AWF News
Alabama Poetry Delegation Announces 2023 – 2026 Delegates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 15, 2023 Five Alabamians will serve as Alabama Poetry Delegates as a part of the Alabama Poetry Delegation (APD), a leadership and service project created by Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley M. Jones, supported by the Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation and in partnership with the Alabama Writers Forum. APD is a service initiative of Jones’ nonprofit organization, Magic City Poetry Festival. Jones, who is the first person [...]
6th Annual Magic City Poetry Festival to be held April 1st – 30th in Birmingham
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 13, 2023 The 6th annual Magic City Poetry Festival, a month-long festival celebrating poetry and community in the Greater Birmingham area, will be taking place this April from the 1st through the 30th. The MCPF offers a variety of free events for all audiences at locations all over and outside of Birmingham, aimed at making the point that “poetry is for everyone.” This year, one of the featured [...]
Alabama Writers’ Forum February 2023 Newsletter
A partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts February 2023 Newsletter Alabama Writers Hall of Fame to Induct Eight New Honorees March 10 in Tuscaloosa Montgomery, AL — Lovers of literature will gather in Tuscaloosa once again to celebrate Alabama writers and the diversity of the state’s literary legacy. The Alabama Writers Hall of Fame will induct eight new honorees on Friday, March 10, 2023, at the [...]
Alabama Writers Hall of Fame to Induct Eight New Honorees March 10 in Tuscaloosa
PO Box 4777, Montgomery AL 3610-4777,www.writersforum.org Contact: Jeanie Thompson, 334 221 5013, jeaniethompson@writersforum.org Alabama Writers Hall of Fame to Induct Eight New Honorees March 10 in Tuscaloosa By Edward Journey, AWF special to the newsMontgomery, AL -- Lovers of literature will gather in Tuscaloosa once again to celebrate Alabama writers and the diversity of the state’s literary legacy. The Alabama Writers Hall of Fame will induct eight new honorees on Friday, March 10, 2023, [...]
Alabama Writers’ Forum Fall 2022 News
A partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts ALABAMA WRITERS’ FORUM FALL 2022 NEWS Writing Our Stories Turns 25! This year, the Alabama Writers’ Forum commemorates a special anniversary: the 25th year of Writing Our Stories. The nationally recognized program, a partnership between AWF and the Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS), helps incarcerated youthful offenders become better writers and readers. As of this fall, it has [...]
Alabama Writers’ Forum Announces Executive Director Search
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 30, 2022 The Alabama Writers’ Forum was established in 1993 to honor the state’s distinguished literary heritage and support its ongoing, vibrant literary culture. Now, after 30 years, the Forum is planning a transition in leadership, and a search for a new executive director launches this week. The application process is open, and applications will be accepted until January 15, 2023. A job description/call for applications is available here. To [...]
The Poet Laureate of Alabama
Ashley M. Jones is Poet Laureate of the state of Alabama (2022-2026). She received an MFA in Poetry from Florida International University (FIU), where she was a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fellow. She served as Official Poet for the City of Sunrise, Florida’s Little Free Libraries Initiative from 2013-2015, and her work was recognized in the 2014 Poets and Writers Maureen Egen Writer’s Exchange Contest and the 2015 Academy of American Poets [...]
Writing the Way Out of the Juvenile Justice System
Alabama Public Radio | By Lynn Oldshue Published June 2, 2022 The State of Alabama does certain things to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. There’s treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues as well as coaching and mentoring. This is a story about stories. The point is who the writers are and what the experience might mean for them. “Afterlife. I say when you die your soul goes high. It flies above the clouds. Above [...]
Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards: Young Writers Excel!
Each year, the Alabama Writers’ Forum recognizes outstanding young writers, their teachers and schools with the Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards. This year, more than 300 submissions were received from high schools across the state, from Anniston to Gulf Shores. Twenty-five top level awards were given, including four for literary magazines and four senior scholarships. Ninety-four winners were recognized in total. Brand new this year is the Judith Hillman Paterson Award for Excellence in [...]
Mr. Peter Datcher visits WOS class at Vincent Middle-High School
Our sincerest thanks to Mr. Peter Datcher of Vincent, Alabama, for visiting one of our Writing Our Stories classes at Vincent Middle-High School recently. Mrs. Erica Davis's 6th grade group of students loved writing persona poems and hearing about the Civil War and Emancipation in Alabama from Mr. Datcher, whose family owns the longest continually operated, Black-owned farm in the state. His visit was a part of our unit entitled Land as Persona: Many Paths [...]