Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Hosts Reading by
Frank X Walker, Kentucky’s First African American Poet Laureate
Monday, April 20, 2015 at 6 pm
April 15. 2015– The Birmingham Civil Rights (BCRI) will present a reading and book signing by Frank X Walker on Monday, April 20, 2015 at 6 pm in BCRI’s Woods Community Meeting Room. In 2014, Walker was named Kentucky’s youngest and first African American Poet Laureate. He also received an NAACP Image Award for his book Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers. Voted one of the most creative professors in the south, Walker is a full professor in the Department of English and director of the African American and Africana studies program at the University of Kentucky. The reading and book signing are free and open to the public and registration is available at www.bcri.org.
Walker is the author of five other poetry collections: Isaac Murphy: I dedicate this ride; When Winter Come: the Ascension of York; Black Box; Buffalo Dance: the Journey of York, which won the Lillian Smith Book Award in 2004; and Affrilachia. A 2005 recipient of the Lannan Literary Fellowship in Poetry, Walker is cofounder of the Affrilachian Poets. Walker is known internationally for his unique approach to teaching writing and numerous literary accomplishments. Most famously among them is his creation of the word “Affrilachia,” a term that unifies Appalachian identity and the region’s African-American culture and history.
“We are thrilled to have Frank Walker at BCRI to share his outstanding new work,” stated Priscilla Hancock Cooper, BCRI Interim President and CEO. “His latest book is of particular relevance to BCRI because it examines the assassination of Medgar Evers, a Mississippi civil rights activist, by imagining the point of view of the perpetrator as well as the victims.”
Walker’s connections to Alabama go back to the mid-1990s when he served as an artist-in-residence in Demopolis and instructor with Nia Creative Day Camp in Birmingham. He has returned to the state as a presenter for various organizations including the Alabama Book Festival.
