Crystal Wilkinson

Crystal E. Wilkinson

Crystal Wilkinson
Born 1962
Hamilton, Ohio
Occupation Author

Crystal E. Wilkinson (born 1962) is an African-American feminist writer from Kentucky.

Background

Born in Hamilton, Ohio in 1962, Crystal Wilkinson was brought to her grandparents' farm in Indian Creek, Kentucky (about three miles east of Middleburg, Kentucky) when she was only six weeks old. The only Black family in the area and like many farmers in Appalachia, Silas Wilkinson grew cash crops of tobacco and corn and produced sorghum molasses; and, given the few jobs available for African-American women in eastern Kentucky, Christine Wilkinson cleaned and cooked in the homes of the local schoolteachers of Casey County. Wilkinson wrote that she "lived an enchanted childhood" and that her grandparents "gave me the freedom to explore the countryside and to write, to dream, to discover."[1] She wrote about her childhood and her upbringing in her award-winning book, Blackberries, Blackberries:[2]

"I grew up on a farm in Indian Creek, Kentucky during the seventies. I swam in creeks and roamed the knobs and hills. We had an outhouse and no inside running water. Our house was heated by coal and wood-burning stoves and we lived so far back in the woods that we could get only one television station. But it was a place of beauty - trees, green grass and blue sky as far as you could see. I am country. Being country is as much a part of me as my full lips, wide hips, dreadlocks and high cheek bones. There are many Black country folks who have lived and are living in small towns, up hollers and across knobs. They are all over the South—scattered like milk thistle seeds in the wind. The stories in this book are centered in these places."[2]

Wilkinson attended Eastern Kentucky University in nearby Richmond, Kentucky and graduated with a B.A. in journalism in 1985. In 2003 she earned her Masters in Fine Arts degree (in creative writing) from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

From 1989-1995, Wilkinson served as a public information officer and community relations manager for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, editing their quarterly environmental newsletter and handling media relations for special projects. She also began volunteering her time to public service in Lexington, most notably the Roots and Heritage Festival,[3] helping with publicity and coordinating the literary readings.

During this time, Wilkinson would gather with other Kentucky African American writers (including Kelly Norman Ellis,[4] Ricardo Nazario y Colon,[5] Mitchell L. H. Douglas,[6] and Daundra Scisney-Givens)[7] at the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center[8] at the University of Kentucky where Frank X Walker was the assistant director. The group, later called The Affrilachian Poets,[9] was mentored by the poet Nikky Finney[10] who was teaching then at the University of Kentucky. In 2000, Wilkinson published her first volume, the short story collection Blackberries, Blackberries (The Toby Press, 2000), which would go on to receive the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature.

In 1997 Wilkinson was hired as the Assistant Director for the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky where she taught short courses and implemented many different programs and activities for Kentucky's literary arts scene. From 1997-2001 and again in 2008 she taught high school juniors and seniors who were juried into the creative writing discipline for the Governor's School for the Arts (Kentucky). She also served as chair of the creative writing department from 1997-2001. In the spring of 2004, she served as the Writer-in-Residence for the Appalachian College Association, conducting advanced creative writing classes and one-on-one instruction for undergraduate writing students at Cumberland College, Lindsey Wilson College and Berea College. She has taught creative writing at Eastern Kentucky University (2002–2003), Indiana University-Bloomington (2004–2007), and at Morehead State University (2007-2013). At present she is Writer in Residence at Berea College.

She and her partner, the artist Ronald Davis, are the founders and editors of the briefly published Mythium: A Journal of Contemporary Literature,[11] a journal that celebrated writers of color and other cultural voices. Today they are co-owners of Wild Fig Books and Coffee in Lexington, Kentucky.

Wilkinson has presented many workshops and given readings in the U.S., including

Wilkinson is featured in several television shows:

Published works

Awards

Wilkinson is the recipient of many awards and fellowships, including the Sallie Bingham Award from the Kentucky Foundation for Women for the promotion of activism and feminist artist expression. In 2006 Wilkinson was the Guest Fiction Editor and featured writer for Nantahala Review. Her short fiction piece "Holler" published in Slice Literary Magazine (Spring/Summer 2010) is nominated for the 2010 Pushcart Prize.

Blackberries, Blackberries

Water Street

Birds of Opulence

Individual works

Professional affiliations

Associated Writing Programs (2003–present)

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 3 "Blackberries, Blackberries, by Crystal Wilkinson". The Toby Press. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  3. ↑ "rootsandheritagefestival.com". rootsandheritagefestival.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  4. ↑ "Account Suspended". Affrilachianpoets.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  5. ↑ "Account Suspended". Affrilachianpoets.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  6. ↑ "Account Suspended". Affrilachianpoets.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  7. ↑ "Daundra Scisney-Givens: Baptisim". Coal Black Voices. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  8. ↑ "University of Kentucky - Martin Luther King Jr. Center". Uky.edu. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  9. ↑ "affrilachianpoets.com". affrilachianpoets.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  10. ↑ "Account Suspended". Affrilachianpoets.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  11. ↑ "mythiumlitmag.com". mythiumlitmag.com. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  12. ↑ "Connections with Renee Shaw | Program 422". KET. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  13. ↑ "Crystal Wilkinson, Poet". Connections with Renee Shaw, Program 422. Kentucky Educational Television. 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  14. ↑ "Water Street by Crystal Wilkinson". The Toby Press. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  15. ↑ "Morehead State University :: English :: Home". .moreheadstate.edu. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  16. ↑ "Morehead State University :: News". .moreheadstate.edu. Retrieved 2013-09-21.

External links

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