The fourth annual edition of Kakalak: Anthology of Carolina Poets has recently been released. Edited by Beth Cagle Burt, Richard Allen Taylor, and Lisa Zerkle, the anthology features poets and artists from North and South Carolina. Congratulations to this year's prize winners. Here's a partial listing:
Poetry Prize Winners
1st: "not the matter" by Heather Dearmon, Pelion, SC
2nd: "Scar" by Kimberly Glanzman, Charlotte, NC
3rd: "The Butcher's Dream" by Paul Fisher, Nags Head, NC
Visual Art Prize Winners
1st: "Country Kitchen" by Susan Fecho, Tarboro, NC
2nd: "Dreaming of Leo" by Karon Luddy, Charlotte, NC
3rd: "Runs in the Family" by Patz Fowle, Hartsville, SC
In addition, there were 16 Honorable Mentions in poetry:
Claire Armstrong, Michael Colonnese, Genie Cotner, Phebe Davidson, Allison Elrod, Alex Grant, Teresa Haskew, Alice Owens Johnson, Steve Lautermilch, Kit Loney, David T. Manning, Jeff Miles, Sally B. Miller, Leslie M. Rupracht, Brian Slusher, Eric A. Weil.
After four years of editing Kakalak, the editors have decided to take a hiatus for a year to rethink the project. I admire all the work they've done and continue to do! This year's anthology contains work by about a hundred or so poets and artists. There will be readings throughout the Carolinas once again this year to give folks a chance to hear the poets and see the art. I was pleased once again to have a poem included (below--the layout is not exactly accurate as posted here). Thanks for all your hard work as editors, Beth, Richard, and Lisa--enjoy your 2010 break!
Morning after the Hailstorm
On the porch floor the scattered green stars
that fell from the sweet gums.
Some torn & misshapen
as if to say the wish
will never come true. Pine scent
in the air,
the gravel drive littered
with pitched needles & limbs.
In the garden the beans
beaten down,
the herbs (peppers too) and, oh, the tattered
umbrellas of squash leaves.
It was a wild night of lashing,
a veil of steam rising. All the pummeling
& shredding.
All the loose bright green
flung
to the ground, soon to turn brown.
For a few early hours the tender
pretense (forget
the havoc) that the heart is cheerful
as birdsong. Till the sun, searing
a different truth, climbs higher.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
New website for the SC Poetry Initiative
The South Carolina Poetry Initiative--a statewide organization offering services to poets, schools, and communities--will soon have a new website. There you'll find information about its poetry contests, programs, publications, and various projects. Directed by Kwame Dawes and Charlene Spearen, the Poetry Initiative is an organization with a truly inpired vision. Check back soon for a link to the new web address.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Sunday, Jun. 7: Art of the Farm Closing Celebration
Art of the Farm Closing Celebration
Sunday, June 7, 2009
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Garden Hosted by The SC Poetry Initiative, USC Arts Institute, and the USC Department of Art and Department of English
Phone: 8037775492
Email: youngce@Mailbox.sc.edu
I'll be reading poems at this event on Sunday evening. Here's the Poetry Initiative's description of the celebration:
This catered event is free and open to the public. The evening will include a poetry reading, a photography exhibit celebrating local farms, and a special guest speaker who will talk about the pleasures and rewards of sustainable farming and gardening in South Carolina. The University of South Carolina Greed Quad, the Agriculture Commission, and several local grocery stores will also have informative displays on this subject. As a part of the closing celebration, poets who participated in the April 7th children's workshop and the June 4th adult workshop will get to see select poems from that workshop published in a commemorative chapbook.
This event is sponsored by the University of South Carolina Arts Institute, the South Carolina Poetry Initiative, and the University of South Carolina's Department of Art and Department of English.
Don't miss this enriching and entertaining evening!
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