The Jack Ellis Writers Workshop

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. In his spare time, Stan loves to gather with friends and play the fiddle.

Victor M. Depta is the publisher of Blair Mountain Press, which focuses on the environment, for example, Coal: A Poetry Anthology, edited by Chris Green. He has published eleven books of poetry, eight novels, two volumes of comedic plays, two collections of essays on poetry and mysticism, a memoir, and over 200 poems in magazines and journals. He has a Ph.D. in American literature from Ohio University, an M.A. in English from San Francisco State University, and a B.A. in English from Marshall University. After teaching for 40 years, he has settled in Frankfort, Kentucky.

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 the JSF’s True Christmas Stories from the Heart of Appalachia, for which she wrote “A Wishing Time.” Brenda is an “eager-to-know” reader, and a private tutor/mentor for a writer who is moving from published fiction to faith-based creative non-fiction. As a writer, Brenda’s goals are to hook readers, speak truth, impact lives, and create smiles.

James M. Gifford (Ph.D., University of Georgia, 1977) is the CEO and Senior Editor of the Jesse Stuart Foundation, a nonprofit publishing organization headquartered in Ashland, Kentucky. An accomplished historian, he has won professional awards as a teacher, author, editor, and publisher. He has published more than 40 magazine and journal articles, along with hundreds of newspaper articles. In the last two decades, he has authored or edited eight books, including two biographies of Jesse Stuart and a biography of Sergeant Willie Sandlin, the only Kentuckian to receive the Medal of Honor during World War I.

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.

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. Wayne and his wife, Debbie, are residents of Erlanger, Kentucky.

Edwina “Eddy” Pendarvis was born in Floyd County, Kentucky, and still loves driving on the curvy, hillside roads of eastern Kentucky. She is professor emerita in the College of Education at Marshall University, and, being retired, spends much of her time writing and consulting. Among her proudest writing accomplishments are four young adult biographies published in dual-language editions by Shanghai University Press; the poetry collection, Like the Mountains of China; and her nonfiction, Another World: Ballet Lessons from Appalachia. She is book review editor for Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel.

Christina St Clair has published articles, short stories, and novels. Her first historical fiction novel, Unexpected Journey, won an award from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her latest historical novel, Naomi and Ruth: Loyalty among Women, is based on two important Biblical women. One of her novels, Emily’s Shadow, set in England during World War II, combines history and fantasy. Originally from London, England, she lives in Ashland, Kentucky, with her poet husband, Philip St. Clair. Christina says writing has taught her many things, from the need for persistence, to coping with rejection, to a constant struggle for authentic voice.