To request an in-person or virtual speaking engagement, please contact Authors Unbound or visit Rebecca’s Profile.

2024

April 03 - 05
Beale Poetry Festival
Baylor University
Waco, TX

2023

December 6 [Virtual]
Public conversation with Ashley M. Jones
Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights
Prince George's County, MD

November 3 - 4
Keynote Address
CD Wright Women Writers Conference
University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR

October 12 [Virtual]
Public conversation with Claudia Prado
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX

2022

November 5 [sold out]
World Premiere
Say Your Name: A suffrage-rights cantata
A collaboration between Howell & Reena Esmail
Amherst College
Amherst, MA

November 1 - 5
Residency, with Reena Esmail
Amherst College
Amherst, MA

October 21 [Virtual}
Poetry reading & public conversation with Crystal Wilkinson
United States Artists
Chicago, IL

June 11 [Virtual]
Keynote. “Roots Music: On Poetry, Pulse, and Place”
Mountain Heritage Literary Festival
Lincoln Memorial University.
Harrogate, TN.

March 29 at 6pm EST [In Person and Virtual]
Introduction
Heartbreak Tree: An Evening with Pauletta Hansel
The Mercantile Library
Cincinnati, OH

March 24 at 6:30pm EST [Virtual]
Poetry Reading
Broadsided Press and the Fine Arts Work Center
AWP Conference (Offsite/Online)
Philadelphia, PA

Jan 25 at 6pm EST [Virtual]
Reading & public conversation
bell hooks Memorial
Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning
Lexington, KY

2021

Writer-in-Residence, [Virtual]
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Knoxville, TN

July 17 at Noon EST. [Virtual]
Panelist. “Of Family, History, and Appetites:
The Stories We Tell in Poems about Food.”
1455 Literary Arts SummerFest 2021.
Winchester, VA

May 2 at 7pm EST. [Virtual]
Poetry Reading.
Chiasmus Reading Series.
Knoxville, TN

2020

Writer-in-Residence, {Virtual]
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Knoxville, TN

The COVID Garden: Storytelling for Food Growers. [Virtual]
A Workshop for the Appalshop
(funded by the National Endowment for the Arts).
Whitesburg, KY

Public Conversation with Ross Gay. [Virtual]
University of Kentucky.
Lexington, KY

Visit with Susquehanna University. [Virtual]
Selinsgrove, PA

Visit with Texas Tech University. [Virtual]
Lubbock, TX

Poetry Reading. [Virtual]
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Knoxville, TN

Poetry Reading. [Virtual]
Galápagos International Poetry Festival.
Galápagos, Ecuador

Visit with Virginia Tech University. [Virtual]
Blacksburg, VA

Visit with Vermont College of Fine Arts. [Virtual]
Montpelier, VT

2019

Writer-in-Residence, [Virtual]
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Knoxville, TN

Panelist. “Sounding Poetry.”
American Literary Translators Association Conference.
Rochester, NY

Panelist.
”The Southern Gothic Photography
of Ralph Eugene Meatyard in the 21st Century.”
University of Kentucky Art Museum.
Lexington, KY

Curator.
Poetry Dinner Series.
Holly Hill Inn.
Ouita Michel Family of Restaurants.
Midway, KY

Reading.
Auburn University.
Auburn, AL. 

Reading.
Rural Child Hunger Summit.
No Child Hungry.
Louisville, KY

Reading.
Davis & Elkins College.
Elkins, WV 

Workshop. [Virtual]
The Makery.
Hindman, KY.

Visit with Vermont College of Fine Arts. [Virtual]
Montpelier, VT.

Reading and Craft Lecture.
Eastern Kentucky University. M.F.A. Program.
Richmond, KY

Visit with Texas Tech University. [Virtual]
Lubbock, TX.

2018

Panelist. “Appalachian Literature in the Global Context.”
Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Panelist. “Against Forgetting Against Forgetting:
The Legacy of Carolyn Forché.” 
American Writing Program Conference.
Tampa, FL

Panelist. “Women Write the Future.”
American Writing Program Conference.
Tampa, FL 

Poetry Reading.
The Berry Center.
New Castle, KY

Keynote. “The Influence of Place.”
Southern Foodways Alliance.
Oxford, MS 

Reading and Public Interview.
University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
Greensboro, NC

Public Conversation with Frederick Smock.
Kentucky Book Fair.
Frankfort, KY

Workshop. [Virtual]
The Makery.
Hindman, KY.

Reading and Craft Lecture.
West Virginia Wesleyan College. M.F.A. Program.
Buckhannon, WV

Reading.
Decatur Book Festival.
Decatur, GA

Reading.
Marshall University.
Huntington, WV

Reading.
Davis & Elkins College.
Elkins, WV

2017

Reading (Offsite).
Fierce Love: Field Office Poets.
American Writing Programs Conference.
Washington D.C. 

Reading (Onsite).
American Writing Program Conference.
Washington D.C. 

Reading.
Oxford American’s Kentucky Music Issue Release. 21C Museum.
Lexington, KY

Keynote. “The Diversity of Appalachian Poetics.”
The Appalachian Symposium.
Berea College.
Berea, KY

Panelist. “Listen to Your Gut.”
Zuckerman Museum of Art.
Atlanta, GA

Reading and Craft Lecture.
Spalding University M.F.A. Program.
Louisville, KY

Reading.
Oxford American’s release of American Purgatory.
North Little Rock, AR 

2016

Keynote Poetry Reading.
Southern Foodways Alliance.
Oxford, MS

Reading and public conversation with Jaime Quatro.
Southern Literary Alliance.
Chattanooga, TN 

Keynote.
Appalachian Food Summit.
Berea, KY

2015

Reading and public conversation with Ansel Elkins.
Southern Festival of the Book.
Nashville, TN

Reading and Workshop.
Martha’s Vineyard Creative Writing Institute.
Martha’s Vineyard, MA

Reading.
Fine Arts Work Center.
Provincetown, MA

Visit with Sarah Lawrence College.
New York, NY

Visit with Berea College.
Berea, KY

Reading.
Appalachian Writers Workshop.
Hindman, KY.

Reading.
Columbus State University.
Columbus, GA.