Betty Adcock
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth "Betty" Sharp Adcock (born 1938) is an American poet and a 2002–2003 Guggenheim Fellow
. Author of six poetry collections, she has served as a faculty member in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
in Asheville, NC and in the Writer-in-Residence program at Meredith College
in Raleigh, NC. She has also held residencies at Lenoir-Rhyne College
, Kalamazoo College
, and Duke University
, and has twice served as Visiting Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University
.
Adcock is primarily self-taught. She has no degrees, though she attended Texas Tech University
, Goddard College
, and North Carolina State University
. She studied and wrote poetry for more than ten years while working in the business world. After her first book was published, she was awarded a teaching residency at Duke University. Other teaching positions followed, most notably her ongoing position as Writer in Residence at Meredith College, which she held until 2006.
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
. Author of six poetry collections, she has served as a faculty member in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers
The Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers is the oldest low-residency creative writing Master of Fine Arts program in the United States. Prior to the founding of this program, an MFA in creative writing was earned via standard residential graduate programs that required students to be in residence...
in Asheville, NC and in the Writer-in-Residence program at Meredith College
Meredith College
Meredith College is a liberal arts women's college located in Raleigh, North Carolina. For the 2010-2011 academic year, there were approximately 2,300 students enrolled, including about 350 graduate students, making Meredith the largest women's college in the southeastern United States...
in Raleigh, NC. She has also held residencies at Lenoir-Rhyne College
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Lenoir–Rhyne University is a co-educational, private liberal arts university founded in 1891 and located in Hickory, North Carolina, USA. The university is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ....
, Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...
, and Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, and has twice served as Visiting Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
.
Life
The daughter of a landowner and a schoolteacher, Adcock grew up in San Augustine, TX, a small farming community. The landscape of the area, a mix of West and Deep South, influenced her work. She moved to North Carolina after her marriage to Donald Adcock. The two have a daughter, Sylvia.Adcock is primarily self-taught. She has no degrees, though she attended Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
, Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
, and North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
. She studied and wrote poetry for more than ten years while working in the business world. After her first book was published, she was awarded a teaching residency at Duke University. Other teaching positions followed, most notably her ongoing position as Writer in Residence at Meredith College, which she held until 2006.
Poetry colletions
Adcock's poetry collections include the following:- Walking out: Poems, 1975
- Nettles: Poems, 1983
- Beholdings: Poems, 1988
- The Difficult Wheel: Poems, 1995
- Intervale: New and Selected Poems, 2001 (winner of the Poets' PrizePoets' PrizeThe Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who also serve as judges...
and a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize) - Slantwise: Poems, 2008 (Louisiana State University PressLouisiana State University PressThe Louisiana State University Press is a nonprofit book publisher and an academic unit of Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, the press publishes scholarly, general interest, and regional books as part of the university’s mission to disseminate knowledge and culture...
L.E. Phillabaum Prize volume for 2008)
Awards
Adcock's awards include the following:- State of North Carolina Artist Fellowship in Poetry, 1988
- North Carolina AwardNorth Carolina AwardThe North Carolina Award is the highest civilian award bestowed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is awarded in the four fields of science, literature, the fine arts, and public service....
for Literature, 1996 - Texas Institute of Letters Prize, 1996
- Sam Ragan AwardSam Ragan AwardsThe ' are an annual fine arts award presented by St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina.The was created in 1981 to honor Samuel Talmadge Ragan, North Carolina's first Secretary of Cultural resources...
in Fine Arts, 1998 - Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, 2002 - Poets' PrizePoets' PrizeThe Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who also serve as judges...
, 2003 - Two Pushcart PrizePushcart PrizeThe Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
s - National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Fellowship in Poetry