Oglethorpe's Dream

Oglethorpe's Dream unites the award-winning photography of Diane Kirkland with the beautifully powerful writing of David Bottoms, Georgia's poet laureate. The result is a stunning portrait of the lands, waters, culture, and people of Georgia.

From the sea islands to the cities, from the wiregrass to the mountain forests, Kirkland gives us a gallery of spectacular images showcasing the state in its breadth, beauty, and diversity. Marrying landscape to history, Bottoms gives voice to a people filled with courage, pain, conviction, and, above all, hope. Together they capture the natural beauty of the diverse landscape, the richness of the state's storied past, and the essence of its spirited people.

"Isn't that what you always hoped for," Bottoms writes, "to find a place . . . and yourself in that place?" Oglethorpe's Dream helps us all to see a place called Georgia, and there to find something of ourselves.

The publication of this book was made possible by the financial support of the State of Georgia, the leadership of Governor Roy E. Barnes, and the partnership of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism, the Georgia Humanities Council, and the University of Georgia Press.

Oglethorpe's Dream unites the award-winning photography of Diane Kirkland with the beautifully powerful writing of David Bottoms, Georgia's poet laureate. The result is a stunning portrait of the lands, waters, culture, and people of Georgia.
DAVID BOTTOMS is the poet laureate of the State of Georgia. His poems have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, the Paris Review, Poetry, and many other publications as well as in numerous anthologies. His first book, Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump, was chosen by Robert Penn Warren as winner of the 1979 Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets. He is the author of four other books of poems and two novels.
DIANE KIRKLAND is the senior photographer for the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism. Her work has appeared in national and international publications, including the New York Times, Forbes, TIME magazine, USA Today, American Heritage, and Southern Living.

A stunning portrait of the lands, waters, culture and people of Georgia. From the oceans to the mountains and from big cities to the rural landscapes, the images Kirkland captures show off the state's beauty and diversity.

--Jackson Herald

Oglethorpe's Dream invites us, most cordially, to marvel at the whole state's splendors, from our backyard to the mountain forests abutting Tennessee.

--Savannah News

Oglethorpe's Dream is the perfect book for true Georgians and those who aspire to become one. It combines the award-winning photography of Diane Kirkland with the powerful writing of Georgia's poet Laureate, Macon native David Bottoms, to create a unity of landscape and history. Together these two capture the beauty of the state and the richness of its history. This is a book to be treasured. It will adorn coffee tables and attract serious and casual readers for years.

--Macon Magazine

Oglethorpe's Dream: A Picture of Georgia showcases 300 of Diane's most masterful frames. Through her lenses layered mountains, windswept coastlines, rushing rivers, nesting raptors, reflecting ponds, weathered barns, and other treasures come into focus. These images remind us of who we are, where we're from, and why we're proud. Thoughtful text by Georgia's poet laureate, David Bottoms, sprinkles the book.

--Southern Living

Bottoms, Georgia's poet laureate, combines his powerful poetic text with Kirkland's gorgeous photography to reveal the hidden treasures of Georgia's land, culture, and people in this celebration of the state's heritage.

--Endless Vacation

The photography is so wonderful, words cannot describe it.

--Valdosta Times