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.