Walking the paths of his own premise: the life and literature of George Scarbrough.

Abstract

For many years the poet and novelist George Scarbrough was little known outside the area that literary circles have labeled Appalachia. But from northern Georgia to the reaches of Virginia and all the adjacent area between and alongside, Scarbrough is recognized as a writer of serious intent, a quiet and fiercely private man who has, for most of the last century and into the new millennium, tested the limits of verse and produced literature that deserves careful attention. His literary life spans seven decades of publishing: five books of verse, a novel, and hundreds of poems appearing nationwide in the best magazines.

This study is an attempt to not only examine the quality of his work but to connect more than eighty years of an extraordinary life with the writing that Scarbrough has produced consistently and with great quality. It focuses, of course, on available primary and secondary material, but Scarbrough's consent to allow the author to read and quote from his personal journals is oftentimes the thread that has enabled me to tie biography with art.