Kathryn Stripling Byer

Kathryn Stripling Byer (November 25, 1944 – June 5, 2017), also called Kay Byer, was an American poet and teacher. She was named by Governor Mike Easley as the fifth North Carolina Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2009. She was the first woman to hold the position.

Biography Early life and education Kathryn Stripling was born in Camilla, Georgia in 1944. Her parents were C.M. Stripling, a farmer, and his wife, Bernice (née Campbell) Stripling.

She went on to graduate with a bachelors in English from Macon, Georgia's Wesleyan College and then received her M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she studied under Allen Tate, Fred Chappell, and Robert W. Watson. During this time at UNC-G, Byer decided to move to the mountains of North Carolina. In 2015 The Vishnu Bird was published by Jacar Press.

Poet laureateship In 2005, North Carolina Governor Michael Easley appointed Byer to be the state's fifth poet laureate following Fred Chappell whose term ended in 2002. She was the first woman to hold the position.

As part of her outreach program during her term as poet laureate, Byer maintained "My Laureate's Lasso", a blog that focused on North Carolina poets and poetry. She was also the judge for the North Carolina Poetry Society's Poet Laureate Award. In 2008, Byer named Katherine Indermaur as the first North Carolina Student Poet Laureate.

Personal life Kathryn Stripling married Western Carolina University professor Jim Byer. They had one daughter and last lived in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Works Some of Byer's poetry appeared in, among other periodicals, The Carolina Quarterly, The Georgia Review, The Hudson Review, The Iowa Review, Poetry, and The Southern Review. 2001 – Emory and Henry College's Kathryn Stripling Byer Literary Festival 2001 – North Carolina Award in Literature 2003 – SIBA Book Award in Poetry for Catching Light 2005 – North Carolina Poet Laureate through 2009 2007 - Hanes Poetry Award for "Coming to Rest" presented by the Fellowship of Southern Writers 2007 – Wesleyan College bestowed an honorary doctorate of literature upon her 2012 – Inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame 2013 – SIBA Book Award in Poetry for Descent