Former Poet Laureate, Walker, to give public reading Thursday

The reading, which is free and open to the public, is part of Chadron State College’s Distinguished Writer Series, sponsored by the English and Humanities department and Walker’s reading is fully funded by the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Society.

Walker is a Professor in the department of English and the African American and Africana Studies Program at the University of Kentucky and the founding editor of “Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture.”

A Cave Canem Fellow and co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets, Walker is the author of eight collections of poetry including, “Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers,” winner of the 2014 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, and “Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York,” winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award.

According to Walker’s website, he has lectured, conducted workshops and read poetry at over 400 national conferences, arts centers and universities across the globe.

Walker is the originator of the word, Affrilachia, and is dedicated to deconstructing and forcing a new definition of what it means to be Appalachian. Walker, a Lannan Poetry Fellowship Award recipient, has degrees from the University of Kentucky and Spalding University, as well as three honorary doctorates from the University of Kentucky, Spalding University and Transylvania University.