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.