English Department Barker Lecturer for 2008, Crystal Wilkinson author of two books of short stories, Writer in Residence at Morehead State University, and a creative writing faculty member at Spalding University will discuss her work with U of L students.

African American writer Crystal Wilkinson is the author of two books of short stories, Blackberries, Blackberries (2000) and Water Street (2002, 2005). Her stories have appeared in literary anthologies such as Confronting Appalachian Stereotypes: Back Talk from an American Region, Gift from Our Grandmothers, Home and Beyond: A Half-Century of Short Stories by Kentucky Writers, A Kentucky Christmas, and Gumbo: Stories by Black Writers. Wilkinson has also published in literary journals such as Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review, Southern Exposure, The Briar Cliff Review, LIT, Calyx, African Voices, Indiana Review and Appalachian Heritage.

She was the 2002 recipient of the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature. Her latest work, Water Street, was a long-list finalist for the prestigious Orange Prize and was short-listed for a Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation Legacy Award in fiction.