Glossary of Poetic Terms

Affrilachian is a word coined by the poet Frank X. Walker to describe African American people of regions in and near the Appalachian Mountains in North America. Walker founded the Affrilachian Poets Collective in 1991, whose members include poets and fiction writers such as Nikki Finney, Kelly Ellis, Paul Taylor, Crystal Wilkinson, Gerald Coleman, and Shana Smith among others. He coined the term to confront the assumed whiteness associated with the definition of the Appalachian region and its residents, asking, “What are you if you’re not white and you live in the same space?” The Affrilachian Poets Collective is the oldest continually running predominantly African American writing group in the country and remains close to its roots at the University of Kentucky, where Walker is on faculty.