FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Maddy Elledge
(706) 379-5319, [email protected]
Young Harris College Welcomes Award-Winning Author Crystal Wilkinson
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The Center for Appalachian Studies and Community Engagement at Young Harris College is pleased to welcome author and speaker Crystal Wilkinson to the YHC campus on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. in the Wilson Lecture Hall of the Goolsby Center. This event is free and open to the public.
Wilkinson will read from her new novel, “Birds of Opulence,” and share her experience in writing the novel. She will also discuss issues addressed in her novel, such as multi-generational trauma, mental illness and life in the fictional Southern town of Opulence.
Wilkinson has published short stories and a number of poems. She is the winner of the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature, and Water Street, Denny Plattner Award in Poetry from “Appalachian Heritage,” The Sallie Bingham Award from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and a finalist for the United Kingdom’s Orange Prize for Fiction and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.
Wilkinson currently serves as the Appalachian Writer-in-Residence at the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College where she teaches in the Spalding low residency MFA in Creative Writing Program. In addition to being a writer, Wilkinson is a small business owner of Wild Fig Books and Coffee in Lexington, Ky.
To learn more about this event, call (706) 379-5104.
About the Center for Appalachian Studies and Community Engagement
The Center for Appalachian Studies and Community Engagement is committed to the celebration of Appalachian heritage and culture, to scholarship that helps Young Harris College students understand the place and its peoples, and to service that engages students with communities in the region. Founded in 2010, the Center is housed in the historic Stephens house on U.S. Highway 76 in the heart of Young Harris, Ga.
About Young Harris College
Young Harris College is a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of North Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. The College currently has more than 1,100 students across five divisions—Education, Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., has completed major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth. Recent LEED-certified campus improvements include the 121,000-square-foot Rollins Campus Center, new residence facilities, and a 57,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center. The College is an active member of NCAA Division II and remains a fierce competitor in the prestigious Peach Belt Conference. YHC is among fewer than 300 colleges and universities nationwide named to the 2016-2017 list of Colleges of Distinction and is listed as a “Best National Liberal Arts College” by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit yhc.edu.
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