Graphite is the University of Kentucky’s only creative writing club, dedicated to hosting weekly writing workshops and literary events in order to provide a community for UK students interested in creative writing. Graphite is also the team behind the production of The Deposit, the new literary magazine at UK which is solely produced by undergraduate students with a heavy emphasis on the creation of physical copies as opposed to digital distribution.
History
Graphite was founded in 2013 as a collaborative Gaines Center Jury project by UK students Katie Cross and Kendra Sanders with the help of creative writing professor Julia Johnson, who soon became the organization’s first faculty advisor. Graphite went through a brief recession after the emergence of COVID-19, but saw a massive revitalization in activity in 2024 after a fresh team of passionate writers took the club to new heights. Since then, Graphite has continually acted as a hub for students interested in creative writing on campus; hosting and sponsoring a variety of meetings, workshops, events, fundraisers, and publications to help advance Lexington’s literary community.