eighth Day Books

4/13/2026

Book Reading & Craft Talk

Hear from author Jenna Brack
as she shares from her newly released book

Pass-Through Place
Essays on Home, Hope, and Following the Horizon

Tuesday, April 21, 2026
6:30 p.m.

Eighth Day Books
2838 E. Douglas
Wichita, Kansas

Ride along with Jenna Brack as she explores the vast and varied Kansas landscape, a place some consider flat and uninteresting. In this collection of personal essays that unfold as a coming-of-age memoir, Brack reveals how the land and people of Kansas have been catalysts for growth, healing, and identity. As Brack passes through wheatfields, historic ice storms, or the sprawling Flint Hills, she also travels through her own inner landscape of longing and loss. Together, these essays spotlight Kansas as much more than a pass-through place, and instead as a formative place of resilience and hope. Brack’s storytelling invites us to consider how our own pass-through places are infused with meaning—even how they might carry us home.

Jenna Brack grew up in central Kansas and lived in the Midwest for over thirty-five years before moving abroad. Her essays and poetry have been featured in publications such as Every Day Poems, The Sunlight Press, Coffee + Crumbs, 105 Meadowlark Reader, and others. A former educator and college instructor, Jenna now encourages other writers through editing and coaching. She holds an MA in English from Kansas State University and enjoys exploring the goodness of every place alongside her husband and two children. Pass-Through Place is her first book.

April 18 State Program: Ken Spurgeon, Why Kansas Stories Matter

4/13/2026

Please join us on Saturday
for our program with

Ken Spurgeon

Why Kansas Stories Matter

Members may use this link (Member sign-on required) for access to the state program.

Program: Why Kansas Stories Matter
Presented by Ken Spurgeon

Kansas has been overlooked, at times. Considered the flyover state or an area to pass through, but many writers have found success and deep interest with the Sunflower state. In this presentation, Ken Spurgeon discusses why Kansas matters to him and why it is an area that provides a wonderful canvas for storytelling.

Ken Spurgeon serves as assistant professor of history at Friends University. He received his Bachelor of Art and Master of Art degrees in History from Wichita State University, while also completing hours in Secondary Education Social Studies. He has taught at Central High School in Burden, KS, and at Northfield School of the Liberal Arts and has been a director of instruction and education at Cowley College. His master’s thesis, “A Kansas Soldier at War,” later became a book published by the History Press in 2013. In 2004, he founded Lone Chimney Films Inc. and has written or co-written and directed three documentaries and a docudrama. Two of his films have earned the Western Heritage Award (Wrangler), and three have aired on PBS stations.

Petals & Poems at Botanica in Wichita

4/8/2026

Kansas Authors Club in Wichita is hosting Petals & Poems at the Koi Pond Pavilion at Botanica this month. You are invited to attend this interactive poetry experience.

April 8
6pm - April Pameticky
7pm - Kevin Rabas

April 15
6pm - Jeanice Davis
7pm Clarence Carvel

April 22
6pm Julie Ann Baker Brin
7pm Traci Brimhall

Youth Writing Contest Accepting Entries April 1 to June 15

4/3/2026

There is no charge for entering the
Youth Writing Contest by Kansas Authors Club.

Our contests are open to all youth, grades 3-12, residing in the state of Kansas AND to all student members of the Kansas Authors Club, regardless of residence.

Four Age Divisions: Grades 3-4; Grades 5-6; Grades 7-8; Grades 9-12.

Four Categories:
Category #1 Poetry (to 40 lines; any form, including rhymed verse, free verse, haiku, classical form, song lyric);

#2 Fiction (to 800 words; short story, chapter of a novel, drama);

#3 Nonfiction (to 800 words; essay, research paper, factual narrative or drama based on real events and people);

#4 Art (any medium, no AI work will be accepted) must be submitted as an image, JPG or PDF preferred. Note: All art submissions will be considered for the cover of the Youth Awards Book, regardless of place awarded.

Youth Contest Guidelines

March Program Recording Available: Linzi Garcia

3/29/2026

The recording of the March program by Linzi Garcia is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

Presentation Title - Advocacy through Bookmaking & the Diverse Voices Literacy Program
Linzi Garcia discussed how she uses zine making and other creative writing, reading, and public speaking lessons in her Diverse Voices Literacy Program--a program to enhance literacy skills through creative writing with local fifth-grade students and turn them into published authors! Linzi offered resources to adopt your own Diverse Voices program! Creative writing is an artform for anyone, and this presentation and activity removes the pressure of making masterpieces and encourages playfulness.

Save the Date: Saturday, April 18, 20216, 1:30 p.m.

March 25 Open Mic, Round Table Bookstore in Topeka

3/23/2026

Kansas writer A.D. Childers will be our featured story-teller at the Topeka Chapter of Kansas Authors Club's open mic on Wednesday, March 25 at Round Table Bookstore. Sign-up begins at 6 p.m. She will begin reading at 6:15.

The public is invited!

A.D Childers, who also writes short fiction as Alisha Davis, is a Kansas-born writer and educator. She loves a good mystery, especially with a paranormal twist. Childers holds a Masters in Creative Writing for Educators from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is active with several writing groups in her area. She loves working with writers, and her students consistently inspire her with their creativity and brilliance. Her debut novel, The Switch Point, was named a 2025 Kansas Notable Book.

March is prose/storytelling month
Sign-up for open mic
begins at 6 p.m.

Words in the Wind is sponsored by
the Topeka Area Chapter of Kansas Authors Club
& Round Table Bookstore

April 11 State Board Meeting

3/21/2026

Save the date for our
April Board Meeting & Mini Workshop / Brainstorming / Planning for the Future Session

It will take place on Saturday, April 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Lyon County History Center in Emporia.

Board Members
State and Area Leaders
and Future Leaders
are encouraged to attend!

Email Tracy if you would like to receive more information.

Topeka: Local Authors Fair, Monday, March 30

3/21/2026

From member Bill Isley:

I have the privilege of being one of more than 20 authors featured at the Topeka Library's "Local Authors Fair" on Monday, March 30th from 4:00-7:00 pm. I'll be there to chat and sell and autograph my two novels The Likeness of Sinful Flesh and Chasing the Wind. Check out all the writers there. It should be very interesting. Love to see you.

Here's the library link. https://events.tscpl.org/event/15557350

There will be many Kansas Authors Club members at this event! Look for the following, and more!

Kim Hurley Andrews
F.C. Appelhanz
Tim Bascom
A.D. Childers
Anamarie Davis-Wilkens
Todd Fertig
Duane R. Johnson
Patrick Kelly
Ruth Maus
Samantha Morrison
Catherine Robertson
Leslie VonHolten

Topeka Writers Small Critique Group

3/13/2026

Topeka Writers Writing Group meets the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. It is a small critique group that would like to grow. We meet at 5:30 at the Barnes & Noble Coffee Shop on Wanamaker. If there are other writers who would like to attend, you can reach out to Stacy Thowe at [email protected].

Retreat Invitation for Children's Book Creators

3/13/2026

Member Abbi Lee extends this invitation to those who write children's books, presented by the Society of Childen's Book Writers and Illustrators, Kansas-Missouri Chapter.

Who’s ready to take a step back from everyday life and focus on their writing for 2 solid days! Who wants to fill their creative soul with nature and children’s book talk? If I’m describing you, take time for yourself to dive into a manuscript or two in the bucolic setting of Conception Abbey (37174 State Hwy VV, Conception, MO 64433). This year we are excited to announce that Ruqayyah Daud of Little Brown Books for Young Readers will be our guest editor. She will be leading two workshops, one on revision and one on finding the hook for your story. Come get feedback from both a seasoned editor and fellow writers. Join us Friday, April 17 to Sunday, April 19, 2026 for 2 full days of digging deeper into your works in progress! KSMO-SCBWI offers this retreat for all writing levels. Meals, lodging, peer critiques, a professional critique from Ruqayyah, and the workshops are included in the cost.

About the faculty: Ruqayyah Daud is a senior editor at LBYR. She began her career in 2018 assisting editor-in-chief Alvina Ling and editor-at-large, Susan Rich. She is currently building her own list and is drawn to commercial books with a strong hook, emotional core, and vibrant cast of characters. Her titles include the critically acclaimed As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh and the #1 New York Times bestselling Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, and the New York Times bestselling Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray. When she isn’t editing she can be found working as a part-time bookseller at her local independent bookstore, Fonts Books & Gifts, where she also leads the Fantasy Book Club.

Register here: https://www.scbwi.org/events/recharge-your-writing-retreat-at-conception-abbey-pf-fyntv3u8

February Program Recording Available: Save March 21 for our Next State Program

2/28/2026

The recording of the February program by Kevin Rabas is now available for viewing by members at this link. (Member sign-on required.)

SAVE THE DATE
March 21, 2026, 1:30 p.m.

Program: Topic: House of Morrow / Children's Programs
Presented by Linzi Garcia

Presentation Title - "Let's Make a Book: Advocacy through Bookmaking & the Diverse Voices Literacy Program"
Linzi Garcia will walk you through how to make a little book/zine! She will discuss the zine's history and purpose as a personal creative act or a larger community movement. Linzi will also discuss how she uses this activity and other creative writing, reading, and public speaking lessons in her Diverse Voices Literacy Program--a program to enhance literacy skills through creative writing with local fifth-grade students and turn them into published authors! Linzi will offer resources to adopt your own Diverse Voices program! Creative writing is an artform for anyone, and this presentation and activity removes the pressure of making masterpieces and encourages playfulness.

Linzi Garcia is the poetry editor and publicist of Meadowlark Press. Bringing together her Meadowlark role with her role as vice chair of House of Morrow, an arts-based services nonprofit, she serves as the program director for the Diverse Voices Literacy Program. During the program, Linzi and other facilitators teach creative writing, reading, and public speaking to local fifth graders, and, at the end of each school year, Meadowlark publishes an anthology of work by the students. Linzi is the author of two poetry collections, Cravings and Thank You, as well as the co-author of While Away: Travel Poems and Live a Great Story. She is a recipient of a NextGen Under 30 Kansas award.

Member Cathy Feemster at Women Empowered Spring Market, March 7

2/23/2026

Cathy Feemster, author of the children's book My Friend Rachel by Shep, the dog, will have a booth and author talk at the Women Empowered Spring Market on March 7, 2026, at Wichita's East Heights Methodist Church. The event hours are 10 am to 2 pm. All booths will offer products and services by woman-owned small businesses.

Cathy is a member of Kansas Authors Club and wants to invite all members and their friends to this fun event.

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