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Meet Sheri Hall! For Sheri, poetry and purpose go hand in hand. Empowering low-income areas through the power of the written word is close to her heart. Not only is she an esteemed author, she also is a motivational speaker, consultant, radio personality, facilitator and peer support specialist, to name just a few of her titles. Community connections are important to her, and we are so thrilled that she will be connecting with Writers Conference attendees this year.

Ethan Zolotor is an engineer who has made formula-e cars, laser systems and hybrid-electric boats. If that is not impressive enough, Ethan did all this in addition to staying up late to work on his own stories. Ethan grew up surrounded by books from his family’s library and always carried around handwritten stories on stacks of loose paper. He was constantly writing and drawing, taking inspiration from fantasy literature, manga and western comics. All of this brough

Dr. Randall Horton is on the faculty of the 2020 Johnson County Library Writers Conference, where he will teach sessions in Memoir Construction, Creative Nonfiction with Fictional Elements, and City as Protagonist. He will also be in conversation with poets Megan Kaminski and Rudy Francisco for the kickoff event. You can hear him in this episode of Did You Hear. Dr. Randall Horton and Anishinaabekwe poet Louise K. Waakaa’igan discuss poetry both as a lifeline and as

When we talked with Writers Conference faculty member Anne-Marie Oomen about the possibility of an event to celebrate her newest, award-winning memoir, As Long as I Know You: The Mom Book, the conversation quickly turned to what Oomen calls “book good.” We learned, then, that as much as Oomen loves to read her work in front of a crowd, she also has bigger goals for this book. Specifically, she wants to share what she and her family learned as they navigated her moth

Jaime Lynn Heller’s life is filled with roles: counselor, teacher, parent, spouse, daughter, aunt, neighbor, writer, and a multitude of others. How is it that she finds the energy to juggle all this? She uses poetry as her caffeine. Heller’s chap book “Domesticated” was published in 2015 (Finishing Line Press) and “Buried in the Suburbs” was published in 2018 (Woodley Press). 2019 was an exciting year for Heller as “Buried in the Suburbs” received a Kansas Notable B

Johnson County Library has a dynamic duo. They work behind-the-scenes but leave an indelible mark of artistic creativity and passion on the system’s educational and promotional materials. Jennifer Taylor and Cindy Frazer are the Library’s two graphics coordinators, playing an essential role in communication and outreach. “We are part of the customer experience department,” Taylor explained. “We do all of the printed materials, the bookmarks, the flyers, the newslett

We have arrived at part seven of our eight-part Discover your Library series. In this Did you hear? episode, we give you a behind the scenes look at our Events. Programs and Events Coordinator Joseph Keehn talks about what led him to Johnson County Library and how his job has changed over the years—including adapting to the challenge of programming during COVID. Several Librarians call in to share memories of their favorite Johnson County Library event. Author and p