Community

A Brief History

By Laurie MacKeller

Professor Mick Kennedy joined ECTC in 1999 to teach and advise the college's journal, then called ECCO His enthusiasm for poetry readings and literary events sparked my involvement from 2000 to 2009, and I joined the bimonthly writers' group he created, despite initially not writing poetry. With his support, I wrote my first poem, and the group became a regular part of my life, meeting at various locations and enjoying both social and serious literary discussions.

Kennedy also organized monthly poetry readings, inviting notable writers like Kentucky Poets Laureate Richard Taylor, Joe Survant, and others. He was instrumental in revamping the college’s literary journal by renaming it the Heartland Review and making it a nationally recognized journal. He organized a contest to promote the journal, named in honor of Joy Bale Boone, and I participated in the reading and ranking of submissions.

His efforts helped bring in submissions from across the U.S. and abroad, significantly raising the journal's profile.

News

August 2025

The open calls are all closed. We have notified the poets and are working on the creative nonfiction. We'll have the fiction notifications in early Sept.
The Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize is open.
Larry Reid has joined us as our Art Editor.

Here's a record of our "Firsts" in FY24-25 July to July:

First joint venture with art students.
Over 60 people attended the April 2 Reading, Art Walk, and Open Mic
Publishing student art both on the cover and inside.
We learned and used new software, Affinity, for the entire Spring 2025 issue. Thank you Erin!
Our first fundraising event by Barry Williams, who sold his own art and donated some proceeds.
We have our first official sponsor this year – The Fleck Firm.
Printed 2 anthologies (fall and spring)
Open calls are still free.

Shout Outs

Congrats to Ric Stueker with his new book Coasting America.
The Baird's Corner Writing Group, founded by Robert Villanueva, is an online writing group which has existed since 2002. Join them at The Bard's Corner website.
Thank you to the following websites for promoting our competitions free of charge:
Congrats to Alessio Zanelli with his new book!
Thank you to A.S. Coomer for advertising our April 2 event for us and for joining us at the poetry reading.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Larry Reid for introducing us at his art class!

our new sponsor!

Revised: 6 AUG 2025