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Dalton State Professor Wins Georgia Author of the Year Award

09/07/17

Dr. Marsha Mathews, a professor of English at Dalton State College, recently won the Georgia Author of the Year Award for her poetry collection, “Growing Up with Pigtails.” The award is presented annually by the Georgia Writers Association.

The poems are collected in a chapbook and offer a narrative on how growing up female can be a troubling but also triumphant experience.

“In ‘Growing Up with Pigtails,’ Marsha Mathews explores the memories of youth that are the foundation stones upon which the days of our lives rest,” said previous GAYA winner, Raymond L. Atkins. “With vivid images and heartfelt emotions, she explores the bittersweet nature of the innocence of younger days.”

“I feel like when the Peanuts comic strip hero Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s pet beagle, hears the call for supper, he leaps into dance and wriggles,” Mathews said. “All we can see of his face is his smile.”

Mathews has won multiple awards for her literary works which also include “Hallelujah Voices,” “Sunglow and a Tuft of Nottingham Lace,” “Northbound Single-lane,” and “Beauty Bound.”