George Scarbrough was born in 1915 in a clapboard cabin in Patty, a small community in Polk County, Tennessee. He was the third of seven children in a family of sharecroppers which moved frequently around the County during his early years. Strongly influenced by his literate mother, he was an avid reader from his earliest years, and showed literary inclinations which. seemed very strange in the County at the time. He attended The University of Tennessee in 1935-36 The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee for two years on scholarship during the war in 1941-43, and then taught in several Tennessee schools. He entered Lincoln Memorial University and graduated with a B.A. degree cum laude in x947. He received a masters degree from the University of Tennessee in 1954 and later attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1968 to be with his ailing mother and lived with her until her death in 1983. He published poetry in more than 65 magazines and journals over many years. He also published five major books of poetry and one novel. He received a nomination. for the Pulitzer Prize. for his last collection, Invitation to Kim. He died in December 2008. The George Scarhrough Archive, a permanent repository of his papers, is located at The University of the South.

Other poems by George Scarbrough in Verse Daily:

Books by George Scarbrough:

Other poems on the web by George Scarbrough:
Nineteen poems
"Landlord"
"At the Last Festival"
"Presence"
Ten poems