Four Kentucky authors will read their work alongside pints of stout on Fairfield Avenue this month, as Darkness Brewing and Roebling Point Books & Coffee team up for a fundraiser blending literature, craft beer and grassroots organizing. The event, dubbed the Boozy Book Fair, runs from 3 to 9 p.m. on September 19 at Darkness Brewing, 224 Fairfield Ave. in Bellevue.
The fundraiser is a partnership between Roebling Books, Darkness Brewing and Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, according to Cincinnati CityBeat. Roebling Books will host the book fair portion from 3 to 7 p.m., featuring the store's curated “book fairy” selections, while Darkness Brewing has pledged to donate $1 from every drink sold to the nonprofit during the 5-to-8 p.m. happy hour.
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a statewide grassroots organization founded in 1981 that works for social, racial, economic and environmental justice, per the CityBeat report. Its Northern Kentucky chapter has operated since May 2010, and the broader organization runs 12 regional chapters across the state focused on voter empowerment, tax reform, energy transition and racial justice, according to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.
Four Writers, One Open Mic
The reading lineup brings together four Kentucky writers with deep ties to civic causes across the state. Lexington poet and social justice advocate LeTonia A. Jones, a former Chair of the Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, published her debut poetry collection *Black Girl at the Intersection* in February 2022, according to the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. Jones has spent more than two decades in anti-violence advocacy and community organizing in Kentucky.
Also reading is Amy Le Ann Richardson, an Appalachian poet, farmer and educator from Carter County who holds an MFA from Spalding University. Richardson authored the poetry collections *Make Believe Worlds We Built Together* in 2023 and *Who You Grow Into* in 2024, with work centered on Appalachian ecology, land stewardship and rural community life, per Finishing Line Press.
Covington-raised author, military veteran and Covington Independent School Board member Kareem A. Simpson will also read. Simpson served as an Artist in Residence at the Kenton County Public Library, where he wrote the local historical novel *Moon Song*, according to the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Rounding out the lineup is Phyllis Tyler, founder of the Northern Kentucky Juneteenth Celebration, who released her memoir *Ripped for a Reason* in June, recounting her personal journey through incarceration and awakening.
Following the readings, a happy hour runs from 5 to 8 p.m., and an open mic featuring music, poetry or stories takes the stage from 7 to 9 p.m. Local writer Samuel T. Phillips, who hosts the Wild Onion open mic series, will emcee, per CityBeat's report on the event.
Fairfield Avenue's Open-Container Advantage
The event's outdoor, drink-in-hand format is made possible by Bellevue's Entertainment District designation, which covers the 200 to 700 blocks of Fairfield Avenue. As Hoodline previously reported, the district legally allows patrons 21 and older to carry approved alcoholic drinks outdoors between 9 a.m. and midnight, seven days a week, a rule Bellevue adopted to boost foot traffic and support small businesses.
Darkness Brewing itself is a fixture of that corridor. Co-founders Eric Bosler and Ron Sanders opened the neighborhood brewery in 2016, building a reputation around dark and experimental styles like stouts and porters. Roebling Point Books & Coffee, meanwhile, was founded by owner Richard Hunt in Covington in 2012 before expanding to Newport in 2021 and Dayton, Kentucky in 2023, and it regularly offers free meeting space to community groups including Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.
A Fairfield Avenue Fundraiser
The fundraiser lands along Fairfield Avenue.
The Boozy Book Fair brings together literature and craft beer. For Bellevue, the September 19 gathering offers a chance to combine that pairing with hyper-local literary talent and a cause rooted in the region's own advocacy history.
