Dixie State University honors local poet Annie Atkin Tanner with plaque dedication

From left, Dixie State University Alumni Director Kalynn Larson, English Department Chair Dr. Randy Jasmine, President Dr. Richard B. Williams and Jordan Tanner unveil the plaque honoring Annie Atkin Tanner

The Independent

On Monday, July 20, a plaque recognizing the contributions that St. George resident and poet Annie Atkin Tanner made to the southern Utah literary community and Dixie State University students specifically was dedicated in the university’s Holland Centennial Commons. The plaque was commissioned by Tanner’s last surviving child, Jordan Tanner, and his wife, Pat. During the ceremony, Jordan Tanner also presented President Dr. Richard B. Williams with a $25,000 endowment to go toward the Annie Atkin Tanner Memorial Poetry Scholarship Fund.

Annie Atkin Tanner was born in St. George and was a member of Dixie Academy’s first graduating class in 1913. Mrs. Tanner, a prolific and talented writer, accompanied her zoologist/entomologist husband, Dr. Vasco M. Tanner, on trips into the field and wrote poetry and stories surrounded by the very nature that inspired her.

Dr. Tanner established the Annie Atkin Tanner Memorial Poetry Scholarship Fund in 1972 in memory of his wife after she passed away. Each spring, the scholarship fund awards prizes to first, second and third place finishers in the annual Annie Atkin Tanner Memorial Poetry Scholarship contest. Poems that are submitted by students to The Southern Quill—a literary journal that includes poems, short stories and artwork—are automatically considered for the prizes. The editorial staff of The Southern Quill reviews the entries, identifies the strongest contenders and sends them to the Tanner family, who selects the winners. Produced each spring, The Southern Quill has been in circulation since 1951 and includes submissions from southern Utah residents of all ages.

The plaque commemorating Annie Atkin Tanner appropriately hangs in the Frank & Alice Holland Center for English Studies, the center of the English Department, where students study, give presentations and work on group projects. Students majoring in English at Dixie State develop writing skills that are useful in numerous professions and broaden their understanding of the complex relationship between the aesthetic and intellectual aspects of literature and the cultural environment in which important literary works were produced. English majors can choose from four emphasis options: Creative Writing, English Education, Literary Studies and Professional & Technical Writing. For more information about Dixie State University’s English Department, visit www.dixie.edu/english.