Join us for an inspiring discussion at the Kentucky Women’s Book Festival, where our panelists dive into The Future of Literacy — with a special focus on increasing access and opportunities for writers and readers in marginalized communities. Prof. Fannie Cox, Deedee Cummings, and Kelly Nusz will explore innovative ideas, the power of storytelling, and the urgent need for equity in education and literacy.
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Deedee Cummings
 Deedee Cummings is a professional dreamer. She is also an author of eighteen books, therapist, attorney, and mom from Louisville, Kentucky. Cummings founded Make A Way Media in 2014 after struggling to find books with characters who looked like her own children and an extreme lack of stories that reflected their life experiences. Books published by Make A Way focus on hope, diversity, social justice, and therapeutic skills for children and adults. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, Essence Magazine, Psych Central, Well+Good, and The EveryGirl, among other media outlets. In 2021, she was appointed to the Kentucky Early Childhood Advisory Council by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear acknowledging her decades long service to the children and families of Kentucky. Deedee is also the founder of The Louisville Book Festival which celebrates its fifth year in 2024 and hosts over 150 authors and presenters from all over the country. She was inspired to work to highlight and celebrate a culture of reading in her community after working as an in-home therapist and visiting homes of children who had no books. Cummings believes literacy is a fundamental human right. Her work highlights inspiring messages that remind us all it is never too late to begin again. She is currently working to adapt her latest children’s series inspired by the life of her daughter, Kayla Pecchioni (a Broadway actress) to a Broadway musical. Deedee recently founded the Make A Way Mindset program to teach the unshakable mindset she has developed as an entrepreneur of thirty years. Her next book is her first book written for adults called How to Dream and will be released in October 2024.
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Kelly Nusz
 Kelly Nusz is a writer, reader, and dinosaur lover. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her family and five pets. She is the former co-host, researcher, and producer of Butter Pecan Podcast. Her work has appeared in TAUNT and the Literary Leo. She is the owner and operator of Foxing Books.
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Prof. Fannie Cox
 Professor Fannie M. Cox joined the University of Louisville Libraries faculty in January 1999, as the inaugural Electronic Resources Coordinator. Currently she serves as the Community Engagement Consultant and Liaison Librarian. In this role, she works with community and campus organizations to promote Information Literacy, mentor junior faculty, and assist the library’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group. She is the library’s faculty representative to the University’s’ Community Engagement Committee. Also, she serves as the library liaison/collection specialist to the Department of Urban and Public Affairs and the Multicultural Children’s Collection. In 2020, Library Collaborations and Community Partnerships :Enhancing Health and Quality of Life was published and she co-edited the book with Drs. Vicki Hines-Martin and Henry Cunningham. And she is the first African American Librarian at UofL to be awarded tenure andbecome full professor. In 2022, she became the first librarian to win the UofL Distinguish Faculty Career of Service Award. She is a member of the Western Branch Library Support Association, (WBLSA). The Western Branch of the Louisville Public Library is the first African American Public Library in the USA. Also, she is a member of the Friends of Parkland Library (FOPL). The Parkland Library was closed in 1985. Since 2017, she has worked with the FOPL, Metro Government, and the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation Board, to get it reopened. Parkland Library is scheduled to reopened onFebruary 27, 2025.
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Jill M. Adams
 Jill M. Adams loves stories and believes wholly in the power of words. She is a Professor and Dean of English, and Coordinator of the Women’s & Gender Studies certificate program, at Jefferson Community & Technical College. An activist at heart, Jill incorporates ideas of social change into her courses and is energized by the creativity and passion of students. She had the joy of directing the Change Makers Partnership which fostered leadership through stories and coaching for Jefferson students in the Phoenix Hill, Smoketown, Shelby Park, and California neighborhoods. She is a vocal advocate for community colleges and the roles they play within higher education and individual communities. Jill is a long-time member and former chair of the Community College Caucus of the National Women’s Studies Association. Outside the classroom, she has a healthy obsession with books, yarn for crochet projects, her 16-year old beagle Petey, and new adventures. Jill dreams of teaching a class whose outcomes include reading books and crocheting while hiking through the Rocky Mountains.
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Moderator
 Laura Detmering
Laura Detmering is an avid reader and less avid writer. She earned her PhD in English Comp with a focus on literacy and fandom from UofL in 2013 and has spent the past two decades trying to engage adults in literacy in and outside of the classroom. In writing classes, she encourages students to think and write about pop culture, especially music, movies, and TV shows, which are engaging and relevant cultural artifacts (and also fun to discuss). She is an Assistant Professor of English at Jefferson Community and Technical College. She's also a proud member of the "Jane Austen Society of Obstinate Headstrong Girls, Seriously Disappointing People Since 1813." When she's not focused on researching and teaching about the intersections of trauma and literacy, she enjoys cuddling with her Jack Russell Chihuaua Pep Strebek, reading a lot of everything, and crocheting.
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