Passing of Ethelene Dyer Jones
We are sad to report the recent passing of another GPS stalwart, Ethelene Jones. Ethelene served as GPS President from 1990-1992, was our Newsletter Editor for several years and was very active in GPS affairs. From the obituary posted to the funeral home website:
“Georgianne “Ethelene” Dyer Jones, age 91, of Milledgeville, passed away Friday, November 26, 2021. Funeral services for Ethelene Jones will be conducted Sunday, November 28, 2021 at 4:00 pm in the First Baptist Church of Milledgeville with Dr. Terry Quick and Rev. Matthew Jones officiating. Interment will take place on Tuesday, November 30, 2021 at 2:00 pm in the New Choestoe Baptist Church Cemetery in Blairsville. The family will receive friends at the First Baptist Church on Sunday, November 28, 2021 from 3:00 pm until 4:00 pm.
Ethelene was born in Choestoe, GA on May 13, 1930 to the late Jewel Marion Dyer and the late Azie Collins Dyer. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Grover Duffie Jones, and by her son, Rev. Keith Jones. Having been a native of Union County, Ethelene began teaching in a one room school in Choestoe, GA. She retired from the Fannin County School System as a media specialist, and had written weekly articles for the News Observer in Blue Ridge, GA. Being a pastor’s wife, she served with her husband all over Georgia for 32 years. She was a member at First Baptist Church in Milledgeville.”
Our sincere condolences to friends and family.
Membership Dues–First Notice
GPS operates on a January to January fiscal year, which means everyone’s dues expire on December 31 (except for the Life Members). You can renew online through the “Membership” drop-down part of our web menu or you can mail a check to the Treasurer, Donna Rose Mulcahy. Her address is listed on the membership page as well as the “Reach Us” page. As the Beaver Toyota commercial in north Atlanta sometimes says, don’t make me come getcha! Thanks for renewing promptly.
Chelsea Rathburn, Georgia Poet Laureate, Headlines January 2022 Meeting in Macon
The Georgia Poetry Society welcomes Chelsea Rathburn to present from her many collections of poetry at our next quarterly meeting on Saturday, January 22, 2022. We will be meeting on the campus of Mercer University in Macon, where Chelsea now teaches. More details on this website and in the newsletter as they become available.
From her website:
“Chelsea Rathburn is the author of three full-length poetry collections, most recently Still Life with Mother and Knife, a New York Times “New & Noteworthy” book released by Louisiana State University Press in February 2019. Rathburn’s first full-length collection, The Shifting Line, won the 2005 Richard Wilbur Award, and her second collection, A Raft of Grief, was published by Autumn House Press in 2013.
Rathburn’s poems have appeared in the nation’s most esteemed journals, including Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, the New Republic, The Southern Review, New England Review, and Ploughshares, among others. In a 2019 feature, NPR called Rathburn’s work “arresting” and “a gentle whirlwind.” In 2009, she received a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
While she was born in Jacksonville and raised in Miami, Florida, Rathburn has deep roots in the state of Georgia, where her mother’s family has lived since the 1830s. Rathburn moved to Decatur in 2001 after completing graduate school at the University of Arkansas. Since 2013, she has lived in the North Georgia mountains with her husband, the poet James Davis May, and their daughter.
In March 2019, Rathburn was appointed poet laureate of Georgia. For more information on the poet laureateship and literary arts in Georgia, visit the Georgia Council for the Arts.”
Newsletter Archives
As you know, the Georgia Poetry Society formed in 1979 and has published a newsletter since then. In an effort to preserve our history, President Steven Shields has scanned the older paper-only versions of our newsletters and posted digitized copies for you to enjoy.
If you look at the “Newsletter” tab, you’ll now see an “Archived Newsletters” section with drop-down pages by decades. Each decade page is further subdivided by year. Please note that some of these copies were snail-mailed to members and so contain marks or smudges from the mailing process. The aim has been one of legibility, rather than perfection.
And if you’ve never seen the GPS charter, here it is on the 1970s page. It’s also in the 10th anniversary issue in 1989.
The 2021 GPS Contests Have Closed
Thanks to all who entered. The entries will be sent to our judges shortly. Results announced at our January 2022 meeting in Macon. Contest pages have been hidden for now to minimize confusion (every once in a while someone tries to enter a contest, not realizing the contests aren’t open).
