The Jesse Stuart Foundation proudly presents
The Jesse Stuart Writers Workshop
Delta Marriott Hotel Ashland
April 17-18, 2026
Keynote Speaker
Al Cross (Featured Speaker) has a long and distinguished career in journalism and education and is an advocate for rural and community journalism. A graduate of Western Kentucky University, he has covered every Kentucky legislative session since 1980. He edited and managed community newspapers in Monticello, Russellville, and Leitchfield, and was a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal for 26 years, 15 years as a political writer. In 1989, he shared a Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting for the Courier-Journal’s coverage of the 1988 Carrollton bus crash, one of the deadliest bus crashes in U.S. history. Cross held leadership positions in the Society of Professional Journalists, including President in 2001-2002, and was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2023, he retired from a nearly 20-year career teaching at the University of Kentucky as Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Media where he was Director of the Institute for Rural Journalism, which he co-founded with another distinguished Kentucky journalist, Al Smith. Cross has been a political commentator for KET and other news outlets, and his articles appear frequently in Kentucky newspapers.
Al Cross (Featured Speaker) has a long and distinguished career in journalism and education and is an advocate for rural and community journalism. A graduate of Western Kentucky University, he has covered every Kentucky legislative session since 1980. He edited and managed community newspapers in Monticello, Russellville, and Leitchfield, and was a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal for 26 years, 15 years as a political writer. In 1989, he shared a Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting for the Courier-Journal’s coverage of the 1988 Carrollton bus crash, one of the deadliest bus crashes in U.S. history. Cross held leadership positions in the Society of Professional Journalists, including President in 2001-2002, and was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2023, he retired from a nearly 20-year career teaching at the University of Kentucky as Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Media where he was Director of the Institute for Rural Journalism, which he co-founded with another distinguished Kentucky journalist, Al Smith. Cross has been a political commentator for KET and other news outlets, and his articles appear frequently in Kentucky newspapers.
Presenters
Carol Boggess lives on a small farm in Western North Carolina and is Professor Emerita (English) at Mars Hill University. She received the 2015 Appalachian Studies Association Steven L. Fisher Award for Excellence in Teaching. She earned a Ph.D. at University of Kentucky and later made many visits to Knott County while researching James Still: A Life, published by University Press of Kentucky. The biography received the Weatherford Award for non-fiction in 2017 and the Kentucky History Publication Award in 2018.
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.
Keith 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 is an essayist and poet. His first book Kentucky Is My Home: A Journey into the Life of Jesse Hilton Stuart was released in 2025 and won an award from the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. John was a contributing author to Hidden Heroes of Greenup County and his current book Harvest of Life was just released by the Jesse Stuart Foundation and features unpublished essays by Jesse Stuart. John’s essays, stories and poems have been published in anthologies, literary journals, magazines, newspapers, and newsletters.
Lee Pennington, the author of ten books of poetry and numerous non-fiction publications, is a native of Greenup County and 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.
Gwyn Hyman Rubio, a former member of the Peace Corps, is a graduate of the MFA Program for Creative Writing at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Her first novel, Ice Sparks, was a New York Times Notable Book and an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 2001. Her novel The Woodman’s Daughter was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2005 by Louisville’s Courier-Journal and was a finalist for the Kentucky Literary Award for Fiction. Her short fiction has been published an anthologized around the country.
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.
Agenda
Friday, April 17
1:00 p.m.: Registration and Check-In
2:00 – 2:50 p.m.: Jim Gifford – Welcoming Remarks
3:00 – 3:50 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions
- Brenda Evans – Writing Memoir and Other Nonfiction
- Lee Pennington and John W. McCauley – Writing Your Passion in Poetry
4:00 – 4:50 p.m.: Gwyn Hyman Rubio – The Novel: Grinding Out the Words
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.: Free Time – Dinner on Your Own
7:00 – 8:00 p.m.: Featured Speaker – Al Cross: Our Country Needs Writers to Commit Journalism
8:00 – 9:30 p.m.: Open Mic for Workshop Participants – John W. McCauley, Moderator
Saturday, April 18
9:30 – 10:20 a.m.: Carol Boggess – How a Biographer Discovered, Explored, and Retold the Life Story of James Still
10:30 – 11:20 a.m.: Al Cross – How to be a Reporter and Give Your Community the Information it Needs
11:30 am – 1:00 p.m.: Free Time – Lunch on Your Own
1:00 – 1:50 p.m.: Adam VanKirk – Self-Publish Like a Pro
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.: Follow-Up Questions with Workshop Presenters – Keith Kappes, Moderator
Registration
$100.00 Registration Fee
$50.00 Student Fee
Registration fees are non-refundable. Register and pay by Friday, March 20 and receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the JSF Bookstore.
Register and pay with the link above or mail THE DOWNLOADABLE FORM HERE with payment to:
Jesse Stuart Foundation
P. O. Box 669 ~ Ashland, KY 41105-0669
Note: If you experience technical difficulties with the only registration please contact the JSF directly by phone at 606.326.1667.