Poem: "For All Anyone Knows"

Thanks to American Poetry Journal and, subsequently, Verse Daily for publishing this poem:


For All Anyone Knows

The wasps congregating on the wind chimes, late August,
mistook them for a cathedral.

Aunt M., missing for years, didn’t drown herself in the river.
My brother, right about her husband after all.

Who says our lives aren’t mere wishes?
So much for heat, for particle and wave.

The last one tagged "It" still roams the neighborhood
calling, Where are you? I give up.

Aunt M.’s name could have been a pass-along plant.
It ended up with me.

The ocean view from the dunes no one is allowed to climb,
a postcard never sent.

Wish you were here: code for
I’m glad you’re not.

Wednesday, Dec. 3: Poetry Club at the Lowcountry Senior Center, James Island, SC

"Poems: The Path of Surprise"
Poetry Club, Lowcountry Senior Center
Wednesday, Dec. 3
1 p.m.
865 Riverland Drive
James Island, SC 29412
(843) 762-9555
Program by Susan Meyers
Monthly programs sponsored by The Poetry Society of South Carolina

I'm looking forward offering the December program for the Poetry Club of the Lowcountry Senior Center. For the past year or so these monthly programs have been sponsored by The Poetry Society of South Carolina, a statewide organization that exists for poets and friends of poetry--offering readings, seminars, workshops, contests, and other special events.


Here is what I've planned for the Poetry Club on December 3:

Poems: The Path of Surprise

Writing poems should be more than telling anecdotes from a life you already know or describing something you’ve seen. It should take you down a path of surprise. “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader,” Robert Frost wisely noted. For this program we’ll use writing activities and handouts of published poems, as well as discussion, to take us farther down that serendipitous path. We’ll study poems that leap, swerve, and follow their particular logic—then we’ll write our own.

Tuesday, Dec. 2: Poetry Out Loud, Charleston County School of the Arts

Poetry Out Loud school competition
Tuesday, December 2
3:30 p.m.
Charleston County School of the Arts
North Charleston, SC

I'm honored to be one of the judges for this year's competition. I know how talented these students are!

Sunday, Nov. 23: Center for Women Holiday Book Signing, Charleston, SC

Center for Women Holiday Book Signing
Sunday, November 23
2 - 5 p.m.
The Citadel Holiday Alumni House
Charleston, SC
$10 admission
Proceeds go to the Center for Women

More than 50 Lowcountry women authors will sign books at the Center for Women Holiday Book Signing. Among them are these authors: Quanta Ahmed, Carol Ann Davis, Nathalie Dupree, Linda Annas Ferguson, Beth Webb Hart, Patti Callahan Henry, Josephine Humphreys, Sue Monk Kidd, Susan Meyers, Mary Alice Monroe, Vinnie Deas Moore, Tracy Lynn Ocean, Anne Rivers Siddons, Terry Ward Tucker, and Marjory Wentworth.

Saturday, Nov. 15: SC Young Poets Prize awards ceremony, Columbia, SC

SC Young Poets Prize
Saturday, November 15
10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Columbia Museum of Art
Hampton & Main Sts., Columbia, SC

What a pleasure it was to judge this year's South Carolina Young Poets Prize competition, sponsored by the Split P Soup: Poetry for the Community and by the SC Poetry Initiative. There were 155 poems entered by 50 poets, whose ages ranged from 14 to 19. A difficult competition to judge indeed! The awards ceremony was held at the Columbia Museum of Art, with a morning workshop led by Jonathan Butler. In the afternoon the students held an open mic, and I was pleased to read and announce the five prize winners.

Sunday, Nov. 9: After Shocks anthology reading by 11 poets, Charlotte, NC

After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery
Anthology reading by 11 poets
Sun., Nov. 9
Joseph Beth Booksellers
Charlotte, NC

One of the most moving readings I've ever participated in was this one by eleven of the 115 poets in the anthology After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events. Each poet read his or her own poem in the anthology, plus one by a poet who was not able to attend. After Shocks was compiled, edited, and published by Tom Lombardo, of Atlanta. It includes work by poets from all over the world. There are sections on death, divorce, abuse, and so forth--even one on "the stresses of living." Yet, despite the weight of these subjects, there is humor and much hope within its pages. I highly recommend this book.

Sunday, Nov. 9: After Shocks anthology reading, Charlotte, NC

After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events
Anthology reading with other poets
Sunday, Nov. 9
2 - 3:30 p.m.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Charlotte, NC
Free & open to the public

Introduced and emceed by Tom Lombardo, who lives in Atlanta and is the editor of After Shocks. Other poets participating:

Anthony Abbott (Davidson, NC)
Cathy Smith Bowers (Tryon, NC)
Genie Cotner (Charlotte, NC)
Val Nieman (Greensboro, NC)
Gail Peck (Charlotte, NC)
Barbara Presnell (Lexington, NC)
Rhett Iseman Trull (Greensboro, NC)
Terri Wolfe (Charlotte, NC)
Susan Meyers (Summerville, SC, a native of Albemarle, NC)
Linda Ferguson (Charleston, SC, a native of Rhode Hiss, NC)
Ed Madden (Charleston, SC)

Nov. 1: Kakalak reading, Charleston, SC

Kakalak anthology reading
Sat., Nov. 1
4 p.m.
Blue Bicycle Books
420 King Street
Charleston, SC

Some of the area contributors--poets and artists--published in the 2008 Kakalak anthology read at Blue Bicycle Books on Saturday. Editors Richard Taylor and Beth Cagle Burt, of Charlotte, NC, were there to emcee the event, which gave the contributors a chance to celebrate the new anthology. The event included a lovely reception, and luckily the weather was warm enough to allow the reading to take place outside in a courtyard by the building. Poets reading included Libby Bernardin, Susan Fecho, Barbara Hagerty, Ann Herlong-Bodman, Sheridan Hough, Kit Loney, Michael Lucas, Susan Meyers, Dennis Ward Stiles, and Deborah Scott. Hosts were Jonathan and Lauren Sanchez, owners of Blue Bicycle Books.

Saturday, Nov. 1: Poetry Writing Workshop -- Mastering the Line

Poetry Writing Workshop: Mastering the Line
Sat., Nov. 1, 2008
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Waccamaw Higher Education Center
160 Willbrook Blvd.
Pawleys Island, SC 29585
OLLI at CCU class
Instructor, Susan Meyers

How do you know where to begin and end the lines of your poems? This workshop will look at how lineation affects a poem, how various poets have upheld the integrity of the line—whether lines are short, long, or a combination of the two. Includes writing activities and a resource packet. Please bring a copy of 2-3 of your in-progress poems.

Lunch can be purchased at a nearby deli, or bring your own.
Registration, $30: Coastal Carolina University Lifelong Learning,
843-349-4032 or www.coastal.edu/outreach.

Wednesday, October 15: Poetry program for Florence, SC, book club

Florence, SC, local book club program
Wed., Oct. 15
11 a.m.
Florence Public Library
Free & open to the public

Reading from Keep and Give Away, plus poetry discussion

Sunday, Sept. 21: Porter Fleming Writing Competition Awards Ceremony, Augusta, GA

15th Annual Porter Fleming Writing Competition
Competition Awards Ceremony
Sunday, September 21, 2008
1:30 p.m.
Morris Museum
1 Tenth Street, Augusta, GA

I was thrilled to be among the winners of this year's Porter Fleming Writing Competition and to read with the other winners of the contest. The reading was held in the auditorium of the Morris Museum in Augusta, GA, as a part of the Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival. Below are the winners of all four categories:

FICTION:
1st prize -- Michael Leslie, "Marathons, Mercurys, and Orphans"
2nd prize -- Angela Aaron, "The Tale of Tapanga"
3rd prize -- Dot Jackson, "Boy Lost"

NONFICTION:
1st prize -- Marina Brown, "Pieta"
2nd prize -- Elizabeth Estes, "How I Lost Fourteen Warts by Just Holding Hands"
3rd prize -- Marina Brown, "The Sweetness of Red Cabbage"

POETRY:
1st prize -- Allan Ryder-Cook, "Scapula"
2nd prize -- Gilbert Allen, "My Mother Teaches Me to Type"
3rd prize -- Susan Meyers, "Namesake"

PLAYWRITING:
1st prize -- Amy Richerson, "The Ex-Box"
2nd prize -- Thomas McConnell, "Colliding with Andromeda"
3rd prize -- Joseph Barry, "Bait and Switch"

This year's final judge for the poetry division was Stephen Corey, poet and editor of The Georgia Review. For more information, see Arts in the Heart of Augusta.

Friday, Sept. 19: Visit to Furman University class

I was recently invited to visit the undergraduate poetry workshop of Gil Allen, professor and poet at Furman University in Greenville, SC. The purposes of the visit was to give the students a chance to hold a small-group conversation with a working poet. What a pleasure! After I started our session by reading a poem, the twelve students in the class each told me about what for them seemed hard, and in turn what seemed easy, about writing poems. We also talked about such issues as where our poems come from, how we get started, and how much revising we do. I tried to emphasize the fact that my poems rarely begin with an idea; they're much more likely to begin with a line that comes to me. Typically I keep laying down one line after another, not really knowing where I'm headed. The more I write, the more I like the mystery of where the developing poem is taking me, its surprises and turns along the way. It's probably apparent, too, that I like to sit and talk about writing.

The students were eager for the exchange, which made my whole trip worthwhile. Thanks for inviting me, Gil. And thanks to the students--James, Christan, Rachel, Duncan, Drew, Sarah, Gwendolyn, Scott, Stephen, Keegan, Ait, and Helen--for voicing your concerns and ideas about the writing process. I was happy to be there for our conversation on poetry.

Thursday, September 18: After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery, a reading by area anthology contributors, Charleston (SC) County Public Library

After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery from Life-Shattering Events
Thursday, Sept. 18
Charleston County Library
68 Calhoun Street
Charleston, SC
7 p.m.
Book signing and reception will follow the reading.
Anthologies will be available for purchase.

Area poets included in the anthology who will read:
Paul Allen, of Charleston
Linda Ferguson, of Charleston
Richard Garcia, of Charleston
Barbara G.S. Hagerty, of Charleston
Kurtis Lamkin, of Charleston
Susan Meyers, of Summerville
Gail Peck, of Charlotte
Marjory Wentworth, of Mt. Pleasant
Tom Lombardo, editor, of Atlanta


MORE ABOUT AFTER SHOCKS:

Sante Lucia Books is pleased to announce publication of a ground-breaking anthology, entitled After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events, edited by Tom Lombardo. The anthology comprises 152 poems by 115 poets from 15 nations, including: 3 U.S. Poets Laureate, a Pulitzer Prize winner, 2 Whitbread Prize winners, and many others. Chapters cover stories of recovery from Grief, War, Exile, Abuse, Divorce, Bigotry, Illness, Injury, Addiction, and Loss of Innocence.

The anthology grew out of the editor’s personal experience surviving the death of his spouse when he was in his early 30s. “I was a young widower, and over the years since then, I've spoken with others going through similar trauma, trying to come to terms with my own grief and what it meant for my continuing life. After receiving my MFA in Creative Writing, and turning my writing more toward poetry, I came to realize that poetry could help express the hope and the will to live that eventually springs from these life-shattering events,” said Tom Lombardo.


Early Praise for After Shocks:

This anthology is of national and international significance. It is a collection that crosses and embraces all boundaries—culture, class, gender, and race. It takes us into the hardest places human beings have to go—the failures of personal relationships, loss of loved ones, genocide, racial oppression, addiction, loss of innocence, marginalization, and more. And, yet, each section moves, finally, toward a place of hope and dignity and resilience.
—Cathy Smith Bowers, Author, The Candle I Hold Up To See You

This wonderful and important anthology…is a solid act of generosity…a gift of testimony from poets across a broad range of experience and language, poems that tell us we can gather ourselves from the shock of upset and loss in life and continue…After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery is a book that seeks to stand up and walk among us as a living thing, a force to activate the good and prepare us to weather the bad.
—Afaa Michael Weaver, Author, The Plum Flower Dance

The sum of these poems is to tell the truth and by the telling to find relief and sometimes healing. The ones who read and hear these poems can share the loss that is so common among us, and perhaps also share the healing that comes through bold voice.
—Walter Brueggemann, Ph.D. Author of Finally Comes the Poet, Biblical Scholar, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia

In this collection of poetry, recovery…speaks to transformation and hope…Many of these poems can help individuals acknowledge the reality of their losses and develop an understanding that helps them continue on their life's journey…This international collection of poetry can serve as an aid in promoting compassion and courage. We draw courage from those on a similar path.
—Nicholas D. Mazza, Ph.D., editor of Journal of Poetry Therapy


Complete List of Poets Included:

Rita Dove Simon Armitage Carol Dine Douglas Dunn Cathy Smith Bowers Patricia Wellingham-Jones Donald Hall Carol Ann Duffy Molly Gloss Thomas Lux Pam Bernard Elizabeth Bernardin Sandor Kányádi Stellasue Lee Doug Anderson Jim McGarrah Sonja Besford Martha Collins Rachel Tzvia Back Brian Turner Nazand Begikhani Liu Hongbin Paul Sohar Satyendra Srivastava Marjorie Wentworth Diana Woodcock Majid Naficy Shelley Davidow J. P. Dancing Bear Margaret Chula Major Jackson Lisha Adela Garcia Ron Rash Annie Finch Barbara Mitchell Roseann Lloyd Joy Helsing Nehassaiu deGannes Peter Cooley Paul Allen R.G. Evans Barbara G.S. Hagerty Clinton B. Campbell Iain Haley Pollock Laurel Blossom Willie James King Georgia Ann Banks-Martin Kevin Young Tolu Ogunlesi Meir Wieseltier Randall Horton Richard Garcia György Faludy Bette Lynch Husted William Stafford Terri Wolfe J. Stephen Rhodes Gail Rudd Entrekin Anthony S. Abbott Faye J. Hoops Farideh Hassanzadeh Rebecca McClanahan Sister Lou Ella Hickman Anna Rabinowitz David Bottoms Janet Winans Alexa Selph Dennis Ward Stiles Renée Michele Breeden Ellen Doré Watson Joseph Mills Liesl Jobson Deborah P. Kolodji Aimee Nezhukumatathil Kurtis Lamkin C.C. Thomas Barbara Presnell Naomi Ruth Lowinsky Jericho Brown Therése Halscheid Becky Thompson John McAllister J.E.Pitts William Greenway Susan Varon Shaindel Beers Genie Cotner Marcia Slatkin Barbara Mitchell Joan Houlihan Jenni Meredith Rhett Iseman Trull Pramila Venkateswaran Diane Holland Valerie Nieman Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda Susan Meyers Joseph Enzweiler Jane Gentry Rachel Eliza Griffiths Gail Peck Jennifer Barber Ilya Kaminsky Allison Hedge Coke Steven Cramer Linda Annas Ferguson Kevin Simmonds Nancy Tupper Ling Carole Baldock Deema Shehabi Kate Gale Jeffrey Levine Bernardo Atxaga


After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events
Edited by Tom Lombardo, 388 pages
Available August 29, 2008
Sante Lucia Books
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9816354-0-8

For further information or to order copies in advance,
please go to The Poetry of Recovery.
Also visit the press's blog.

Fri., Aug. 22: Celebration for Ed Madden's book Signals

Signals: Celebrating the Art of Ed Madden
Friends of Ed Madden Book Launch
Friday, August 22nd
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Columbia Museum of Art
Corner of Hampton and Main
Free and Open to the Public

Join the South Carolina Poetry Initiative for a celebration of Ed
Madden’s Signals, a work already acclaimed by award-winning poets: "Signals calls us to consciousness in a natural world that is at once quietly witness to our loves and losses and yet always as urgently and insistently alive as we are. Ed Madden, as with any of our most necessary poets, locates us plainly in this conflicted Eden, this garden of the reverent imagination…" — Rafael Campo

Signals was selected by Afaa Weaver as the winner of the 2007 South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Book Contest, and on August 22 the Initiative is going to toast the book, celebrate Ed Madden’s journey, and maybe roast the poet a bit! Hear Madden read from the book as well as hear readings from some of Ed’s friends, who happen to be among South Carolina’s finest poets. Vera Gomez, Ray McManus, Kevin Lewis, and Susan Meyers are a few of the folks who will take to the stage to toast this gifted poet. The evening will include a reception, music, and a superb display of photography that maps many of the landscapes Madden brings to life in this stunning collection. Join us as we celebrate friendship, the written word, and art that addresses the legacies and landscapes of our region.

Ed Madden is an associate professor of English and associate director of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina as well as writer in residence at the Riverbanks Botanical Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina. Madden is the author of Tiresian Poetics and coeditor of Geographies and Genders in Irish Studies. His essays on politics and Southern culture have appeared in many newspapers and journals and been featured on NPR. He was selected by editor Natasha Trethewey for inclusion in the anthology Best New Poets 2007. For information contact Charlene Spearen at cmspeare@mailbox.sc.edu or call (803)777-5492.

Kakalak 2008 is now available

Congratulations to 2008 KAKALAK editors Beth Cagle Burt, Lisa Zerkle, and Richard Allen Taylor on the release of this year's anthology, the third in the series of Kakalak: Anthology of Carolina Poets. Each year the editors hold a poetry and art contest--putting out a call for poetry and art submissions from North and South Carolina poets/artists, and from other poets/artists with work about the Carolinas. Poet Colette Inez served as judge for the poetry competition this year. 2008 Kakalak includes the results of this year's contests, as well as a special section of work by poet and photographer Steve Lautermilch, winner of both contests last year.

This year's cover art, Watertrees, is by Patz Fowle; and, as always, the anthology is a beautiful book. It contains the work of more than a hundred poets and about twenty visual artists. Copies can be ordered at the anthology's website: Kakalak

I'm extremely pleased to be included again in the new edition, doubly pleased that my poem received an honorable mention in the poetry contest:


Whistling through My Hands

Until today, the dove's cry hasn't come
from so deep inside itself since that summer
Emily stepped from the curb into the night's traffic.
She, the troubled bright wonder in our class.

This moment, straight through me because out here
I'm closer, my ear a vessel of sorrow?
I want to carry that sound into fall. No, winter.
The morning I read her obituary

I went to Paul, our teacher.
Found him in his office and sat there numb
while he cried, that big man at his desk,
his plastic black cat clock behind him on the wall.

Now Paul gone too. I have to remind myself.
If I hollow my hands, clasped together
into the shape of the church
without the steeple, or the people,

line up my thumbs just so,
I can blow on them to make that long, low call
I practiced and practiced as a child, till finally
when it came to me, it came to me by heart.

                                        for Paul Rice

Thur., June 12: Reading & signing at The Happy Bookseller, Columbia, SC

Thursday, June 12
Reading & book signing
The Happy Bookseller
4525 Forest Dr. Columbia, SC 29206
6 p.m.
Phone: 803.782.2665; Toll Free: 800.787.1503

Linda Annas Ferguson -- Bird Missing from One Shoulder
Ray McManus -- Driving through the Country before You Are Born
Susan Meyers -- Keep and Give Away
Marjory Wentworth, Poet Laureate of SC -- Despite Gravity

Apr. 28 Reading at the Greensboro Public Library

Thanks to those who came to the Greensboro (NC) Public Library on Monday, April 28, when Mark Smith-Soto and I read. Despite an all-day rain storm (that cleared up just in time for the reading), we had a good turnout. For the "Two Views, Two Poets" billing, we each chose to read a poem by another poet. Mark read a poem by Seamus Heaney, and I chose one by Li-Young Lee. I was honored to read with Mark, whose work I greatly admire.

Sat., Apr. 26: SC Poetry Initiative's Awards Celebration, Columbia, SC

2008 South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s
Single-Poem and Book Contest Awards Celebration

Date: Saturday, April 26
Time: 2 to 4 p.m.
Place: Columbia Museum of Art
Corner of Hampton & Main
Columbia, SC
Free & open to the public

This year’s 2008 South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Single-Poem and Book Awards Ceremony is definitely an event worth raving about. Enjoy a tour of the Columbia Museum’s Excavating Egypt Exhibit, some music, a bit of food, and POETRY. Here are further details about the day's happenings and features:

* Announcement of this year’s SINGLE-POEM CONTEST winners…the short list (top placement winners) and the long list to include the naming of the top twenty winners. Co-Sponsored by The State Newspaper, judged by Gabeba Baderoon. Awards include $400 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd place, $200 for 3rd place, and $100 for People’s Choice.

* Announcement of this year’s SC POETRY BOOK PRIZE winner.

* FEATURED READING by this year’s Book Contest judge, poet ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, and the winners of the three previous year’s SC Poetry Initiative's SC Poetry Book Prize: Susan Meyers, Keep and Give Away (2005 Winner, USC Press, 2006), Ray McManus, Driving through the Country before You Are Born (2006 Winner, USC Press, 2006), and Ed Madden, Signals (2007 Winner, USC Press, 2008).

ELIZABETH ALEXANDER is a poet, essayist, playwright, and teacher. She is the author of four books of poems, The Venus Hottentot, Body of Life, Antebellum Dream Book, and American Sublime, which was one of three finalists for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. She is also a scholar of African-American literature and culture and recently published a collection of essays, The Black Interior. She has read her work across the U.S. and in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America, and her poetry, short stories, and critical prose have been published in dozens of periodicals and anthologies. Her awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Chicago, the George Kent Award, given by Gwendolyn Brooks, and a Guggenheim fellowship.

Her most-recent honors are the Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellowship for work that "contributes to improving race relations in American society and furthers the broad social goals of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954," and the 2007 Jackson Prize for Poetry, awarded by Poets and Writers. She is a professor at Yale University, and for the academic year 2007-2008 she is a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

SC Poetry Initiative

Thur., Apr. 24: SC Center for the Book reading

National Poetry Month Program
South Carolina Center for the Book
1430 Senate Street,
Columbia, SC
Thursday, April 24
12 noon - 1 p.m.
Reading & discussion by Susan Meyers, Ray McManus & Ed Madden
Winners of the South Carolina Poetry Book Prize
www.sccenterforthebook.org
Free and open to the public
Attendees are welcome to bring bag lunches
Books will be for sale on site.

A major poet selects one poet per year to receive the SC Poetry Book Prize, which began in 2006 and is sponsored by the South Carolina Poetry Initiative and the University of South Carolina Press.

Keep and Give Away, by Susan Meyers (2006)
Selected by Terrance Hayes. Meyers guides us through her examination of life's ordinary moments and the seemingly ordinary images that abide in them to reveal the extraordinary. From minutiae to marriage, crumbs to crows, nothing is too commonplace to escape her attention as she traverses terrains of childhood, loss, relationships, and death.

Driving through the Country before You Are Born, by Ray McManus (2007)
Selected by Kate Daniels. The speaker in these poems searches for redemption and solace while navigating from a traumatic loss in the past to a present fraught with violence and self-destruction. Here we witness family stories without happy endings, landscapes on the verge of collapse, and prophetic visions of horrors yet to come. From these haunting visions, salvation is rooted in hope that, out of the ruins, there remains the possibility of a fresh beginning.

Signals, by Ed Madden (2008)
Selected by Afaa Weaver. Deeply rooted in the recognizable landscapes and legacies of the American South, these lyric poems couple daring engagements in topics of race and sexuality with tender reflections on personal and cultural histories. Madden's adopted home of South Carolina rises to the surface in poems set at Folly Beach, Fort Moultrie, Lake Keowee, and Middleton PLace. His interrogations of social oppression conjure the ubiquitous iconography of the bygone Confederacy, a first encounter with the miniseries Roots, and a cameo appearance by Strom Thurmond.

Monday, April 14: Reading for Hub City Writers Project

Hub City Writers Project reading
Mon., Apr. 14
7:30 p.m.
Showroom at Hub-Bub
149 S. Daniel Morgan Ave.
Spartanburg, SC

I'm delighted to be reading in Spartanburg for the Hub City Writers Project. Betsy Teter, and all those at Hub City, have done a fine job of leading, supporting, and showcasing the Spartanburg literary community--as well as publishing books that help to document Spartanburg's cultural history.

Please visit their website to learn more about them:
Hub City Writers Project

Sunday, April 13: Four poets reading & signing in Mt. Pleasant, SC

Barnes & Noble reading & signing
Town Centre, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Sun., Apr. 13
2 - 4 p.m.
Reading at 2 p.m.

Marjory Wentworth, Poet Laureate of SC -- Despite Gravity
Susan Meyers -- Keep and Give Away
Linda Annas Ferguson -- Bird Missing from One Shoulder
Carol Ann Davis -- Psalm

Sat., Apr. 12: Seven poets reading/signing in Columbia, SC

Saturday, April 12
Barnes & Noble
278 Harbison Blvd.
Columbia, SC 29212
2 - 5 p.m.
Reading at 2 p.m.
In the shopping center on the south side of Harbison Boulevard, 1/4 mile west of I-26 (exit 103)


Poets reading & signing:
Kwame Dawes
Fred Dings
Linda Annas Ferguson
Ed Madden
Ray McManus
Susan Meyers
Charlene Spearen

We're all looking forward to a brief reading--and a chance to relax & visit with friends (and strangers too).

Friday, April 11: Moveable Feast

Moveable Feast / Litchfield Books
Friday, Apr. 11
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
DeBordieu Beach Club
$25 preregistration
Reading by Ed Madden, Ray McManus & Susan Meyers
Three SC Poetry Book Prize winners
Signing at Litchfield Books
2 - 4 p.m.
Pawleys Island, SC
e-mail: linda@classatpawleys.com
or call 843-235-9600


From the CLASS at Pawleys website: "Celebrating the return of spring and National Poetry Month, three marvelous poets will share the podium and excerpts from their recent published works ~ Susan Meyers (Keep and Give Away), Ray McManus (Driving Through the Country Before You Are Born), and Ed Madden (Signals) ~ as well as the trials and tribulations of the poet's life in a particularly unpoetic era of American life."

Keep and Give Away: A review at the Luna blog

Luna: a journal of poetry and translation has reviewed my book Keep and Give Away on their blog. The review, by Gaganpreet Kaur, was posted on March 17, 2008. I'm grateful for the praise and the close attention the poems received. Click on the title above for a link to Lunapoetry.

An earlier review at Main Street Rag (scroll down) is also posted online. The review, also much appreciated, is by Phebe Davidson.

Tue., Apr. 1: Richland County Library, Columbia, SC, hosts poets from across the state

A Cabaret of Words
Tue., April 1
Richland County Public Library
6:30 p.m.
Main Branch, 1431 Assembly St., Columbia, SC
Co-sponsored by the SC Poetry Initiative
Music, reception & book signing
Free & open to the public

Reading by Susan Meyers, Laurel Blossom, Steve Gardner, Sarah Newman and Bhavin Tailor. Final evening of this four-part series.

Sat., Mar. 29: Southern Poetry Anthology reading, Charleston, SC

Southern Poetry Anthology: South Carolina
Reading by 20-some contributing poets
Saturday, Mar. 29
2 - 4 p.m.
Charleston County Public Library
Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC
Copies of the anthology will be available for sale.
Free & open to the public

More than 25 poets will each read a poem or two from The Southern Poetry Anthology: South Carolina, edited by Stephen Gardner and William Wright and newly published by Texas Review Press. Dennis Ward Stiles, emcee.

Poets reading include Paul Allen, Fred Bassett, Libby Bernardin, Farley Briggs, Phebe Davidson, Linda Annas Ferguson, Richard Garcia, Aly Goodwin, Linda Lee Harper, Melanie Harris, Tom Johnson, Thomas David Lisk, Ed Madden, Terri McCord, Ken McCullough, Susan Meyers, Rick Mulkey, Harriet Popham Rigney, Warren Slesinger, Brian Slusher, Charlene Spearen, Susan Finch Stevens, Dennis Ward Stiles, Ceille Baird Welch, Marjory Wentworth, Katherine Williams. Immediately following the reading there will be a gathering of poets and friends at East Bay Meeting House, 159 East Bay Street, to visit and celebrate the anthology.

Thur., Mar. 20: Poets for the Planet, Charleston, SC

Earth Day: Poets for the Planet
Readings of eco-inspired poems
Classical guitar interludes
Thur., Mar. 20
7 p.m.
City Gallery at Waterfront Park
34 Prioleau St., Charleston, SC
Free & open to the public, donations accepted

Poets reading include Marcus Amaker, Helen Brandenburg, Jessica Bunschuh, Linda Annas Ferguson, Richard Garcia, Barbara Hagerty, Ann Igoe, Kurtis Lamkin, Jim Lundy, Vicky Matsis, Susan Meyers, Bryan Penberthy, Harriet Rigney, Debbie Scott, and Katherine Williams.

Presented by the Sophia Institute. Co-sponsored by Coastal Conservation League and presented in cooperation with the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs.

Monday, Mar. 3: Seeking the Spirit: An Evening of Poetry & Jazz Inspired by Jonathan Green's Seeking

Seeking the Spirit: An Evening of Poetry & Jazz
Inspired by Jonathan Green's Seeking
Monday, Mar. 3
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Charleston County Public Library
Calhoun Street
Charleston, SC
Free & open to the public

Music by The Richard White Trio

Featured Poets: Kwame Dawes, Linda Ferguson, Barbara Hagerty, Ellen Hyatt, Ed Madden, Ray McManus, Susan Meyers, Delores Neville, Bryan Penberthy,Charlene Spearen, and Marjory Wentworth. Also featuring Jonathan Green.

Jonathan Green Week

Reading, music, reception & book signing. Sponsored by Barbara Bey.

Feb. 22-24: SC Book Festival

Feb. 22-24, 2008
South Carolina Book Festival
Convention Center
Columbia, SC
http://www.scbookfestival.org

A whole weekend of readings, panel sessions, and a book fair. On Friday, for a modest fee, there are several afternoon master classes. The Saturday and Sunday sessions and book fair are free and open to the public.

I'll be moderating two panels on Sunday:

"From the Foothills to the Coast": SC poets Ray McManus, Carol Ann Davis, Phebe Davidson, Linda Annas Ferguson.

"First Women of Poetry: State Poets Laureate from Across the Nation" -- Marjory Wentworth (SC), Lisa Starr (RI), Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (VA), Joyce Brinkman (IN)

Saturday, Feb. 16: Poetry writing workshop--"Letters from Within"

Poetry writing workshop:
"Letters from Within"
Saturday, Feb. 16
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Waccamaw Center for Higher Education
160 Willbrook Blvd.
Pawleys Island, SC 29585
Susan Meyers, instructor

One of the creative acts of writing poetry is assuming a voice—whether it’s your own or that of a persona. In this workshop we’ll write poems in the form of letters and postcards from numerous voices to discover just what there is to say—and to whom or what. Delving deep into our imaginations, we’ll strike up a correspondence—whether to a person, animal, object, or place—to arrive at the emotional center of the poem. The class will include writing activities and handouts of published poems, such as Jane Springer’s “Dear Blackbird” and Wyn Cooper’s “Postcard from the Party.”

Lunch can be purchased at a nearby deli, or bring your own.
Registration, $30: Coastal Carolina University Lifelong Learning,
843-349-4032 or www.coastal.edu/outreach.

Sunday, Feb. 10: Reading & book signing with 3 other poets

Reading & book signing with 3 other poets
Barnes & Noble
Mt. Pleasant, SC
Town Centre
Sunday, Feb. 10
2 p.m.

Brief reading followed by a signing by poets Carol Ann Davis, Psalm (Tupelo Press); Linda Annas Ferguson, Bird Missing from One Shoulder (WordTech Editions); Susan Meyers, Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press); and Marjory Wentworth, Despite Gravity (Ninety-Six Press).