It is hard to believe that a couple of years ago, writer Crystal Wilkinson didn’t consider herself a poet. Her lyrical prose fiction was what defined her, not her few published poems.
That’s changed. In the last year, she was named Kentucky Poet Laureate and published her first poetry book, Perfect Black, an intimate memoir of growing up in Casey County. It has spoken truth to a wide audience, was recommended by The New York Times, and most recently was honored nationally with the 53rd NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry.
“I thought [the book] would be read in Kentucky and perhaps regionally by Appalachian educators but had no idea it would win such a large national award,” Wilkinson said. “I am really honored to be recognized by the NAACP, an organization that plays such a big part for justice and equality in this country.”
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Perfect Black is a culmination of years of writing and a labor born of love. Poet and friend Rebecca Gayle Howell asked to see some of Wilkinson’s poems, then encouraged her to consider publishing a collection of her works. Intrigued, Wilkinson gathered some old and new writings and laid them out on the floor.
“It was a fascinating process,” Wilkinson said. “I looked at connective tissue and narrative trajectory and could suddenly see it come together.”
The book has illustrations created by her longtime partner, Ronald W. Davis. Wilkinson originally imagined accompanying the poems with old photographs, since many refer to her family and upbringing. Then, she remembered a collage Davis had created around her childhood home. That led to a quarantine collaboration, the chance to work together on an artistic project.
Wilkinson considers the illustrations an important element. “The art creates its own conversation throughout the book, offering call and response to each other and to the poems,” she said.
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Perfect Black is an intimately personal book. Wilkinson’s poetry is autobiographical, with specific and vivid, sometimes haunting portraits of her upbringing as a rural Black girl. Even though she hasn’t lived on her family homeplace for 40 years, those childhood experiences surface again and again in her writing. “Those were formative years,” she said. “It is a way for me to pay homage to my ancestry.”
Wilkinson felt some fear in sharing these poems with the world because of the vulnerability of her truth. But that was quickly alleviated with the warm reader responses. They frequently say her stories conjure their own memories of childhood, faith and family.
But Wilkinson is especially gratified to have a deeper impact on young people. While on a podcast with young women in Mississippi, they thanked her for the book, saying they had never before seen their experiences of rural Black girlhood lifted up in literature.
“Perfect Black is a line in one of the poems but has become a thematic thread,” she said. “Growing up, I never thought the word ‘perfect’ applied to me. I hope other young people in rural areas, especially girls of color, read it and become prouder of who they are. I hope it has a ripple effect, reaching youth of other races, body types, and parts of the world.”
Wilkinson is quintessentially a Kentucky writer. Her family moved to the Commonwealth when she was six weeks of age, and she has made a deliberate choice to stay here as an adult. The writing community is part of the reason why.
“There is a plethora of talent here. I think there are more writers per capita in Kentucky than just about anywhere else,” she said. “The outpouring of love from fellow Kentucky writers has been phenomenal.”
MEET THE AUTHOR On April 30, Crystal Wilkinson will join fellow Kentucky writers Teri Carter, Chris Helvey, Richard Taylor and Chanda Veno among others at A Conference of Writers. Presented by the Bluegrass Writers Coalition, this day of discussion panels, networking and workshops will take place at the Frankfort Country Club. For more information, visit bluegrasswriterscoalition.com.