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

April 2025

We had over 60 people join us on April 2 for a Poetry Reading, Open Mic, and Art Walk. Thank you for your support! We hope to do it again next year during the first week of April.
- The News Enterprise article before the event.
- The News Enterprise follow up article
Open Calls will open in late May or early June.
The Joy Bale Boone Poetry prize will open in July.

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

The Baird's Corner Writing Group, founded by Robert Villanueva, is an online writing group which has existed since 2002. Join them at https://thebardscorner.wixsite.com/tbcwg
Thank you to the following websites for promoting our competitions free of charge:
Congrats to Alessio Zanelli with his new book!
- https://www.alessiozanelli.it/
Thank you to A.S. Coomer for advertising our April 2 event for us and for joining us at the poetry reading. https://ascoomer.com/

Special Thanks to

Larry Reid for introducing us at his art class!

our new sponsor! The Fleck Law Firm

Fleck Law Firm