“The little explosion of Kentucky U.S.A. sunshine” →

Walker Percy’s essay “Bourbon,” from Signposts in a Strange Land, published in 1975. “Bourbon does for me what the piece of cake did for Proust.” (via Maud Newton)

In Kentucky by James H. Mulligan →

Written for a banquet of the Kentucky General Assembly held in Lexington’s Phoenix Hotel, “In Kentucky” is supposedly one of the most well-known poems about the state. I hadn’t heard of it until Ashley told me about it the other day.

With masterful precision and care, Larkspur Press has made an impression on the literary scene →

Really wonderful article on Larkspur Press, the great little old-school publisher here in Kentucky.

Maud Newton reviews C.E. Morgan's new novel All the Living →

Kentuckian and Berea graduate C.E. Morgan’s new novel seems like the perfect thing for me — taughtly constructed, deeply conscious of place, and filled with unmistakeable echoes of religion. (The review is posted on The Second Pass, my favorite new bookmark.)

The implosion of Lexmark →

Great, detailed analysis here from a local (Lexington, Ky.-based) blogger about the decline and mismanagement of Lexmark and how the company’s worth basically a tenth of what it was worth five years ago. It’s ultimately a very sad story, since Lexmark is one of our biggest local employers.

Larkspur Press prints Kentucky books the old-fashioned way — with a real impact type, on fine paper, with hand-sewn bindings. We share some authors with them, but they mainly publish poetry and short fiction, with beautiful handmade engravings.

They serve an entirely different market than we do, but I’ve always loved their books. Perhaps I should organize a field trip to visit them.

The Lunsford Collection: Bruce Lunsford... More Baggage Than You Can Handle! →

Now, I’ve heard of political attack ads, but I’ve never heard of political attack Web sites!

Greg Fischer and Bruce Lunsford are both running for the Ky. Democratic party’s nomination for U.S. Senate this year. Fischer’s campaign created a Web site to advertise Lunsford’s “baggage.” Hey, whatever works to keep Lunsford out of office.