Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

Poet Crystal Good is headlining the West Virginia Center for the Book's African American Literary Celebration.

The Charleston native will be at the Culture Center Theater from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 for a multimedia poetry event in celebration of Black History Month sponsored by the West Virginia Center for the Book, according to a news release from the West Virginia Library Commission.

Jeff Biggers of the "Huffington Post" wrote that "Valley Girl," Good's debut collection of poetry, "marks the entry of . . . an astonishing new voice into the national poetry circuit." He adds that the book "is a beguiling read, at once bold, disarming, plucky and feisty."

Good writes "through the lens of her experiences" as an Appalachian African-American woman. The former model and West Virginia native has worn many hats: poet, mother of three sons, and the current director of brand experience for Mythology LLC, a Charleston marketing firm.

Good is an Affrilachian poet, a term coined by Frank X. Walker to describe Appalachians of African descent. "I'm bi-racial, like President Barack Obama," she said. "I bring that experience to my work as well."

Fellow Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan will join Good at the event. Good and Jordan will sell their books at a post-event reception in the West Virginia Library Commission's James D. Waggoner Reading Room.

Good invites people to "bring the poet that's hiding in you" to the multimedia event, which will be much more than a poetry reading. "I like my readings to be interactive, like traditional African American call and response," she said. Multimedia technology will enhance Good's presentation.

The event is sponsored by the West Virginia Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. It is hosted by the West Virginia Library Commission in partnership with the West Virginia Humanities Council. The West Virginia Center for the Book brings the national Center's message of the importance of books and reading to audiences statewide. The center actively works within West Virginia to highlight the unique literary heritage that abounds from the earliest storytellers to modern novelists and poets.

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