Selected to serve as Georgia Poet Laureate by Governor Brian P. Kemp in 2019, Chelsea Rathburn is an ambassador for the literary arts in Georgia, championing the rich legacy of Georgia writers, past and present, and cultivating new audiences.
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 2019. “Still Life with Mother and Knife” was named one of the 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read” by the Georgia Center for the Book. 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 the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. 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.
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. In 2001, Rathburn moved to Decatur after completing graduate school at the University of Arkansas. From 2013 to 2019, she lived in the north Georgia mountains with her husband, the poet James Davis May, and their daughter. There, she directed the creative writing program at Young Harris College. Rathburn is currently a professor at Mercer University in Macon.
“For me, one of the most thrilling aspects of teaching is helping my students find the language to tell their stories,” Rathburn said. “Many of the writers I work with are, like me, first-generation college students, and I want them to understand that their voices, their stories, matter.”
The position of Georgia’s Poet Laureate was established in 1925. In this role, Rathburn serves every corner of the state to voice the value of reading, writing, and literacy in the lives of every Georgian. Working closely with Georgia Council for the Arts, Rathburn continues programs to advance the literary arts in Georgia such as the Poet Laureate’s Prize, a high school poetry writing initiative. Rathburn has taught poetry workshops in a variety of settings and served as a local, regional, and state-wide judge for Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest created by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Appearances
To request an appearance by Poet Laureate Chelsea Rathburn at an event, please get in touch with her here. Check out her website here.