Lex250 hosted “An Evening Inspired by the Written Word” to showcase the city’s history through a variety of performances by local poets, dancers and actors.
The Lexington Public Library and its partners, including the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning and Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center, held the event on Tuesday, April 8, at the Kentucky Theatre as part of the Lex250 celebration, which honors Lexington’s 250th anniversary.
The show included spoken poetry performances by former poet laureates, a performance by Blackbird Dance Theatre and an excerpt of a play written by current Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House.
According to Lexington’s Director of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Heather Lyons, Lexington was known as a “literary and educational hub” before it became an official city in 1775.
Lyons said it was important to celebrate Lexington’s literary history when creating the Lex250 initiative, resulting in “An Evening Inspired by the Written Word.”
“Our commitment to writing and the written word goes back 250 years,” Lyons said. “We (city council) knew that any celebration of our 250 years needed to include a really great look at writers and writing.”
According to Lyons, although the audience came to the event expecting poets and authors, the actual goal of the event was to introduce the audience to a “whole new genre” of literature through hip-hop music and other less-common performances.
“Writing is really the basis of so many art forms,” Lyons said. “All of these artists have that in common. They are artists who focus on wanting to say something . . . and then decide how they’re going to present that to an audience.”
Former poet laureate and University of Kentucky professor, Frank X Walker, said he has been a “foundational voice” in the Lexington literary community for decades.
According to Walker, Lexington is a magnet for all types of arts, especially literature, and many artists moved to Lexington from around the United States due to the power of the city’s literary culture.
Walker said the mix of speakers at the event delivered a powerful message emphasizing political change, race and religion, saying these messages were shared in their most powerful form: words.
“There’s nothing more powerful than a book,” Walker said. “The most powerful weapon, the most powerful thing that can be used for social change, is almost always tied to a book.”
According to Walker, the “power of storytelling” moved many audience members to attend the event because, in its simplest form, the event celebrated the rich history of words.
“People talk about how powerful music is, but somebody wrote those words and it started with lyrics,” Walker said. “Art at its highest level can now be qualified into words.”
According to speaker and former creative writing professor at the University of Kentucky, Nikky Finney, her attraction to Kentucky stems from its “rich literary tradition.”
Finney said at its core the South is about telling stories, saying Lexington honors and celebrates this tradition beautifully with events like “An Evening Inspired by the Written Word.”
“I’ve never lived in a city that cared more about literature and books and writers,” Finney said. “Lexington is the heart of that kind of community.”
Finney said it’s important to keep sharing new ideas within the literary community to keep society moving forward and constantly progressing.
“We need to be listening more to each other and listening more to ideas that push us, make us uncomfortable and don’t always end up in the same place,” Finney said. “Art is the thing we need the most right now.”
