Poetry Runs Deep In Fabric Of Georgia City

Author: Telegraph
Posted: Monday, October 27, 2014 12:06 PM
Categories: In the News | Faculty/Staff

Macon, GA

Macon lost its elder statesman of poetry, Seaborn Jones, last month. The author of five books of poetry, who was also widely published in literary magazines, was 71.

Macon had such a statesman in part because he was not alone in creating poetry here. Jones was a friend and mentor to several Macon poets, and the city boasts at least five other living poets with books to their names, including Judson Mitcham, Georgia's poet laureate.

Stretching back to the birth of Sidney Lanier, the list of poets who have created works in Macon or whose formative experiences include time spent in the city is much longer. The modern concentration of poets was so great, it inspired a poetry anthology in 2011, "Writing on Napkins at the Sunshine Club." The anthology of "poets writing in Macon," as it was subtitled, was edited by Kevin Cantwell, a poet and chairman of the Department of New Media, Arts and Culture at Middle Georgia State College. The anthology included works from 18 contemporary poets, including Jones and the five poets who still live and work here.