A.E. Stallings, who was raised in Decatur, says her husband ribs her as a "genius" when the poet misplaces her cellphone or makes some other move that proves her mind is elsewhere. Well, now the kidding can really begin.
Stallings, a University of Georgia graduate who has lived in Athens, Greece, for more than a decade, on Tuesday was named one of 22 recipients of a 2011 MacArthur "genius" award.
Stallings, 43, will receive $500,000, paid quarterly over five years, from the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. There are no strings attached. MacArthur honorees have no idea they're being considered, their selection the result of a labyrinthine and confidential process.
Stallings' credits include the collections "Archaic Smile" and "Hapax" and a verse translation of "The Nature of Things" by the Roman poet-philosopher Lucretius.
She is a poet and translator mining the classical world and traditional poetic techniques to craft works that "evoke startling insights about contemporary life," the MacArthur Foundation said in a statement.
A graduate of Atlanta's old Briarcliff High School, Alicia Stallings graduated from the University of Georgia in 1990 and received her master's from the University of Oxford in 1992. She moved back to Atlanta for a while with her husband-to-be, Greek newspaper editor John Psaropoulos, before moving to Greece in 1999.
We caught up with her via e-mail from Athens ...
Q: What were you up to when the call came, and what was your level of surprise?
A: It was early evening our time, and I was fixing dinner for the kids. My 7 year-old [Jason] answered the phone, and my 2-year-old [Atalanta] decided it would be a good time to have a tantrum. So when the caller [MacArthur Fellows director Daniel Socolow] asked me if I was alone, I had to say, well, not exactly! It came as a bolt out of the blue.
Q: Any thoughts yet on how you’ll spend the money?
A: We have struggled along for years as essentially a one-income family, though my writing does bring in some income, which I put into child care to buy my own working time. I don't have an office in the house, and haven't any place to work, so I have thought of renting one now. The crisis in the Greek economy has generated a lot of general and personal financial insecurity, so this alleviates much of that anxiety. We can focus on other things.
Q: Do you consider this something of a victory for poetry, which of course can always use more believers?
A: I'm always thrilled when poetry gets publicity. But I don't worry about poetry. Poetry existed before the alphabet, and will outlast its doomsayers. My husband is a journalist, and I worry more about the crisis in newspapers and journalism than I do about poetry.
Q: What projects are you currently working on?
A: I have a new book coming out, "Olives," from Northwestern University Press. And I am working on a new translation of [the eighth century B.C. Greek poet] Hesiod for Penguin Classics. Also, one tries to eke out new poems when one can.
Q: You've said that your late father -- William M. Stallings, a Georgia State University professor -- was a huge inspiration. Do you have family still living in Atlanta?
A: My mother, Alice Stallings, still has a house in Atlanta. And I have many dear friends there. We love to visit.
Q: Can you share a little about your life in Athens?
A: Well, it is never a dull moment in Athens these days, as there is often a protest or strike. Austerity measures do at least make work for journalists! You might hear my husband reporting for NPR from time to time.
Q: Is there anything in particular you miss about Atlanta?
A: I miss our friends [from high school and college era], and the exuberant greenery and the food [BBQ, Tex-Mex, Little Szechuan, Don Taco, even the Waffle House!]. We used to live in an apartment in a marvelous old house in Clarkston, which is immortalized in my poem "Lovejoy Street."
About the Author
