Martin Lammon’s first book of poems, News From Where I Live, won the 1997 Arkansas Poetry Award and was published by the University of Arkansas Press (1998). He also edited the book Written in Water, Written in Stone: Twenty Years of Poets on Poetry for the University of Michigan Press’s “Poets on Poetry” series, an anthology of essays and interviews from the series under the general editorship of Donald Hall. He was born, raised, and educated in Ohio, but has also lived in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Costa Rica, before moving to Georgia where’s he’s taught at Georgia College since 1997. Lammon’s long-awaited new collection of poems, The Long Road Home, will be published late March 2020 by Finishing Line Press.

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Lammon has taught at several colleges and universities, most recently Juniata College (Pennsylvania), Fairmont State (West Virginia), and Georgia College. In addition to teaching, he has been a successful advocate for the arts: He has created university and community writing programs and reading series; founded two national literary journals (Kestrel, Arts & Letters); and served on local, state, and national arts boards. He has conducted dozens of poetry writing programs for young writers (K-12) at schools and summer programs, as well as special workshops for college students and community writers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Georgia. He has also been an active contributor and fundraiser for literary and cultural programs, professional opportunities for writers, and student scholarships. A few highlights of accomplishments, recognition, and service:

• Founded Literary journal Kestrel (Fairmont State, West Virginia), 1993
• Awarded West Virginia Commission on the Arts State Fellowship, 1994
• Taught for the Modern Poetry Association/NEH “Poets in Person” project, 1994
• Served as endowed Fuller E. Callaway/Flannery O’Connor Chair, 1997-2018
• Selected by W.S. Merwin for a Nimrod/Hardman Pablo Neruda Prize, 1997
• Elected to Board, Association of Writers and Writing Programs, 1998-2003
• Elected as AWP Board President (two terms), 2000-2001, 2001-2002
• Served on the Georgia Council for Arts (GCA) Literary Committee, 2000-2009
• Awarded Lamar York Prize in Creative Nonfiction, Chattahoochee Review, 2003
• Awarded Iowa Literary Essay prize (2nd place), The Iowa Review, 2003-2004
• Founded GCSU/Early College 7th Grade Creative Writing project, 2006-present
• Awarded Georgia College Distinguished Professor of the Year, 2007
• Named among authors of “Notable Essays of 2008” in Best American Essays
• Published 20 poems in 13 journals (twice in The Southern Review), 2008-2013
• Selected by Judson Mitcham for Inspired Georgia anthology (UGA Press), 2016
• Awarded “Professor Emeritus” status at Georgia College, August 2018

At Georgia College Lammon founded the university’s MFA program in 2001-2002. In less than 10 years, the program was named one of the nation’s “Top 25 Underrated Creative Writing MFA Programs (2011-2012)” in The Huffington Post (spring 2011). The program’s students have come from coast to coast: Oregon, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Ohio, New York, Michigan, and even Scotland (U.K.), and of course from throughout the Southeast and our home state of Georgia. Nearly all of Georgia College MFA students are awarded MFA or university assistantships, and most earn Foundation scholarships in their second and third years. Our alumni have published books and in national journals, won national awards for their writing, and are teaching in schools, colleges, and universities throughout the U.S. and abroad.

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Over the past 30 years, Martin Lammon’s poems and essays have appeared in such literary journals as The Atlanta Review, Black Warrior Review, Chariton Review, Chelsea, Connecticut Review, Gettysburg Review, Hotel Amerika, Mid-American Review, Midwest Quarterly, Mississippi Review, New Virginia Review, Ploughshares, Poet Lore, Poets & Writers, Puerto del Sol, The Southern Review, West Branch  and many others.

Through his efforts, Martin Lammon has helped to create publication, reading, and educational opportunities for hundreds of writers, both new and experienced, unknown and accomplished. Over the past 30 years, he has worked with other generous supporters to help establish honoraria for Georgia College visiting writers as well as Arts & Letters contributors; endowed funding for the Arts & Letters annual prizes; and endowed scholarships for creative writing students at Georgia College.

After living for nearly 20 years in Milledgeville, Georgia, he now lives in Atlanta and is looking forward to contributing to his new community and continuing his ongoing national efforts to advocate for the literary arts.

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