Faye George

Faye George is a poet from southeast Massachusetts. She was born in Weymouth, MA in 1933. She published eight poetry collections, six in book form two in chapbook form. These include: A Wound On Stone (2001); the lyric verse collection Back Roads 2003); Märchenhaft: Like a Fairy Tale (2008); the historical sequence, Voices of King Philip’s War (2013), dramatizing the 17th century conflict between the English colonists and the Woodland tribes of southern New England, for which she was a recipient of New England Poetry Club’s Sheila Motton Prize; World of Hard Use (2015), containing poems of work and workers, showcased on Poetry Daily; and her final published work of poetry, The Ragged Hold of Memory (2019). Her chapbooks include Only the Words (1995) and Naming the Place: The Weymouth Poems (1996). George has contributed poetry to The Paris Review, Poetry, The Amicus Journal, Yankee, The Poetry Anthology, 1912-2002, and numerous other literary periodicals and anthologies. George passed away on April 8, 2020.

This collection consists of early poetry drafts, manuscripts and publications of Faye George’s poetry and information about her early, pre-published life and career. Her correspondence with editors, publishers and publications, mentors and other poets and admirers includes received correspondence and copies of her sent correspondence, documenting both parties. Of note is Series 2, which includes personal letters from previous United States Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman. There are also newspaper clippings, postcards and flyers relating to publication releases and live poetry readings by George.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of early poetry drafts, manuscripts and publications of Faye George’s poetry and information about her early, pre-published life and career. Her correspondence with editors, publishers and publications, mentors and other poets and admirers includes received correspondence and copies of her sent correspondence, documenting both parties. Of note is Series 2, which includes personal letters from previous United States Poet Laureate Daniel Hoffman. There are also newspaper clippings, postcards and flyers relating to publication releases and live poetry readings by George.

The box and folder list for Series 1: Publications, lists each individual poem written by George, along with page number, after the title of every periodical and anthology in the collection that contains her work. Series 4 had significant additions in later donations and new material has been placed at the end of initial folder group. Oversized items are located in flat-file drawers.

Related collections and material includes the Conrad Aiken Collection (a former United States Poet Laureate), and the anthologies In the West of Ireland: A Literary Celebration in Contemporary Poetry (1992) and Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry (1980), both of which contain examples of her poetry, and Winston F. Bolton’s books What the Air Might Say and Among Ruins, both of which George helped to edit.