The Affrilachian Poets represent one of the most influential literary collectives to emerge from the Appalachian region and the American South. Founded through collaboration among writers connected to the University of Kentucky, the group includes poets, novelists, scholars, dramatists, and interdisciplinary artists. Collectively, Affrilachian Poets have published more than one hundred books that reshape conversations about race, geography, identity, and language in American literature.
Below is a selection of books by members of the Affrilachian Poets.
π Orfeito β 2026
π The Moor of the Bronx β 2023, Finishing Line Press
π The Recital β 2011, Winged City Press
π Of JΓbaros and Hillbillies β 2011, Plain View Press
π Jopappy & the Sentence-Makers are Eponymous as Funk β 2025
π under the aegis of a winged mind β 2020, Autumn House Press
π hellfightin' β 2011, Willow Books
π How to Recognize God's Chosen
π ruina montium β 2016, Broadstone Books
π prison recipes β 2018, Broadstone Books
π ruina montium (Spanish) β 2018, ValparaΓso Ediciones
π Under the Ocelot Sun β 2020, Shadelandhouse Modern Press
π Autorretrato como una iguana / Self-Portrait as an Iguana β 2020, ValparaΓso Ediciones
π World as Sacred Burning Heart β 2021, 3: A Taos Press
π Black Bone: 25 Years of the Affrilachian Poets β 2018, University of Kentucky Press
π Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love β 2019, Copper Canyon Press
π Games for Children β 2025, Milkweed Editions
π From Earth and Sky
π On the Black Hand Side
π Incendiary
π Nappy Metaphysics
π A Plague of Shadows
π When Night Falls
π Horsepower
π Makeshift Altar β 2024, University Press of Kentucky
π Birds of Opulence
π Blackberries, Blackberries
π Water Street
π Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts
π Perfect Black
π Valley Girl
π Tougaloo Blues, Third World Press
π Offerings of Desire
π Space Between Us
π The Journey of York
π Affrilachia
π Black Box
π A is for Affrilachia
π The Unghosting of Medgar Evers
π Buffalo Dance
π America, What's My Name
π The Affrilachian Sonnets
π I Dedicate This Ride
π Last Will and Testament
π Load in Nine Times
π Love House
π Ink Stains and Watermarks
π Eclipsing a Nappy New Millennium
π Mask Man, Black
π When Winter Come: The Ascension of York
π Blooming Fiascoes
π Hemisphere
π On My Mind β 2007, Blacoetry Press
π English Lit
π Two Brown Dots
π Leading Edge
π Rice
π The World Is Round
π On Wings Made of Gauze
π Head Off & Split
π Love Child's Hotbed of Occasional Poetry
π Sacrilegion β 2013, Carolina Wren Press
π Prime β 2014, Sibling Rivalry Press
π The Second Stop Is Jupiter β 2023
π Deifying a Total Darkness
π To Emit Teal
π Caul & Response
π Tangerine Tubman
π Chiaro-Scuro Vitae
π Vessel β 2015, Milkweed Editions
π Cradled by Skeletons β 2019, Shadelandhouse Modern Press
π Lullaby for Maddie β 2022, Shadelandhouse Modern Press
π Mermaid Musings: Diving in the Margins β 2025, Parker Publishing
π Spirits in His Hair β 2026, Shadelandhouse Modern Press
π Universal Corner: Poems β 2026, Persea Books
π Dying in the Scarecrow's Arms β 2018, Persea Books
π \blak\ al-fe bet\ β 2013, Persea Books
π Cooling Board: A Long Playing Poem β 2009, Red Hen Press
π Loot
π Aerogrammes
π Atlas of Unknowns
π I Am Woman β 2021, Accents Publishing
π Pretend the Ball Is Jim Crow
π Black Imagination
π What We Ask of Flesh
π Room Sweet Home
π Becoming AppalAsian β 2022, Glass Lyre Press
π Same-Sex SΓ©ances
π How to Name a Hurricane
π The Buried Sea
π The Definition of Place
π Dead Weight
π The Lingua Franca of Ninth Street
π Sing Me Different
π Where Do People in Dreams Come From?
π This Is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls, and Being Dope β 2020, Harper Perennial
π I Think I'm Ready to See Frank Ocean β 2018, Saturnalia Books
π Pantone β 2016, MIEL Books
π A Speed Education in Human Being β 2013, Sawyer House Press
π How to Live Free in a Dangerous World β 2024, Tiny Reparations
π Starshine & Clay β 2017, Four Way Books
π She Has a Name β 2013, Four Way Books
π The Trouble with Light
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