December Book & Film Discussion: Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson
In the December SDARJ Book & Film Discussion we’ll be featuring the book:
This event is held at a special time due to the holidays. The Book & Film Discussions are typically on the 4th Tuesday of the month.
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Black Appalachian Culinary Heritage
by Crystal Wilkinson
A book that blends memoir, family stories, and recipes to explore the culinary heritage of Black Appalachians.
“There were an abundance of ancestors stirring, measuring, and braising with her.” – This brief line captures the heart of the book’s importance. Wilkinson isn’t just sharing recipes—she’s showing how cooking becomes a living archive of Black Appalachian history. The “kitchen ghosts” symbolize generations of Black women whose knowledge, resilience, and creativity were often undocumented but deeply preserved through food traditions.
Founder, Dr. Aimee Wiest.
Hosted by Lewes Public Library
Please register to attend *either* In-Person or Online. You will receive a confirmation email within minutes of registering. If you do not receive an email from LibCal, check your spam filter. Or you call the library (302-645-2733) during business hours (M – Th from 10 AM to 2 PM, F from 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sat from 10 AM to 2 PM) and ask a staff person to check on your registration. DO NOT register again.
ABOUT THE FILM
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians, through powerful storytelling alongside nearly forty comforting recipes, from the former poet laureate of Kentucky.
“With Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, Crystal Wilkinson cements herself as one of the most dynamic book makers in our generation and a literary giant. Utter genius tastes like this.”—Kiese Laymon, author of the Carnegie Medal-winning Heavy
People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed.
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; there were her ancestors, too, 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.
An expert cook, Wilkinson shares nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past, full of flavor—delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings, Granny Christine’s Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits, brought to vivid life through stunning photography. Together, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before, the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.
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.
Source: Browseabout Books
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate from 2021 to 2023, is the award-winning author of Perfect Black; The Birds of Opulence; Water Street; and Blackberries, Blackberries. She is the recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, an O. Henry Prize, a USA Artists Fellowship, and an Ernest J. Gaines Prize for Literary Excellence. She has received recognition from the Yaddo Foundation, Hedgebrook, The Hermitage Foundation, and others. Her short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She currently teaches at the University of Kentucky in the creative writing MFA program.
Source: Browseabout Books
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The 2026 Schedule
View the books and films we’ve discussed in previous meetings.
