Words, images, landscape, and soil — these are the materials of Leatha Kendrick's work.

Drawing, painting, and photography shape her writing practice, and she is drawn to the tension between mediums: what is lost in translation, and what might be gained.

She received the 2025 Judy Gaines Young Award, recognizing a body of work by an author from the Appalachian region. In a recent essay, Jeremy Paden explores that body of work, writing, “Kendrick is a poet who makes wisdom look easy.” Read the full essay.