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!

Poetry Out Loud at Charleston County School of the Arts (SOA)

On Thursday, November 10, 2011, eighteen students of Charleston County School of the Arts (SOA) participated in the Lowcountry's individual-school level of Poetry Out Loud (POL), a nationally sponsored recitation competition. The winners from each competing high school in the Lowcountry will vie for the regional title, and that winner will go to the state level. Next spring at the national competition, winners from each state will compete to determine the national champion.

I happily served as one of three judges for last Thursday's event, along with Beth Webb Hart and James Lundy. What a difficult task, determining the top competitors among such talent. After two rounds of recitations, we chose a winner, a second-place finalist, and tied finalists for third place. Creative writing instructor Rene Miles was the director of the competition. I'll hold off announcing the SOA winners, in case the school has not released that information to the public yet. Thanks to SOA and all its dedicated, talented POL participants for making this such a truly stunning afternoon of poetry!

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011: Poetry Workshop: Closure, Ways to End a Poem

My fall poetry workshop for OLLI at Coastal Carolina University is coming up soon, and as always I'm looking forward to it. Here are the particulars:
____________________

Poetry Workshop: Closure, Ways to End a Poem
Sat., Nov. 5
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Waccamaw Higher Education Center
160 Willbrook Blvd., Pawleys Island, SC
Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

Much advice about ending a poem, though helpful, is general:
trust your reader; trust the poem; it should be as long as it
needs to be. So what, exactly, do you do? When is the poem
over? This workshop will explore answers to those questions
through discussion and writing activities. A class packet is included.
Bring an in-progress poem of yours. Within two weeks
after the workshop concludes, you have the option of emailing
a poem to the instructor for feedback. Lunch can be brought
or bought nearby.
Registration, $30 -- call 843-349-6584
Class code: –XWRIT 524 W03
_____________________

This subject is one that has interested me for a long time. In fact, it was the topic of my MFA craft seminar at Queens University of Charlotte. I've kept adding resources to my class materials since then, and it's a treat for me to have a chance to teach a workshop on closure.

Oct. 20 & 21: Queens Univ. of Charlotte -- Readings & Writers Symposium

Queens University of Charlotte
Thursday, Oct. 20
8:30 p.m.
Sykes Auditorium
Reading in celebration of the 10th anniversary
of the Queens MFA Program in Creative Writing:
     Faculty -- Jonathan Dee, Rebecca McClanahan, Morri Creech
     Alumni -- Jessica Handler, Susan Laughter Meyers, Susan Woodring

Friday, Oct. 21
Writers Symposium
8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sykes Auditorium
Morning session: Keynote speakers Fred Leebron & Rebecca McClanahan, panel on publishing
Afternoon master classes:
     Fiction -- Ashley Warlick
     Poetry -- Susan Laughter Meyers
     Young adult & children -- Karon Luddy

The Writers Symposium is sponsored by Queens' Hayworth College for Adult Studies in collaboration with the MFA Program. For more information about the anniversary reading & the Writers Symposium:
Queens Reading & Writers Symposium

Friday, October 14: The Poetry Society of SC

The Poetry Society of South Carolina
Friday, Oct. 14
7 p.m.
The Charleston Library Society
164 King St., Charleston, SC
Free & open to the public
Reception & book signing after the program

Featured poet: Landon Godfrey, reading from her book Second-Skin Rhinestone-Spangled Nude Soufflé Chiffon Gown, winner of the Cider Press Review Book Award

Preliminary talk: Susan Laughter Meyers, on her residency at VCCA, made possible by the Verna Ubben Fellowship -- highlights & a poem or two

Note: Landon Godfrey will teach a seminar at the same location on Saturday, Oct. 15, 10 a.m. - noon.
Subject: "Imaginative Acts of Attention: Ekphrastic Poetry"
Fee: $10 for PSSC members, $15 for others

2011 James Applewhite Poetry Prize

John Thomas York, of Greensboro, is the winner of the 2011 James Applewhite Poetry Prize competition for his poem "Lamp." York will receive a prize of $250, and his poem will be published in the North Carolina Literary Review’s 2012 issue.

Renowned North Carolina poet James Applewhite selected York’s poem from several finalists whose work had been selected for publication in NCLR 2012 by NCLR Poetry Editor Jeffrey Franklin. York read his winning poem at the 2011 Eastern North Carolina Literary Homecoming at East Carolina University on September 23. The inaugural James Applewhite Poetry Prize competition was funded by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

Other writers from the 2011 competition to be published in the 2012 issue include Debra Kaufman, Susan Laughter Meyers, Valerie Nieman, Glenis Gale Redmond, Mark Smith-Soto, and Cindy Thompson. The issue will also feature poetry by James Applewhite.

Click here to read the complete press release from NC Literary Review and to obtain information about submitting to the James Applewhite Poetry Prize competition and about subscribing to NCLR:

News of James Applewhite Poetry Prize, with photo

Sunday, Sept. 18: Center for Women book signing

The Center for Women will host its Annual Lowcountry Women Authors Book Signing on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. The event will feature 60 area authors and will include scheduled readings throughout the afternoon. Admission is $10. Read the full scoop here:
Center for Women Book Signing

Authors:
Ida Becker * Pat Branning * Cleo Scott Brown * Nina Bruhns * Susan Hudson Chellis * Alicia Chisholm * Maurita Corcoran * Mary Clark Coy * Julie Dash * Carol Ann Davis * Becky DeWitt * Jan DiRuzzzo * Carol James Drolet * Nathalie Dupree & Cynthia Graubart * Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman * Carolyn Evans * Dixie Fanning * Lissa D'Aquisto Felzer * Linda Annas Ferguson * Laura Fogarty * Lisa Foster with Mary Lou Murray Coombs * Dorothea Benton Frank * Mary Edna Fraser * Nathalie Gregg * Pattie Welek Hall * Patti Calahan Henry * Holly Herrick * Tricia Hutchison * Charlotte Jenkins * Nadine Johnson * River Jordan * Corinne Koonz-Pushman * Kieran Kramer * Suzette Latsko * Kellie Lawless * Amy McCandless * Terri McCrea * Dorothy McFalls / Dorothy St. James * Harriet McLeod * Jacqueline Maduneme * Susan Laughter Meyers * Jennifer E. Michaels * Dianne Miley * Mary Alice Monroe * Kathy Murphy * Carol Oropallo * Lisa Patton * Jane Perdue * Valerie Perry * Signe Pike * Mary Caroline Rhea * Emily Rosko * Nicole Seitz * Heather Solos * Shari Stauch * Ileana & Katina Strauch * Terry Ward Tucker * Marjory Wentworth * Karen Spears Zacharias

My August VCCA residency

Thanks to the Verna Ubben Fellowship, sponsored by Don Ubben and The Poetry Society of South Carolina, I had a wonderful two-week residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts from Aug. 15 until Aug. 29. There were a number of visual artists from NYC there at the same time, as well as a few writers and a composer or two--and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. Most of my time, though, was spent in my lovely studio--the Nancy Hale Studio, W-3--writing and revising all day, every day. It had a large corner desk where I worked and looked out the window at a field of grasses and mountains along the horizon. Daily I would tack new work up on the bulletin board beside my desk, accumulating poems day by day. That helped me keep up the momentum. VCCA is in a rural area and has horses and a herd of cows. The weather was beautiful, so each morning I'd raise the windows in my studio to hear the nearby crickets, crows, jays, and trains. Plus an occasional rufus-sided towhee.

While I was there, several of the artists--Scott, Fiona, Cynthia, Amy, and Patte--opened their visual arts studios to us for an hour or so, and it was inspiring to see their work in progress. So much talent! Also, Erika and Michael gave a poetry/musical program one evening. Later the next week, Michael Paul Thomas and I got together to give a poetry reading. Sharing our work was an important part of the residency for some of us.

Here's the link to VCCA for further information. It's a wonderful place!

Boomtown anthology: Queens University of Charlotte

In May the Queens University of Charlotte MFA Program in Creative Writing released an anthology of work by faculty and alumni from the first ten years of the program, and I'm excited to have my work included. The title of the book is Boomtown: Explosive Writing from Ten Years of the Queens University of Charlotte MFA Program. It's published by Press 53; Fred Leebron and Michael Kobre, directors of the MFA program at Queens, wrote the introduction.

The anthology is available from Press 53, independent bookstores, and Amazon.com.

MFA faculty included:
Hal Ackerman * Jane Allison * Geoffrey Becker * Pinckney Benedict * Cathy Smith Bowers * Morri Creech * Ann Cummins * Jonathan Dee * Elizabeth Evans * Cathy Park Hong * Michael Kobre * Fred Leebron * Sebastian Matthews * Rebecca McClanahan * Katherine Min * Dan Mueller * Jenny Offill * Alan Michael Parker * David Payne * Susan Perabo * Jon Pineda* Robert Polito * Nathaniel Rich * Steven Rinehart * Elisa Schapell * Margot Singer * Peter Stitt * Elizabeth Strout *

Students/alums included:
Elena Arosemena * Amy Bagwell * Rosetta Benson * Martha F. Brenner * Amber Clark * Cindy Droege * Stephen G. Eoannou * B. J. Epstein * Loubna Freih * Clifford Garstang * Annette Gendler * Kathleen Godfrey * Pauletta Hansel * Martha-Mac Harris * Jay Irvin * Anne Jay * Kevin C. Jones * Julie King * Lisa Williams Kline * Mel Lewis * Abby Lipscomb * Tom Lombardo * Linera Lucas * Robert Martin Evans * Laura Hart McKinney * Sarah Meinel * Amy Stockwell Mercer * Susan Laughter Meyers * Gwynyth Mislin * Steven A. Patten * Carol Peters * Ginger Pinholster * Erin Pushman * Mary Beth Ray * Pat Riviere-Seel * Louise Rockwell * Deborah Lawson Scott * Martin Seay * Robert Stofel * Terri Wolfe *

May 2011: "Living above the Frost Line" blog features more of my poems

Once again, thanks to Nancy Simpson for featuring my poems this month. "Guitar" and "That Year" have been added to her blog "Living above the Frost Line." Each poem is accompanied by colorful photos or artwork.

May 2011: Featured poet on "Living above the Frost Line" blog

This month I am the featured poet on "Living above the Frost Line," a blog by Nancy Simpson. Many thanks to Nancy for this honor! She has posted my poem "Hat of Many Goldfinches" and will be posting other poems of mine several times throughout the month.

Nancy is a poet living in the mountains of North Carolina, my native state; and although we haven't met, I have long known of her poetry and all the work she does there for the poetry community.

Please visit Nancy's blog: Living Above the Frost Line

Apr. 21, 2011: Artist residency at Ridgeland Northeast High, Columbia, SC

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Ridgeland Northeast High School
7500 Brookfield Road
Columbia, SC
ARTIST RESIDENCY
Classes of Barbara Thomson

Barbara Thomson invited me for an artist residency in two of her poetry classes held this past Thursday, one a class of seniors and the other of first-year students. As I usually do in my workshops, we started out writing a group poem. That was followed by a writing assignment for which each of us wrote a poem. It was such a pleasure to hear the students read their poems. To help them prepare for their public reading, which is scheduled for next Thursday at 7 p.m., we worked with the theme that they have been studying recently in their classes: "My Story, Your Story, Our Story." What a focused and talented group of young poets!

VCCA Verna Ubben Fellowship

I am happy to announce that I have been awarded the VCCA Verna Ubben Fellowship, a two-week residency at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA). The fellowship is sponsored by Don Ubben, in honor of his mother Verna Ubben, and The Poetry Society of South Carolina, in celebration of their 90th anniversary. Thank you to both! I plan to go to VCCA in August, and by then I hope to be working on a new book manuscript. Already I am preparing for the residency by writing, writing, writing.

Thur., Mar. 31: Edward Hirsch to read at Coastal Carolina University

I'm looking forward to hearing Edward Hirsch read his poetry at Coastal Carolina University on Thursday, Mar. 31, at 4:30 p.m. I'll be going with some poet friends from the Charleston area to that, as well as to his discussion on "My Pace Provokes My Thoughts: Poetry and Walking" at 2 p.m. on Friday.

A great opportunity for poets and friends of poetry: Edward Hirsch

Wed., Mar. 9 Poetry Reading -- Ant, Bear, Crow: The Poem Inhabited

Ant, Bear, Crow: The Poem Inhabited
A poetry reading by Barbara G.S. Hagerty and Susan Laughter Meyers
Wednesday, March 9, 7 p.m.
The Charleston Library Society, 164 King Street
Charleston, SC
Free & open to the public
Sponsored by The Sophia Institute

Enter the wild and peaceable kingdom of poetry to celebrate the animal spirit. A reading by Barbara G.S. Hagerty and Susan Laughter Meyers.


Barbara G.S. Hagerty is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. Her essays, columns, and poems have appeared in a wide variety of national and regional periodicals. She has written two books, plus a collection of poetry, The Guest House (Finishing Line Press, 2009). She currently holds the Fellowship in Poetry from the South Carolina Arts Commission. She has also worked as a photographer, curator, and teacher of poetry and creative nonfiction.

Susan Laughter Meyers, of Givhans, SC, is the author of Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press) and the chapbook Lessons in Leaving (Persephone Press). Her poetry, which has appeared in a broad range of journals, has won numerous awards and has been nominated several times for a Pushcart Prize. A long-time writing instructor, Meyers has also served as president of the poetry societies of both North and South Carolina.

Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 -- Workshop: The Poet as Seeker

Poetry Workshop: The Poet as Seeker
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Susan Meyers, instructor
Waccamaw Higher Education Center
160 Willbrook Blvd.
Pawleys Island, SC 29585
Registration, $30
OLLI at Coastal Carolina University
Register at 843-234-3422 or www.coastal.edu/olli


All good poems are more than the result of mere writing exercise; they seek a truth. Poets, in turn, set out with yearning and questions, often ones that have no answers. “Teach yourself to work in uncertainty,” said author Bernard Malamud. We’ll do just that as we read sample poems in the class packet and generate new work of our own. Bring a poem draft that you’re working on in an attempt to reach a deeper level in some way. Lunch can be brought or bought nearby.

NOTE: As an added feature for this class, participants will have the option of having one class-related draft critiqued by the instructor through e-mail after the class.

Featured at r.kv.r.y. quarterly literary journal

r.kv.r.y. quarterly literary journal is a favorite of mine, and I'm happy to have been featured recently on their blog:

Feature