About Geri Taran
Geri Taran is a poet, a writer, an editor, and an artist. Her written works have ranged from business and corporate publications, newsletters, reports, interviews, articles, and essays, to stories and poems for both young people and adults. In 1987 Ms. Taran participated as a charter member in the creation of a local writing club called The Literary Round Table. Over the ensuing six years she served in all official positions, she created a club newsletter and planned and managed local writing events. In 1994 Ms. Taran became a co-founder and the executive director of Georgia Writers Association (GWA), a nonprofit writers organization. The association was created to assist writers in all genres and at all levels of their careers with information, support, encouragement, opportunity, and acknowledgement. For thirteen years Ms. Taran planned monthly meetings with stellar speakers, created annual writing events, seminars, contests and regular monthly workshops on varying subjects of interest to all writers. Ms. Taran was also the publisher and Senior Editor of the bi-monthly Georgia Writers Associations' News/Mag (now only online), which contained regular columns and articles of interest to writers, several pages of market opportunities, and stories and poems by members. |
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Five months after founding Georgia Writers Association in 1994, on behalf of GWA, Ms. Taran accepted responsibility for the Georgia Author of the Year Awards (GAYA) when the organization that created the awards event dissolved. She expanded, managed, and oversaw this prestigious awards event, now in its forty-fourth year and the oldest in the Southeastern region, until the 2007 event, now being managed by Kennesaw State University. She also created the Taran Family Memorial Awards in honor of family members who have passed on.
In July of 2006 she retired from her position as GWA's executive director, turning over the administration of the organization to Kennesaw State University. She served as GWA's President until June 30, 2007, and, as Co-Founder, she is a lifetime board member.
Ms. Taran has been active in a number of literary organizations since moving to Atlanta from Miami in 1983. Among them are, The International Womens Writers Guild, The Georgia Poetry Society, The Atlanta Writers Club, and The National League of American Penwomen. The latter organization honored her as Writer of the Year for 2006. She has served on the Boards of Advisors of the National Creative Society, the Georgia Center for the Book, a Library of Congress affiliate, and also served as a Literary Panelist for the Georgia Council for the Arts for three years.
Ms. Taran is the creator and the President of In The Company of Writers. She is currently working on her collection of poetry and a young adult novel.