Novelist, poet, and essayist
Crystal Wilkinson
Appalachia · Kentucky
Crystal Wilkinson grew up in Kentucky and taught at the University of Kentucky. Her writing draws on Black Appalachian life, rural communities, family knowledge, and foodways.
On the shelves
Books in the collection
Poetry
Perfect Black
Crystal Wilkinson
Poems consider color, family, girlhood, and the landscapes that shaped Wilkinson’s sense of home.
Memoir
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts
Crystal Wilkinson
Recipes and recollections connect Appalachian foodways with the stories of Black women across generations.
Fiction
The Birds of Opulence
Crystal Wilkinson
Generations of women in a Kentucky community live with losses and knowledge that are carried through families.
Short stories
Water Street
Crystal Wilkinson
Linked stories enter the lives of neighbors in a small Kentucky community, revealing their private and shared histories.
From the Lyric
Continue the story
Reading notes / 01
Black Appalachian voices
Poems, recipes, and stories rooted in Kentucky and the places writers carry with them.
Read Black Appalachian voicesReading notes / 02
Kentucky Black Writers
Poetry, fiction, memoir, and essays by writers with documented Kentucky ties.
Read Kentucky Black WritersReading notes / 03
Reading at the Lyric
An adaptable reading shelf for future author events and conversations.
Read Reading at the LyricReading notes / 04
Where we belong
A book club conversation about home, family, migration, and memory.
Read Where we belong