Officials with the Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC), in collaboration with the West Plains Council on the Arts (WPCA) and the West Plains Public Library, will host a reading of the national bestseller, “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks,” on Tuesday, Feb. 17 for the 2026 African American Read In event.
The event starts at 6 p.m. at the OHRC inside the Garnett Library, 304 W. Trish Knight St. on the Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) campus.
Angela J. Williams, educator and storyteller from Hannibal Missouri, will read excerpts from the book and then will lead a discussion on how it relates to “By Word-of-Mouth Storytelling” which focuses on sharing stories orally, passing down culture, history, and experiences through spoken narratives.
About the book
Written by Crystal Wilkinson, “Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks,” was published in 2024 and honors the mothers who came before, the land that provided for generations of her family and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.
More about Williams
Angela J. Williams, an educator and family business owner, is the heir to the storytelling tradition, following in her Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program mentor’s footsteps. Williams became interested in storytelling early on in life, hearing stories about family that elevated her curiosity.
At just 19-years-old, Williams first apprenticed with Dr. Gladys Caines Coggswell in 2003, working diligently to learn, and then master, the complexities of traditional storytelling and a repertoire featuring traditional folk tales, community lore in her Hannibal hometown, and family stories passed down in her family. Williams and Coggswell (also a Missouri Humanities Distinguished Literary Awardee) remain close.
For over two decades, they have worked as a storytelling team, where they perform stories and present educational workshops across Missouri, via By Word-of-Mouth Storytelling Guild. In 2021, Williams herself “graduated” to mentoring artist, teaching her own apprentice Cynthia McPherson.
This event is also sponsored by Missouri Humanities, Missouri Arts Council, and Ozark Spring Chapter NSDAR. For more information about the Feb. 17 event, contact Rebekah McKinney at 417-255-7949 or RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu.