The Jack Ellis Writers Workshop

William H. Turner (Keynote Speaker) is the author of The Harlan Renaissance: Stories of Black Life in Appalachian Coal Towns (2021, WVU Press). This award-winning book is another highlight in his career as a widely published author and informal statesman for the people of Appalachia.

Stan Bumgardner has been a historian in West Virginia for more than 35 years. He was editor of Goldenseal magazine for seven years and creative director for the West Virginia State Museum renovation. Among the many articles he’s written are “The Sloth Man,” revealing a surprising connection between a fossil find and Thomas Jefferson. He has published two histories: The Children’s Home Society of West Virginia and Charleston, WV, (in the popular Postcard History Series). He’s now media editor for the West Virginia Humanities Council’s online West Virginia Encyclopedia.

Brenda Evans is a speaker, teacher, memoirist, copy editor, and published author of dozens of articles and essays on a wide range of topics. As a writer, she has published in small town newspapers, national Christian magazines, and four anthologies, including a true story entitled “A Murdering Band of three” in JSF’s Appalachian Murders and Mysteries. Her memoir is Neptune’s Child.

James M. Gifford is the CEO and Senior Editor of the Jesse Stuart Foundation, a nonprofit publishing organization headquartered in Ashland, Kentucky. An accomplished and widely published historian, he has won professional awards as a teacher, author, editor, and publisher.

Keith R. Kappes, a retired university vice-president, and newspaper publisher, editor and reporter, is managing partner of Ghost Writers in the Sky. Two of his books were published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation: The View from My Keyboard and Wit, Wisdom and Other Stuff. He contributed to the JSF’s Appalachian Murders and Mysteries and True Christmas Stories from The Heart of Appalachia. Keith is a former reporter for the Associated Press, Ironton Tribune, Ashland Independent and Huntington Herald-Dispatch. He has received numerous state and national journalism awards.

John W. McCauley writes non-fiction and poetry. His work has been published in Kentucky Monthly Magazine, Kentucky Living, The Martha’s Vineyard Times, Trajectory, and other publications. His first book, Kentucky Is My Home: A Journey Into the Life of Jesse Hilton Stuart, will be available Spring 2025. He is currently working on a collection of unpublished Stuart essays. John is a member of the Jesse Stuart Foundation Board of Directors.

Wayne Onkst is the retired State Librarian and Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. After obtaining degrees in history and library science from the University of Kentucky, he was a librarian at the Kenton County Public Library for 27 years and Kentucky State Librarian and Commissioner from 2006 to 2015. He researched and authored Buffalo Trails to the 21st Century: A History of Erlanger, Ky. and Presidential Visits to Kentucky 1819-2017. He is currently researching the history of Kentucky’s bookmobile traditions.

Lee Pennington, the author of ten books of poetry and numerous non-fiction publications, is a native of Greenup County who was Jesse Stuart’s friend and protégé. Three of his books were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and in 1984 he was named the Poet Laureate of Kentucky.

Cathy C. Roberts, lives on a farm in Prospect, Tennessee and loves Appalachian life and culture. She has a Ph.D. in Computer Science and is retired after many years of working as an engineer, professor, and university administrator. She currently serves on the Board of the Jesse Stuart Foundation in Ashland, Kentucky. She recently edited a Stuart junior book, Bluetick Pig, for publication.

Rita S. Spalding is an award-winning Kentucky poet, nominated for the prestigious 2025 Pushcart Prize. Her works have been published in multiple anthologies and magazines. She has one book of poetry published with two more books appearing in 2025.

Georgia Green Stamper is a Kentucky non-fiction writer, speaker, and teacher. Her third and most recent book, Small Acreages, was one of ten titles longlisted for PENAmerica’s 2023 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for Art of the Essay. Each of her three books was chosen for the Carnegie Center’s New Books by Great Kentucky Writers series in their years of publication. Her essays have appeared in many anthologies, and she contributes work regularly to Kentucky Humanities and other periodicals. A seventh generation Kentuckian, Georgia is a former Greenup County resident who grew up on an Owen County farm that has been in her family for over 185 years. She now resides in Lexington.

Adam VanKirk is CEO of Right Eye Graphics in Ashland, Kentucky. He spent 20 years in newspaper journalism, working in editorial design and management for three daily publishers in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. He has been recognized for his work with dozens of individual and collaborative awards. Adam’s design work with Jesse Stuart: Immortal Kentuckian led to the 2016 Award of Excellence: Hard Cover in the Southeastern Library Association Southern Books Competition.