Award winning author and University of Kentucky professor Crystal Wilkinson discussed her latest book, “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks” at the 2025 Edward F. Prichard Lecture.

Wilkinson spoke on Friday, March 28, at the University of Kentucky’s William T. Young Library about her literary works rooted in the Appalachian region and family history.

Wilkinson said she was writing an essay, which later became her newest book, when she started to look into her family heritage.

“One of the things I had to come to face with is slavery,” Wilkinson said. “I knew my family was enslaved, but it suddenly hit me.”

Wilkinson said she never changed her last name when she got married because of her pride in her family’s heritage.

“I’ve never taken a man’s name because I grew up as a proud Wilkinson,” Wilkinson said. “I never thought about the Wilkinson name being a legacy of slavery until I found grandma Aggie’s name written as Aggie of color.”

“Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts” is a mix of family recipes passed down from generations and stories told by Wilkinson, according to her website.

“My mother, who made the most wonderful soup out of an egg, a potato and broth is my kitchen ghost,” Wilkinson said. “That led me to believe and start to think about our comfort foods and how our comfort foods come from our kitchen ghosts.” 

Wilkinson said she came up with the idea of kitchen ghosts when she tried to cook her first big Thanksgiving dinner after her grandmother died.

“I’d break down and cry and I finally went and got her dress that I had hanging up in the kitchen and brought it in and put it on the back door and suddenly I felt as if she was with me,” Wilkinson said.

According to Wilkinson, she wanted people to take away two major points from her talk.

“I hope people walked out with some knowledge about the vast diversity of Appalachia and something about African American culture in Appalachia,” Wilkinson said. “Also something personal about getting in touch with their own kitchen ghosts and who their foremothers and forefathers were and something about their foodways.”

Pascalle Le Roy, UK senior and art history and international studies major, said she attended Wilkinson’s talk because of her own mother’s love for “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts.”

“My mom is from Southern Kentucky and she resonated with a lot of recipes in that book and felt very touched by it,” Le Roy said. “I really like the idea of kitchen ghosts and our grandmothers being in the kitchen with us as we’re cooking ’cause that’s something I definitely think of.”

Jill Abney, who comes from the Appalachian region similar to Wilkinson, said she discovered Wilkinson from her newest book.

“I’m a new reader of Crystal’s but I’ve been really moved by the content of kitchen ghosts and find it really touching as someone who grew up in Appalachia and whose mother cooked a lot when I grew up,” Abney said. “I think it’s just something that feels at home a little bit.”

Abney said that she couldn’t relate to a family history of slavery but could relate to role models in her family.

“I can relate to family members, women especially, who did a lot of wonderful and caring things in the kitchen,” Abney said. “That emotion really speaks to me and touches me.”