Get to know Betty Spence, award-winning Semmes poet

Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 1:15 PM

 By Press-Register Correspondent 

Betty Spence

MOBILE, Alabama — Betty Spence, 78, encourages everyone, particularly senior citizens, to follow their dreams and to never give up. If the dream is to write, then create poetry or stories or essays. The reward is in doing what the heart desires, she says; the awards, if and when they come, are icing on the cake.

For Spence, who's been writing most of her life, the awards are finally coming.

Though she's made a career in newspaper work and producing devotions for various religious organizations, it is poetry that Spence loves and the genre in which she's recently begun receiving recognition.

A former columnist and correspondent for the Press-Register and a devotional writer for Assembly of God and Church of God publications, Spence got "turned on to poetry" when, at age 39, she attended the University of South Alabama. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in creative writing.

She's had moderate success with her poetry over the years, but 2011 was her year to shine in that area. She had her works published in several print and online journals. In October, she attended the Alabama State Poetry Association Conference at the University of Montevallo, where she received the following awards for her poetry: first place in the Alabama State Poetry Society Fall contest with her entry "These are Mine"; second place in the Mississippi Poetry Society-sponsored Poet Laureate category with "Needle Delights"; and an honorable mention in the ASPS contest for "The Paper Folder."

Spence continues writing devotionals for adults (regularly published in "God's Word for Today," "Penned from the Heart" and "Life Related Learnings" and for teens ("Take Five Plus").

Get to Know Betty Spence
Birthplace: Mobile
Hometown: Crawford community near Semmes
Family: Son, Chuck
Profession: Wrote for newspaper 12 years and had a column entitled "In the Neighborhood" for eight of those; writes devotionals for adults and teens; and recently won awards for her poetry

She belongs to several writers' organizations, including Alabama Writers' Conclave, the Pensters, Alabama State Poetry Society, Florida Poetry Society and the Huntsville Literary Society.

In the past year, she also co-founded, with Geri Anderson, the Greenleaf Writers' Group, which meets the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. at Semmes Public Library, 9150 Moffett Road.

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This story was written by Jo Anne McKnight, Press-Register Correspondent.