HR 314: Rathburn, Chelsea; distinguished Poet Laureate of Georgia; commend

House Resolution 314

By: Representatives Campbell of the 35th, Cummings of the 39th, Jones of the 60th, Evans of the 57th, Willis of the 55th, and others

A RESOLUTION

Recognizing and celebrating Chelsea Rathburn as the distinguished Poet Laureate of Georgia; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, Chelsea Rathburn has long been recognized by the citizens of this state for her critically acclaimed poetry and creative collections, having been appointed as Poet Laureate of the State of Georgia in 2019 and serving as an ambassador for poetry and a champion of the literary arts in Georgia; and

WHEREAS, born in Jacksonville and raised in Miami, Florida, Chelsea Rathburn has deep roots in the State of Georgia, where her mother's family has lived since the 1830s; and

WHEREAS, Rathburn holds a B.A. from Florida State University and an M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas. Rathburn moved to Young Harris from Decatur, Georgia, where she taught poetry workshops at Emory University and chaired the poetry track for the Decatur Book Festival; and

WHEREAS, Chelsea Rathburn now lives in Young Harris, Georgia, with her husband, the poet James Davis May, and their daughter; Chelsea Rathburn is currently an associate professor of English-Creative Writing at Mercer University; and

WHEREAS, the position of Georgia's Poet Laureate was established in 1925. As the state's Poet Laureate, Rathburn is an ambassador for the literary arts in Georgia, championing the rich legacy of Georgia's writers both past and present and cultivating new audiences. She also judges the Poet Laureate's Prize, an annual state-wide high school contest. In this role, Rathburn serves every corner of the state, voicing the value of reading, writing, literacy, and storytelling in the lives of every Georgian; and

WHEREAS, Chelsea Rathburn is the author of three poetry collections, A Raft of Grief (2013), The Shifting Line (2005), and Still Life with Mother and Knife (2019), as well as the winner of the 2005 Richard Wilbur Award. Her poems have been widely published in the nation's top journals, including Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, the New Republic, The Southern Review, New England Review, and Ploughshares, among others, while her prose has been published in the nation's most esteemed journals, including Creative Nonfiction and Ploughshares. In 2009, she received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts; and

WHEREAS, in 2021, Rathburn received a Poets Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets to implement Georgia Poetry in the Parks, poetry trails featuring poems by contemporary Georgia poets, in partnership with the Georgia Center for the Book and the DeKalb Library Foundation; and

WHEREAS, it is abundantly fitting and proper that the outstanding accomplishments of this remarkable, dedicated, and distinguished Georgian be appropriately recognized.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body recognize and celebrate Chelsea Rathburn as the Poet Laureate of Georgia as well as extend to her their most sincere wishes for continued success and happiness.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to Chelsea Rathburn.