Friends,

Ann Deagon, who taught classics at Guilford for 36 years and was writer-in-residence, died June 24 in Wilmington, N.C. after a period of declining health.

Ann joined the faculty in 1956 along with her husband, Donald, and was named Hege Professor of Humanities in 1987. She retired in 1992. Donald became chair of the Drama Department and died in 1985.

In his book Guilford College: On the Strength of 150 Years, the late Guilford History professor Alex Stoesen described Ann as a “notable practitioner of creative writing.”

In 1970, she began writing poetry and was soon recognized throughout the Southeast for her work. Her poetry collections included Carbon 14, Poetics South, Indian Summer, There is No Balm in Birmingham, Habitats and The Polo Poems. Her fiction included The Flood Story and The Divers Tomb.

Ann was a founder and editor of the Guilford Review, which published the work of faculty, students and friends.  She also organized and directed Poetry Center Southeast at Guilford and helped establish the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Her awards included a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 2012 Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet award and the Winthrop College (now University) Chapbook Award.

A memorial service for Ann is planned Saturday, Aug. 17, at 2 pm at New Garden Friends Meeting.

We hold Ann’s family and friends in the Light as they mourn her loss.

Sincerely,

Maria Rosales
Provost