Jeff Newberry, associate professor of English in the School of Liberal Arts, was recently named the first ever Poet in Residence at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.  

Newberry is the author of “Brackish” and “A Visible Sign.” With Brent House, he is the co-editor of “The Gulf Stream:  Poems of the Gulf Coast.” He was named as one of three finalists for the Richard Peterson Poetry prize awarded by “Crab Orchard Review.”

Newberry’s works have appeared in a number of  print and online journals including “The Florida Review,” “The Cortland Review,”  “New South,” “Hobble Creek Review,” “Saw Palm:  Florida Literature and Art,” “storySouth,” “Barn Owl Review,”  and the online anthology “Best of the Net 2008.”  

Twice nominated for a prestigious Pushcart Prize, Newberry has given talks and led panels at the Flannery O’Connor and Other Georgia Writers Conference, The Conference on Christianity and Literature, The Florida Literary Arts Coalition’s Other Words Conference, and the Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers Conference.  

The recipient of a Tennessee Williams Scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Newberry serves on the conference committee for the Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers.  He is also a co-advisor for the award-winning ABAC literary magazine, “Pegasus.”

Through his work with “Pegasus,”  Newberry has sponsored and coordinated the Writers’ Harvest, an annual food drive and poetry event held every October, and monthly “Open Mic” events within the Tifton community that showcase ABAC and local talent.  

Newberry received his bachelor’s degree in English in 1998 and his master’s degree in English and Creative Writing in 2000, both from the University of West Florida.  In 2010, he earned his doctorate degree from the University of Georgia where he majored in Creative Writing/Poetry with minors in 20th Century American Literature and 20th Century British Literature.