Karen Head Named Fulton County Poet Laureate

Posted September 21, 2020

Karen Head, associate chair and associate professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, has been named the inaugural Fulton County Poet Laureate, a position created by the Fulton County Arts Council. The Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved Head for the position in a vote on September 16. 

"It is an honor to have been chosen, and I am humbled and excited about helping highlight the importance of the literary arts in Fulton County," Head said. "The county is home to many exceptional artists and to many artists in the making."

"I believe many people will be surprised that the poet laureate is on the Georgia Tech Faculty. I am pleased to be part of representing the value of the arts in the county, the place that the Georgia Tech campus also calls home."

Head, who first came to Georgia Tech in 2004 as a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow, joined the faculty of the School of Literature, Media, and Communication as an assistant professor in 2011 after working with the Writing and Communication Program and as the Graduate Communications Coordinator. She has published multiple collections of poetry, including Lost on Purpose in 2019, and she was previously named Waffle House Poet Laureate, a title that went along with a grant from the company to travel to rural high schools and promote a poetry competition.

The Fulton County Arts Council began its search for poet laureate in 2019, with the position intended to "broaden the awareness of poetry, expand and enhance literacy, broaden access to literature in its varying forms and to generally promote the literary arts throughout the County." The position has a term of "up to five years."