Feb. 12 - 16: Ossabaw Island Writers' Retreat

Ossabaw Island Writers' Retreat
February 12 - 16, 2012
Ossabaw Island, near Savannah, GA
Faculty: Craig Johnson, fiction; Sue William Silverman, nonfiction; Susan Laughter Meyers, poetry
Visit the website for further information.

What a beautiful setting for a writers' retreat! The program includes workshops, faculty lectures and readings, student readings, individual conferences, and time for writing and exploring the island.

Poetry workshop at SCCTE Conference, Kiawah Island, SC

Thanks to Hope Spillane for inviting me to teach a poetry workshop for the South Carolina Council of Teachers of English at their annual conference at Kiawah Island, SC, a couple of weekends ago. The workshop was on the morning of January 27, a day that started out rainy but had brightened up by the start of the class; so we pulled back the heavy draperies of the conference room to let the beauty of Kiawah Island be our inspiration. It was a pleasure to work with a room full of teachers eager to talk about and write poetry.

Our topic was "Writing toward a Poem's Mystery." To explore that subject we spent time reading and discussing published poems by poets such as Charles Simic, Kay Ryan, and Thomas Transtromer; and then we tried our hand at a group poem, which we read in a round-robin approach after each participant wrote one line of the poem. An impressive group!

Prime Number Editors' Selections, Vol. 1

A new print anthology of literary work chosen from the online magazine Prime Number has just been released by Press 53: Prime Number Editors' Selections, Vol. 1 -- edited by Cliff Garstang, Valerie Nieman, and Tracy Crow. I'm pleased to have poems included in it.

Contributors:
Nonfiction by Maris Venia, Stephen J. West, and Faye Rapoport DesPres;
Fiction by Kevin Wilson, Scott Loring Sanders, Susan Tepper, Anne Leigh Parrish, Jon Trobaugh, Richard Wiley, Meagan Ciesla, Dennis Ginoza, Virginia Pye, John Flynn, Dan Moreau, Daniel Meltzer, Linda Stewart-Oaten, Paul Hetzler, and David Meischen;
Poetry by James Harms, Sarah Lindsay, Jake Adam York, Susan Laughter Meyers, Mark Smith-Soto, Lola Haskins, Timothy Black, Robert Hill Long, Theodore Worozbyt, Rachel Hadas, Erica Dawson, Barry Spacks, Ruth Foley, Emilie Lindeman, Catherine Staples, M.A. Schaffner, and William Reichard.

To order: Press 53

Poem published by The Pedestal Magazine

Pedestal 67, celebrating 11 years of the magazine, includes my poem "Why I Am Not a Tightrope Walker."

Thanks to The Pedestal for including my work, along with poets Sara Backer, Esvie Coemish, Jeanpaul Ferro, James Grabill, Lois Marie, Harrod, klipschutz, Sandra Kohler, Simon Perchik, Eric Paul Shaffer, Judith Skillman, and Jared Smith.

Sat., Dec. 10: Writers Paradise, Summerville, SC, Library

Friends of the Summerville Library present a special literary event
Writers Paradise: A Six Pack of Authors
Saturday, December 10, 2011
2 - 4 pm
Summerville Library
76 Old Trolley Road, Summerville, SC

This is a perfect opportunity to meet six authors who will describe their works, conduct readings, and sign books. The authors cover a wide range of genres:

• Cleo Scott Brown (author of Witness to the Truth, My Struggle for Human Rights in Louisiana)
• Susan Hudson Chellis (author of The Kitchen Table)
• Henry Hixon (author of The Adventures of Thomas Pilgrim and Barney High Tail)
• Harriet McLeod (author of Good Morning, Lowcountry!)
• Susan Laughter Meyers (poet/author of Keep and Give Away)
• Valerie Perry (author of Upper King Street)

A reception will be held at 3 p.m. during the book signing. Open to the public. Contact information: 873-6624, rmfosl@sc.rr.com

Poems published in Australian journal Rabbit

Two of my poems--"Dear Broccoli Battered by Hail" and "Dear Bearded Carrot"--have been published in an Australian journal called Rabbit. You can visit Rabbit's blog here.

Book review published in Pirene's Fountain

My review of poet Tim Peeler's Checking Out, published in 2010 by Hub City Press, is in the current issue of the online journal Pirene's Fountain. You can read the review here

Monday, Nov. 21: Reading at Monday Night Poetry & Music

Monday, November 21, 2011
Monday Night Poetry & Music (formerly Monday Night Blues)
East Bay Meeting House
160 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC
8 p.m.
Featured poet: Susan Laughter Meyers
Open mic to follow

I'm especially excited about reading at East Bay Meeting House next Monday, because I've got lots of new poems I haven't had a chance to read before an audience yet. After taking a month-long poetry workshop course at the College of Charleston with Carol Ann Davis last June and then spending two weeks in August at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts--doing nothing but writing--I've completed more poems than I usually manage over the course of a busy summer and fall. So I'm gathering up a bunch of them and heading into Charleston on Monday night for the whole evening. This time I'll have a chance to stay till the very end--to sit back and enjoy all the open-mic readers. Yes!