Poet, educator and activist Frank X Walker is Kentucky’s first Black poet laureate, and at 53 the youngest to serve in the post. Governor Steve Beshear bestowed Mr. Walker with the honor in February 2013.
With a specialty in writing “persona” poems, which are works written in the voice of another, Walker has won several awards for his poetry, putting a new face on writers from the Appalachia region.
Born June 11, 1961 in Danville, Ky., Walker was the second of 10 children reared in public housing projects in the area. A self-professed nerd and athlete, Walker typically doesn’t reveal much about himself in his poetry but has shared more in interviews.
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According to an essay from Shepherd University professor Dr. Slyvia Bailey Shurbutt, Walker experienced poverty as a child and other hardships but found triumph as a college student.
Initially, Walker entered the University of Kentucky in 1979 as an engineering student, but a creative writing class changed his course. Over the years, Walker honed his writing skills and released his first book, Affrilachia: Poems by Frank X Walker in 2000.
The term “Affrilachia” was coined by Walker after he read in a dictionary that for one to be considered an Appalachian, they had to be a white resident of the mountainous region. He later went on to create the Affrilachian Poets literary movement in his home state.
In 2003, Walker completed his MFA at Spalding University and later returned to teach at the University of Kentucky where he still serves as an Associate Professor of English.
Much of Walker’s work examines, in his words, “social justice issues as well as multiple themes of family, identity and place.”
Walker mentors young writers and poets, preparing them for the next phase in their development. He also dabbles in visual art, and names celebrity collectors Spike Lee and Bill and Camille Cosby as owners of his work.
The writer of six published works, Walker’s latest book, Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers is a collection of persona poems using the voice of several characters related to the assassination of the civil rights leader.Walker has said in interviews that he hopes the book helps readers remember Evers’ contributions to society.
Earlier this year, Walker won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.
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