Dodge City Days is rolling out the welcome mat for a slice of Kansas literary history this year, as authors behind the brand-new anthology Kansas Matters: Twenty-First-Century Writers on the Sunflower State come together for a reading and discussion on what Kansas truly means to them.
A Fresh Chapter in Kansas's Story
Kansas Matters is the kind of book Kansans have been waiting for: a brand-new collection of 35 poems, essays, and short stories that together paint a living portrait of the state today. The collection digs into everything that makes Kansas Kansas — the pull of wide-open land and the effort to protect it, the tug-of-war between identity and belonging, and the weight of history alongside genuine hope for what comes next. The result is a book that's equal parts moving, funny, and proud — a full-hearted answer to the question of why Kansas matters.
The anthology comes from editors Tom Averill and Leslie VonHolten, who spent years gathering voices from across the state to build this literary snapshot of contemporary Kansas life. Averill, professor emeritus of English at Washburn University, is no stranger to this kind of project — back in 1991, he edited a similar collection called What Kansas Means to Me: Twentieth Century Writers on the Sunflower State, and by his own account, he's remained "afflicted with affection" for the subject ever since. He's also an O. Henry Award-winning short story writer and the founder of the Thomas Fox Averill Kansas Studies Collection at Washburn's Mabee Library. HPPR listeners may already know his name for another reason entirely: Averill is the author of A Carol Dickens Christmas, a beloved program that's become a perennial fixture of HPPR's end-of-year holiday season.
A Familiar Voice for HPPR Listeners
Kansas listeners in HPPR's coverage area may already know co-editor Leslie VonHolten's voice well — she's a longtime contributor to the HPPR Radio Readers Book Club, where she's shared reading recommendations and reflections on books ranging from memoir to history over the years. VonHolten writes about land and culture across the prairie and Great Plains, and beyond her work with HPPR, her essays have appeared in publications including The New Territory, Literary Landscapes, and The Dark Mountain Project. She's also a 2022 Tallgrass Artist Residency fellow, and she brings that same deep sense of place to her work co-editing Kansas Matters.
Together, Averill and VonHolten have pulled together a lineup of voices spanning the state — from celebrated names to exciting new talents — all circling the same question: what does it mean to call Kansas home?
Come Hear It for Yourself
- What: A reading and discussion with the authors of Kansas Matters: Twenty-First-Century Writers on the Sunflower State
- When: Friday, July 31st, 2026, 5:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
- Where: Boot Hill Distillery, part of Dodge City Days
This is a rare opportunity to hear the writers behind Kansas Matters read their own work aloud and talk candidly about what inspired it. Don't miss this celebration of Kansas voices at Dodge City Days — grab a seat, settle in, and get ready to hear why Kansas matters, straight from the people who put it into words.
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