FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 9, 2026) – Kathleen Driskell, 2025-26 Kentucky Poet Laureate, will lead a writing workshop, “Postcards from Pine Mountain,” May 8 to 10 at Pine Mountain State Resort Park.
“This retreat brings together two of my very favorite things: Kentucky writers and the wonderland of our beautiful state parks,” Driskell said. “I look forward to working with everyone soon!”
Throughout this interactive New Kentucky Home writing workshop, Driskell will provide craft lessons and writing exercises that focus on participants’ experiences during guided nature walks at Pine Mountain State Resort Park.
Participants will practice writing that develops skills in description, setting, character, world-building, revision and more. At the end of the workshop, participants will take away more advanced writing skills that can be further polished into poems, fiction and creative nonfiction.
The workshop is open to all levels, from beginner to advanced. It is also open to all genres, fiction, poetry, nonfiction, etc.
The workshop will begin on the evening of Friday, May 8, and will conclude on the morning of Sunday, May 10. Packages include two nights of lodging, five meals (Friday dinner; Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner; Sunday breakfast) and the workshop. Cost for a single-occupancy lodge room is $500 plus tax. Cost for a double-occupancy lodge room is $652 plus tax.
To learn more about the event and to register, visit https://parks.ky.gov/write or call the park at 606-337-3066. Retreat spots are limited, and registration is first-come, first-served.
Award-winning poet, essayist and teacher Kathleen Driskell has authored six poetry collections, most recently “Goat-Footed Gods” (Carnegie Mellon UP). Other collections include “Blue Etiquette: Poems,” a finalist for the Weatherford Award; “Next Door to the Dead,” winner of the Judy Gaines Young Book Award and “Seed Across Snow,” a Poetry Foundation national best-seller. Her individual poems and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Rattle, River Teeth, Appalachian Review, The Southern Review, Shenandoah and other magazines. From 2019-22, she served as chair of the board of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the professional organization of creative writers and creative writing programs with around 75,000 members. She is a professor of creative writing and Chair of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, where she lives with her husband in an old country church built before the American Civil War. On April 24, 2025, Gov. Andy Beshear appointed Driskell as the 2025-26 Kentucky Poet Laureate.
This workshop is a continuation of Kentucky State Parks’ partnership with Kentucky writers.
In 2024, Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House hosted writing workshops at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, Dale Hollow State Resort Park and Lake Barkley State Resort Park as part of Kentucky State Parks’ 100th Anniversary Celebration. In 2025, former Poet Laureates Frank X Walker and Crystal Wilkinson led simultaneous writing workshops at General Butler State Resort Park.
Kentucky is home to 44 state parks, including 17 resort parks and 13 golf courses. For more information about Kentucky State Parks, visit parks.ky.gov.