“Together, We Make a Difference” is the theme of the 2027 bell hooks Memorial Writing Contest, the Christian County Literacy Council announced Thursday.
The contest is open for submissions of poetry, essays and short stories until Jan. 15.
This marks the sixth writing contest in memory of bell hooks since her death on Dec. 15, 2021, at age 69. Themes for previous writing contests have included love, belonging, change, learning and community — all of which touch on themes bell hooks explored in more than 30 books she wrote.
“Though her work reached classrooms and readers around the world, her story began right here in Hopkinsville,” contest organizers with the literacy council wrote in a Facebook post. “Friday [Sept. 25], on what would have been her 74th birthday, we remember a Hopkinsville native whose words continue to encourage people to think deeply, learn boldly and choose love.”
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Born Gloria Jean Watkins, she graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1970. She first earned widespread acclaim for her 1981 book, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism.” The book takes a deep look at the ways Black women were marginalized by white feminists and participants in the Black liberation movement.
Her pseudonym was the name of her great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks. As an author, she chose to keep the name lower case to put greater focus on the substance of her writing and less on her personal identity.
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The writing contest has four genre categories:
- Poetry
- Short essay (500-700 words)
- Long essay (700-1,500 words)
- Short story(500-1,500 words)
Entries will be judged in four age groups — 5 to 8, 9 to 12, 13 to 17, and adults.
Contest rules and more information about how to submit entries online is available here. Contestants may contact the literacy council at cclc42240@gmail.com
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
