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.