Literary Landscapes in Kansas

from the ground to the airwaves

High Plains Public Radio and The New Territory Magazine invite Kansans to explore the present and ponder future literary landscapes. Funding provided by Humanities Kansas.

ReadListen (coming soon)

Essays         Background         July 2024 Event        Passport Program         “Listening to Place, Finding Home”         More Literary Landscapes

Personal stories about the places of Kansas literature.

Ten people with ties to the writers, poets and playwrights of the Sunflower State add their own spin on the stories. Peruse with your morning coffee, and create your own reflections.

circle stamp shows shape of Kansas with "Literary Landscapes" in the state and "from the ground to the airwaves" inside the edge

Essays

Editor's Note

Literary Landscapes Volumes 13-14 are the result of “Literary Landscapes in Kansas: From the Ground to the Airwaves,” a collaboration between The New Territory and High Plains Public Radio. 

“Literary Landscapes in Kansas” begins with the same question as the rest of Literary Landscapes: how is the literature of a place relevant to the people who live there? The ten contributors to this project — all current or former Kansas residents — are particularly well-suited to provide answers. 

Our contributors reflect on a wide range of literature: poetry, a play, memoir, short stories, essays, journals, and novels, including graphic and nonfiction varieties. They visit sites all across the state, including a public park in Independence, a ranch outside Manhattan, a high school classroom in Topeka, a family home in Garden City, a dirt road in Kingman County, the Wichita State University library, a failed settlement in Allen County, the sod house museum in Kinsley, a wagon trail in Franklin County, and Rock Springs Ranch, the state 4-H camp south of Junction City. 

We would like to thank Humanities Kansas for funding this project and High Plains Public Radio for bringing it to life over the airways. If you are interested in contributing to Literary Landscapes — focusing on literature from any Midwestern state (broadly construed, of course) — send me a pitch! Check out this blog post for more information and a list of potential sites.

Enjoy!

Andy Oler, Departments Editor
The New Territory

Read All Literary Landscapes Essays

July Event

Details coming soon! We’ll be gathered for readings and a talk in Kansas in late July. Sign up for our email newsletter to make sure you get the announcement. 

Passport Program

Get excited. We are making plans for a DIY passport program to reward you for visiting these Literary Landscape sites. There will be rubbings. There will be prizes. There will be a hashtag. Look for details when Issue 16 releases in August 2024, and subscribe to the magazine here.

Literary Landscapes in Kansas: from the Ground to the Airwaves

High Plains Public Radio and The New Territory Magazine present “Literary Landscapes in Kansas: from the Ground to the Airwaves.” This project invites Kansans to explore the present and ponder future possibilities for the region.

Background

Please visit our Literary Landscapes page to read more than 60 essays across the Midwest landscape.

Funding for this program is provided by Humanities Kansas, a nonprofit cultural organization that connects communities with history, traditions, and ideas to strengthen civic life.

Our project asks:

“How do the stories we tell about ourselves and the places we live influence or reflect our actual experiences?”

In short, how is the literature of a place relevant to the people who live there?

Read the press release →

a blue stamp that says Kansas: from the ground to the airwaves; with the shape of Kansas and "Literary Landscapes" in the middle

What’s Next

“From the Ground to the Airwaves” seeks to add more Kansas stories to the present-day conversation via:

    • editing and publishing special Literary Landscapes volumes focused on Kansas, online and in print
    • High Plains Public Radio broadcasting of Kansas essays produced out of this event 
    • a self-directed, incentivized Passport Program
    • an in-person launch party celebrating the new essays (July 2024 date and location TBD)

Listening to Place, Finding Home

To build interest in this project and to encourage writers to submit us new essays, we hosted an online event January 18, 2024.
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    1. Welcome & Presentation–
      – introduction to the Literary Landscapes project by founder and editor Andy Oler- “Listening to Place, Finding Home,” a talk by poet, author, and scholar Megan Kaminski on important places of Kansas literature
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    2. Writing Workshop (optional, not recorded)
      guided by New Territory editors, participants will plan their own Literary Landscapes essays and learn about how to pitch and publish them
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