“Affrilachian.” To many, the term sounds new and strange upon the ear. Only recently has there been an acknowledgment of the culture and place of African Americans in Appalachia. For centuries there have been and still are Black people in that storied part of the eastern United States. Outside of a small group of scholars and locals, however, not many know the whole of Appalachia’s past. Much remains to be said and written about Appalachia’s multiple peoples, their frictions, and their intersections. Fortunately, Crystal Wilkinson, past Poet Laureate of Kentucky and professor in the MFA program at the University of Kentucky, has stepped into the role of regional guide and bard, exploring the many layers of the region’s peoples by limning the interconnectedness of family and food.
Descending from five generations of Black women whose lives were circumscribed (and in at least one instance, celebrated), Wilkinson honors the tastes and...
University of California Press