Backwoods Literary Press

06/16/2026

Pull up a chair and join us on the front porch! 🌿

Front Porch Friday is a virtual making circle: a space to write, draw, stitch, brainstorm, work on a project, or simply spend time together in community. There’s no rigid agenda or pressure to be productive, just dedicated time to make something alongside other rural creatives and friends.

June 26 | 6:00–7:30 PM EDT | Virtual

This event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested contribution of $10. If cost is a barrier, please don’t let that stop you from joining us. Reach out and we’ll gladly send you the registration link, no questions asked.

Bring your notebook, your mending pile, your sketchbook, your half-finished project, or just yourself. We’re saving you a seat on the porch! ♥️

Hosted by Amanda Jo Slone and Chaney Williams.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1990484500724?aff=oddtdtcreator

06/15/2026

🐝 We’re just tickled to announce the theme for the third annual Backwoods Rural Anthology: Practice.

Two years ago, we had no idea if anyone would submit to our first anthology. Since then, hundreds of rural writers and artists have trusted us with their work, helping build a publication that feels more expansive, complicated, and alive than we ever imagined.

This year’s theme explores practice in all its forms: learning, habit, devotion, labor, care, survival, repetition, and the ongoing work of making a life.

Submissions open July 1 and close July 31.

We especially encourage submissions that broaden understandings of rural life, including work from people whose experiences and perspectives are too often overlooked, flattened, or excluded from dominant narratives about rural life and rural communities.

Publication is anticipated for late fall/early winter 2026.

What does “practice” mean to you?

06/02/2026

Our June newsletter is live 🌿

This month we’re sharing a full lineup of events as we continue building spaces for diverse rural voices to gather, write, and be heard. You can find all the dates and details in the last slide.

We publish and support work that pushes back against narrow narratives of rural life and makes room for the stories we know are already here.

AND… We’re also looking ahead to our next in-print submissions window opening July 1. This month’s newsletter includes early prompts if you want to start thinking toward it!

Read more + register here: https://open.substack.com/pub/backwoodsliterarypress/p/june-newsletter?r=6r7c9f&utm_medium=ios

06/01/2026

Happy Pride and the first day of Pride Month!!! LGBTQIA+ folks in rural and smaller places, we see you. 💘

At Backwoods Literary Press, we celebrate q***r life all the time, but we also want to say something clearly: rural places are too often reduced to voting maps and statistics that flatten what is actually here. Those reductions turn whole regions into a monolith, and in doing so, they erase what is already lived and also true.

Q***r lives grow here! In the people who have always been here, in those who leave and return, and in those building ways of living that do not fit easy categories.

Rural places are not separate from q***r life—they are part of it, and growing into each other all of the time. ✨

06/01/2026

“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.” - Nina Simone

Join us June 11th from 5–7 PM EDT for “An Artist’s Duty,” a generative writing workshop with NitaJade exploring art, reflection, and creative response in the world around us.

This virtual workshop is pay-what-you-can ($25 suggested), but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. If you have any trouble registering, cannot contribute financially right now, or just need the Zoom link directly, please email us at [email protected]. We want you there.

Come write with us. 🤍

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-artists-duty-a-generative-writing-workshop-tickets-1990450784879?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

05/26/2026

We are proud to report that our “Stories & Spreads” event indeed featured both stories and spreads!!! 🙂‍↕️

What a beautiful way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon! Thank you to our readers, our feature, our sponsors, and everyone who came out to spend the afternoon with us. ✨

05/22/2026

This Sunday at PSPL in Frankfort ✨

Join us for an afternoon of readings, food, and community at the Paul Sawyier Public Library featuring Bayley Amburgey reading from “Discarded” and “Testament,” alongside readings from Trish J. Gibson, Liz Roach-Smith, and Zach Poehlein.

After the readings, we’ll share food (like, a LOT of yummy snacks, y’all), spend time together, and enjoy being in community. Bayley will also be gracing us with their tarot talents during this time!

Paul Sawyier Public Library, Community Room, Frankfort, KY | Sunday, May 24th | 1–2:30 PM

Presented by Backwoods Literary Press, with support from Kentucky Foundation for Women.

05/12/2026

Join us for Stories & Spreads, an afternoon of readings, reflection, and shared space. ✨

Featuring Bayley Amburgey, with readings from Trish J. Gibson, Liz Roach-Smith, and Zach Poehlein, we’ll gather first in story and then ease into tarot, food, and time to linger.

This is a space to listen, connect, and just be together in community. We sure do hope to see y’all there! 💐

Paul Sawyier Public Library, Frankfort, KY | Sunday, May 24th | 1–2:30 PM

This event will be held by Backwoods Literary Press with support from Kentucky Foundation for Women. This event is independently organized and not affiliated with the library.

05/11/2026

Weekend with Backwoods ✨

This weekend, we’re hosting two virtual workshops in story, memory, and creative making.

Saturday, May 16 | 4–5:30 PM EDT (Zoom) | Pay-what-you-can
Rekindling Our Senses with Shiloh Stump: a generative writing workshop using sensory experience as a pathway into deeper creative work.

Sunday, May 17 | 1–2:30 PM EDT (Zoom) | Free
Come Hungry with Ceirra Evans: a virtual workshop exploring food, memory, and image-based creative prompts through story and making.

We are so excited to welcome these facilitators and hope you take full advantage of their offerings. These workshops are supported in part by the wonderful Kentucky Foundation For Women.

You can register for either event here: https://linktr.ee/backwoodsliterarypress

05/05/2026

We’re so grateful to receive support from JustFundKY's Cliff Todd Endowment Fund for Backwoods Literary Press. This funding supports our pay-what-you-can virtual writing workshops, helping expand access to creative space for writers across Kentucky and beyond.

In rural places, it can sometimes be difficult to feel connected to literary community or to find consistent access to spaces where your voice is centered. These virtual workshops are one way we try to bridge that distance by creating room for writers to gather, share work, and be in conversation with one another no matter where they are.

We’re also grateful to be awarded this support alongside several other organizations doing vital work across the region, and proud to be part of a broader ecosystem of literary and community efforts. It’s a blessing to be in that shared space of care, creativity, and connection.

Thank you to JustFundKY for investing in this work and the writers who sustain it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2026

JustFundKY Awards Over $95,000 to LGBTQ Initiatives Across Kentucky Amid Challenging Climate

At a time when LGBTQ+ communities across Kentucky are navigating an increasingly difficult political and social landscape, we are investing directly in resilience, visibility, and joy.

Today, we announce the recipients of our 2026 Cliff Todd Endowment grants, awarding $95,461 to community-driven projects spanning the Commonwealth, from Pikeville to Paducah. This year’s cohort reflects both urgency and innovation, with organizations adapting creatively to ensure LGBTQ+ Kentuckians remain seen, supported, and celebrated.

Even in challenging times, these organizations are finding ways to build connection, tell stories, and create spaces where people feel safe and valued. This work is not only necessary, it is transformative.

As a $2.4 million endowment, we have invested $748,000 in 94 organizations since 2011, reaching every county in Kentucky. We support educational and community-based initiatives that raise awareness, foster belonging, and advance equity for LGBTQ people statewide.

We remain committed to building a Kentucky where all people, regardless of identity, can live openly, safely, and with dignity.








Carnegie NKY











of.morehead


(blue bridge pride)





Q***r Student Collective UK
***rkentuckypride
(somerset pride)