Join us at the Erlanger Branch on Tuesday, August 27, as Crystal Wilkinson, former Kentucky Poet Laureate, reads from her new book Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts and discusses the themes of families, stories, and bonding in the kitchen. A reception for Crystal will begin at 6:30 p.m., and her talk will begin at 7 p.m. Q&A and a book signing will follow the presentation.
Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen; her ancestors were also stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.
As the keeper of her family’s stories and treasured dishes, Wilkinson shares her inheritance in Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts. She found their stories in her apron pockets, floating inside the steam of hot mustard greens and tucked into the sweet scent of clove and cinnamon in her kitchen. Part memoir, part cookbook, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts weaves those stories together with recipes, family photos, and a lyrical imagination to present a culinary portrait of a family that has lived and worked the earth of the mountains for over a century.
Visit the list below for a list of books by Crystal Wilkinson and similar authors. Click on the title to place a hold.
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