In the spirit of his father's beloved classic A River Runs Through It comes a gorgeous chronicle of a family and the land they call home: Home Waters is John N. Maclean’s meditation on fly fishing and life along Montana's Blackfoot River, where four generations of Macleans have fished, bonded, and drawn timeless lessons from […]
Non-Fiction
At various points in history, Kentucky’s politics and government have been rocked by scandal, and each episode defined the era in which it happened. In 1826, Governor Desha pardoned his own son for murder. In a horrific crime, Governor Goebel was assassinated in 1900. James Wilkinson was branded a traitor against Kentucky and the nation.
Owners of historic Hermitage Farm in Oldham County, Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, release a hefty collection of photos and texts from prominent Kentucky authors featuring the world-class horses, gardens, farm-to-table restaurant, bourbon, and more from this agritourism destination that is quintessentially Kentucky.
Meet Jason Koger, the first bilateral upper arm amputee in the world to be fitted with two multi-articulating bionic hands. Despite losing both arms in a horrific accident, an ordinary man in an ordinary small town rebounds to live an extraordinary life.
Laurie Brock, Episcopal priest, messy Christian, and horse lover, shares the experiences of love, grief, humility, joy, and deep wisdom that she discovers day to day with horses. From barely-there trails in the Grand Tetons to muddy fields in the Kentucky Bluegrass, God is revealed in the simple ways of these magnificent creatures.
The harvesting of wild American ginseng (panax quinquefolium), the gnarled, aromatic herb known for its therapeutic and healing properties, is deeply established in North America and has played an especially vital role in the southern and central Appalachian Mountains. Traded through a trans-Pacific network that connected the region to East Asian markets, ginseng was but […]
Gideon Shryock, Kentucky’s first formally trained architect, brought the international style of the Greek Revival to Kentucky and the American West, and in the process imparted a template of architectural and professional dignity for others to follow. Over the course of a half-century career distinguished by a considerable body of projects, he became one of […]
As a young man Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and […]
The traditional neighborly work of killing a hog and preparing it as food for humans is either a fine art or a shameful mess. It requires knowledge, experience, skill, good sense, and sympathy," writes Wendell Berry in the essay portion of this book.
A bicultural child of a Malay mother and an Indian father, Amelia Zachry was different from the get-go, never quite fitting in. In this raw, inspiring memoir, she chronicles the long, winding journey that brought her from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Kentucky, USA—the place she and her family now call home.
When former Kentucky Poet Laureate Richard Taylor took a job at Kentucky State University in 1975, he purchased a fixer-upper—in need of a roof, a paint job, city water, and central heating—that became known to his friends as "Taylor's Folly." The historic Giltner-Holt House, which was built in 1859 and sits close by the Elkhorn […]
Commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the nationally recognized Spalding low-residency MFA in Writing program, this anthology collects essays from the MFA faculty blog from 2014 to 2021. These works offer a trove of insights and accumulated wisdom from fifty faculty members, directors, staff, and alumni-each dedicated to the Spalding ethos of creativity and compassion.