Students examine materials at UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

University of Kentucky creative writing graduate students studying with English Professor and award-winning poet Frank X Walker will present a poetry reading of work they created throughout the semester based on research done at UK Special Collections Research Center. The free public reading will run 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Library Building.

“This is the third time that we’ve done this, and the work they produce is absolutely astounding and very moving,” said Matthew Strandmark, education archivist at UK Special Collections Research Center.

Part of UK Libraries, the Special Collections Research Center is home to a collection of rare books, Kentuckiana, the Archives, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the King Library Press, the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center, the Bert T. Combs Appalachian Collection, the John G. Heyburn Initiative and ExploreUK. The mission of the center is to locate and preserve materials documenting the social, cultural, economic and political history of the state of Kentucky.

The poetry reading is also part of UK College of Arts and Sciences’ “Keys to Our Common Future: UK’s Year of Civics and Citizenship” programming, a series of lectures, seminars, panel discussions and other events aimed at unlocking what it means to be for Kentucky in the 21st century. “Keys to Our Common Future” aims to unite the UK campus in dialogue about its roles as citizens of the Commonwealth.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue