Jim Lally
The Ledger Independent is publishing a 50/50 series featuring 50 things over 50 weeks. During this series, our readers can expect to see different “Local Talents/Artisans” each week.
Some of the “Local Talents/Artisans” that may be featured will include, artists, authors, songwriters and more. The general definition of “artisan” refers to a worker in a skilled trade, according to the Oxford Dictionary.
Please enjoy Day 10 of the series.
Jim Lally is the current coordinator and founding member of the Old Washington Wordsmiths.
“The Wordsmith’s group is part of the Ohio River Valley Art Guild and has provided a venue for local writers to share their work in an encouraging and supportive atmosphere,” Lally explained.
He further noted that the group had been meeting since 2010 at the ORVAG studio in Washington Hall once a month.
According to Lally, he became interested in poetry in high school and ended up being the editor/contributor for his college literary journal.
He noted that he, “Has participated in writing seminars and readings with Robert Bly, Roger Dunsmore and Ed McClanhan.”
Lally organized writing workshops and readings with the artist residence program at Artcroft in 2004 and in 2010 he had his poems Stick Tight Man released by Accents Publishing.
He has been featured twice in the Lexington Holler Poetry series and is a regular participant as well including being an active and long-time member of Katrina Stoykova’s writer’s group.
According to Lally, he has over 300 poems published on lexpomo.com and he participated in the annual Lexington Poetry Month challenge.
He stated that anyone interested in the art of words is invited to join the Wordsmith’s group.
“The group provides a unique opportunity for area writers to share their literary voice,” Lally said.
For more information about the group, Lally can be contacted at 606-407-1457.
