Poet Nikky Finney, a native of South Carolina, is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Kentucky. She is also a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets, a community-based writing collective that, as the name suggests, acknowledges and celebrates the role African Americans have played in the development of the culture of Appalachia.
Finney is the author of a collection of short stories and two books of poetry, Wings Made of Gauze and Rice, a bookclub@ket selection. She and her work are also featured in a video about the Affrilachian Poets, Coal Black Voices.
Finney has received an Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council for her work.
