Kentucky’s next poet laureate is an Oldham County native fascinated by cryptids
A poet from Oldham County will become Kentucky’s new poet laureate, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.
Kathleen Driskell will replace acclaimed Lexington author Silas House in the state’s top literary post.
The role of poet laureate is appointed by the governor following a nomination process led by the Kentucky Arts Council. Poet laureates serve two-year terms.
Driskell will join House and Crystal Wilkinson, a professor at the University of Kentucky, as the third Kentucky poet laureate appointed by Beshear.
Driskell, in a speech she gave at Beshear’s weekly press conference, said that Kentucky’s writing output rivals any of the other 49 states.
“There’s something particularly humane about the work writers bring us. Language and creativity, at the end of the day, are largely qualities that make us human,” she said. “And so it’s not surprising that for so many of us, when we find our writing lives, we find our authentic lives, we deepen our own ability to practice compassion and we make lasting connections with our loved ones, our communities, and we carry our history forward.
“All Kentucky writers are working out of a long and meaningful tradition that we admire and hold dear, but right now, right here in the Commonwealth, writing is flourishing in a way that can rival any other state in America.”
Driskell said that her own work has focused on “about a square mile” near where she lives outside of Louisville.
Her most recent work of poetry is titled “Goat-Footed Gods,” a collection described as “poems that center on the sinister American cryptid, the Goatman of Pope Lick.”
The Goatman of Pope Lick is one of several infamous alleged Kentucky cryptids, including Bigfoot, the Sheepsquatch and the Little Green Men of Kelly.
House, the author popular novels like “Clay’s Quilt” and “Southernmost,” dipped his toe into politics during his tenure. He performed a poem for Beshear’s second inauguration and railed against Senate Bill 89, a bill rolling back certain state water regulatory powers decried by several environmental advocates.
Driskell will be officially inducted into the role April 24, Kentucky Writer’s Day. She and House will read at an event at Frankfort’s Paul Sawyier Library that day.
Another Kentuckian currently holds high literary honors.
Ada Limon, a Lexington resident, still serves as U.S. poet laureate. She was appointed to the role by the Librarian of the United States Congress in 2022.
This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 2:15 PM.
