About the Author

• A few decades of hard work, and Crystal Wilkinson is Lexington’s newest ‘overnight’ literary sensation—Ace magazine, July 6, 2000
• The web site for the independent documentary Coal Black Voices includes a biography of Wilkinson and her poem “O Tobacco.”
• History of the Affrilachian Poets by Nikky Finney

Crystal Wilkinson, who describes herself as a “black, country girl,” grew up in rural Kentucky. She teaches creative writing and serves as assistant director at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington and chairs the creative writing department for the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. She is a charter member of the Affrilachian Poets, a group of performing African-American poets from the South. Her work has appeared in various magazines and journals.

Blackberries, Blackberries is her first published collection.