NEW: When Winter Come: the Ascension of York
A sequel to the award-winning Buffalo Dance, Frank X Walker's When Winter Come: The Ascension of York is a dramatic reimagining of Lewis and Clark's legendary exploration of the American West. Grounded in the history of the famous trip, Walker's vibrant account allows York — little more than a forgotten footnote in traditional narratives — to embody the full range of human ability, knowledge, emotion, and experience. Knowledge of the seasons unfolds to York "like a book," and he "can read moss, sunsets, the moon, and a mare's foaling time with a touch." Read more about When Winter Come and order the book today.
NEW: America! What's My Name? The "Other" Poets Unfurl the Flag (Frank X Walker, ed.)
The degree to which university professors have staked their academic lives and intellectual selves on every accented syllable of dead white men, having diagramed their “brilliant” intentions and held it up as evidence that poetry is the caviar on the literary menu, has helped carve out an elitist mystique and ruined many a promising young poet. In the pages that follow, we offer a counter argument: that poetry is bread. That it is whole grain sustenance and comes in all colors, ethnicities, sizes, genders, and sexual preferences. It is not just the leather-bound private joy of scholars, but new and naked and pouring out of the stomachs and hearts of emerging and established writers all over this country. Read more about America! What's My Name? and order the anthology today.
Pluck! the Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture
Frank serves as founder and editor of Pluck! the Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture, a magazine whose mission is to continue extolling the Affrilachian aesthetic, “making the invisible visible.” Pluck! celebrates outstanding contemporary literature, feature images, essays and articles from voices of color from the states touched by the Appalachians (Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania).
Frank on NPR's Morning Edition: "Creative Solutions to Life's Challenges"
March 27, 2006 • "This I Believe" on NPR
Poet Frank X Walker believes artists aren't the only creative people. He says barbers, cooks, janitors and kids enrich the world with their creativity as much as the painters, sculptors and writers. [Read the essay]
Walker awarded a Lannan Literary Fellowship
The Lannan awards honor writers who have made significant contributions to English-language literature. The fellowships recognize writers of distinctive literary merit who demonstrate potential for continued outstanding work. The final determination of recipients is made by the foundation’s literary committee. Walker’s award carries a cash prize of $75,000.
Lannan Foundation established its Literary Program in 1987 to support the creation of exceptional poetry and prose written originally in the English language, and to increase the audience for contemporary literature.