FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Arts Council will celebrate Kentucky Writers’ Day, highlighted by an induction ceremony for Jane Gentry Vance as Kentucky Poet Laureate for 2007 and 2008.  Born and raised in central Kentucky, Vance has been appointed by Governor Ernie Fletcher to serve a two-year honorary term to promote the literary arts.  The Kentucky Poet Laureate also leads the state in literary endeavors, including Kentucky Writers’ Day, celebrated on April 24 of each year, to honor the birth date of Kentucky born Robert Penn Warren, one of the nation’s first Poets Laureate.

This year’s Kentucky Writers’ Day and Poet Laureate Induction Ceremony will be at 10:00 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, April 24, at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort.  The event will include readings by past Poets Laureate Richard Taylor, James Baker Hall, Joe Survant and Sena Jeter Naslund. There will also be poetry recitations by Trimble County High School student Dean Muir and Ohio County High School student Erica Martin; the state winner and runner-up respectively of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Formal recognition will be given to the recipients of the Kentucky Arts Council’s 2007 Al Smith Individual Artists Fellowship in Literary Arts.  The ceremony followed by a reception on the mezzanine level of the Capitol is free and open to the public.

For more information about Jane Gentry Vance and the Kentucky Poet Laureate Program, go to http://www.artscouncil.ky.gov/Poet/Poet_Vance.htm .

NOTE TO EDITORS: High resolution photo of Jane Gentry Vance available at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/Press_Images/janegentryvance.jpg

- ### -

The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that creates opportunities for Kentuckians through the arts. Every $1 in grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council helps grantees secure $15 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.