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Crystal Wilkinson

Goodreads Author

Born

Hamilton, OH

Website

http://www.crystalwilkinson.com

Twitter

Crystalwilki

Genre

Short Stories

Member Since

September 2010

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Crystal Wilkinson was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1962 and raised in Indian Creek, Kentucky. Her grandparents, Silas and Christine Wilkinson, took her into their care when she was six weeks old. Often describing herself as a country girl, Wilkinson's work reflects a love and homage to her Appalachian roots. She recalls growing up on her grandparent's farm where her grandfather planted tobacco and corn and made sorghum molasses and her grandmother worked as a domestic worker for school teachers in the county. "I lived an enchanted childhood," Crystal says in remembering her days roaming the knobs and hills of her home. "My grandparents gave me the freedom to explore the countryside and to write, to dream, to discover. They wanted me to have t Crystal Wilkinson was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1962 and raised in Indian Creek, Kentucky. Her grandparents, Silas and Christine Wilkinson, took her into their care when she was six weeks old. Often describing herself as a country girl, Wilkinson's work reflects a love and homage to her Appalachian roots. She recalls growing up on her grandparent's farm where her grandfather planted tobacco and corn and made sorghum molasses and her grandmother worked as a domestic worker for school teachers in the county. "I lived an enchanted childhood," Crystal says in remembering her days roaming the knobs and hills of her home. "My grandparents gave me the freedom to explore the countryside and to write, to dream, to discover. They wanted me to have things that they didn't have, to know things they didn't know. But whether they knew it or not, they WERE the wisest people I have ever known. I learned so much from them about nature, about art, about life."

One of the first generations of her family to attend college, Crystal graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a B.A. in journalism and an MFA from Spalding University.

Crystal is the 2002 recipient of the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature and is a member of a Lexington-based writing collective, The Affrilachian Poets. Crystal's latest work,Water Street was recently a long-list finalist for the prestigious Orange Prize and short-listed for a Zora Neal Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation Legacy Award in fiction. She has presented workshops and readings throughout the country including the Sixth International Conference on the Short Story in English at the University of Iowa and the African American Women Writers Conference at the University of the District of Columbia.

She is the author of two books, Blackberries, Blackberries (July 2000), and Water Street (September 2002), both published by Toby Press. The paperback version of Water Street is scheduled for release in February 2005. In 2001 Blackberries, Blackberries was named Best Debut Fiction by Today's Librarian Magazine. She has been published in the anthologies Confronting Appalachian Stereotypes: Back Talk from an American Region (University of Kentucky Press 1999); GiftsFrom Our Grandmothers (Crown Publishers, a Division of Random House, May 2000); Eclipsing A Nappy New Millennium (Purdue University, 1998); Home and Beyond: A Half-Century of Short Stories by Kentucky Writers (University Press of Kentucky 2001);A Kentucky Christmas (University Press of Kentucky 2003) and Gumbo: Stories by Black Writers (Doubleday, Harlem Moon Press Fall 2002). Her work has also appeared in various literary journals including: Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review, Southern Exposure, The Briar Cliff Review, LIT, Calyx, African Voices, and the Indiana Review.

She is currently working on two first novels. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana. ...more

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Crystal Wilkinson’s books

Average rating: 4.1 · 2,986 ratings · 484 reviews · 16 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Birds of Opulence 4.12 avg rating — 1,047 ratings — published 2016 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best Short Stories 2021: The O. Henry Prize Winners by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Editor / Introduction), Jenny Minton Quigley (Goodreads Author) (Editor / Foreword), Daphne Palasi Andreades (Goodreads Author) 3.94 avg rating — 818 ratings — published 2021 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blackberries, Blackberries 4.15 avg rating — 442 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Water Street 3.97 avg rating — 322 ratings — published 2002 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Perfect Black by Crystal Wilkinson (Goodreads Author), Nikky Finney (Foreword), Ronald W. Davis (Illustrations) 4.70 avg rating — 165 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Degrees of Elevation: Short Stories of Contemporary Appalachia by Charles Dodd White (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Ron Rash (Goodreads Author), John McManus 4.10 avg rating — 97 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia by Adrian Blevins (editor), Karen Salyer McElmurray (Goodreads Author) (editor), Dorothy Allison (contributor) 4.30 avg rating — 76 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Holler 3.93 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mythium: A Journal Of Contemporary Literature, Volume 1 Number 1 by Ronald Davis (Editor), Crystal Wilkinson (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2009	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghost 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Makes Bustle List of 12 Women of Color Authors You Need to Know This Year

So happy to join such a cache of writers on this Bustle list. And of course any opportunity to use this #blackgirlmagic gif is a win!

http://www.bustle.com/articles/144471...

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Published on March 13, 2016 09:08

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Nov 23, 2021 01:54PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Perfect Black by Crystal Wilkinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Perfect Black by Crystal Wilkinson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Crystal Wilkinson liked Sofie's review of Perfect Black: "Absolutely breathtaking. An incredible collection of poems. "
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Crystal Wilkinson liked Susanna's review of Perfect Black: "A beautiful collection/memoir by Crystal Wilkinson with stark, well-placed illustrations by Ron Davis. These brief pieces will punch you in the heart. "
Nov 23, 2021 01:54PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Perfect Black by Crystal Wilkinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Perfect Black by Crystal Wilkinson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Crystal Wilkinson is now following Darryl Suite's reviews
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Quotes by Crystal Wilkinson (?)

“My father had been buried for a month when my mother came back to claim me. She returned as somebody even I didn’t recognize—a spirit barely alive imprisoned in her body, a husk. When we returned home, I mourned as much for the loss of my mother as I did for my father. Even then her shoulders had started to slump in surrender. Her skin had begun to wrinkle.”
― Crystal Wilkinson, Water Street

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“But it was long before then that I realized that my mother was no longer there. That she had died with my father. I was a little girl being raised by spirits. In”
― Crystal Wilkinson, Water Street

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“But some of us have moved away and they are the ones who miss this street the most. They will always belong here even when they think they no longer do.”
― Crystal Wilkinson, Water Street

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Polls

What shall we read in March, 2020? Post-1980?

The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

22 votes 33.3%

Calypso, by David Sedaris

12 votes 18.2%

The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt

11 votes 16.7%

Tiny Love: The Complete Stories, by Larry Brown

10 votes 15.2%

The Birds of Opulence, by Crystal Wilkinson

7 votes 10.6%

These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, by Nancy E. Turner

4 votes 6.1%

66 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Appalachian Leaves: Appalachian Writers Workshop	1	40	Jul 21, 2010 07:29PM
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Literary Fiction ...: Buddy Read: The Birds of Opulence	10	43	May 22, 2018 09:45AM
Reading with Style: Completed Tasks	902	77	Aug 31, 2018 09:02PM
Read Women: Women Author Challenge 2018	33	175	Nov 15, 2018 08:42AM