Sunday, April 21: Brookgreen Gardens Poetry Series

On April 21 Debbie Scott, Frances Pearce, and I drove up to Litchfield, SC, for an early lunch with Sherby McGrath at Quigleys; then we all spent the afternoon at Brookgreen Gardens. Libby Bernardin and I were pleased to be a part of this April's Poetry Series there, facilitated by Cliff Saunders. The setting for the reading was in the Poetry Garden at Brookgreen, which used to be the Dogwood Garden years ago, and it was lovely. The only hindrance was what felt like a gale-force wind (I think it might have been almost that), which played havoc with any papers that weren't weighted down, with hair in the eyes, and with a microphone that had to be stabilized by a big chunk of a concrete block. So it was poetry in the wind, but we weren't complaining. Thanks to Brookgreen for having us!

Afterward, Debbie, Frances, and I enjoyed the naturalized part of Brookgreen that is woods with a trail and lots of animals. Our favorite part was the aviary with its black-crowned night herons, ibis, and similar birds. A busy place late in the afternoon!

April 6: A Gathering of Poets

Two Lowcountry poet friends and I went to Winston-Salem, NC, on the weekend of April 6 to attend A Gathering of Poets, a day-long program of workshops and readings sponsored by Press 53 and Jacar Press. What fun it was to travel with Libby Bernardin and Debbie Scott for this poetry adventure! I signed up for workshops by Alan Michael Parker, Fred Chappell, Joseph Bathanti, and Kathryn Kirkpatrick--and they were all topnotch.

I'm delighted that I've been asked to be on the faculty for next spring, so I'm excited about that.

March 25 anthology reading at Monday Night Blues

On March 25, Richard Krawiec came to town to head up a reading from his press's latest anthology of poems. He, Terri McCord (of Greenville), and I read from the anthology and love, published by Jacar Press. Richard lives in Durham, NC, and is a leader in the arts community there and in the region. We had a great time taking turns reading one poem of our own, then poems by others in the anthology. Among others, I read ones by Ron Rash, Lola Haskins, Fred Chappell, Michael McFee, and Shelby Stephenson. So many good poems!

March poetry reading at Bishop Gadsden

On March 13, three of us poets from The Poetry Society of SC had the pleasure of going to Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community, on James Island, to read poetry. Debbie Scott, Katherine Williams, and I met with some of the residents in The Cloisters, the healthcare center, and enjoyed spending an hour or so sharing some of our poems, as well as those by poets we admire. We decided to take turns reading in a round-robin fashion, and one person in the audience even volunteered to read a favorite poem of her own. We hope that other poets in The Poetry Society will have a chance to read there, too.

The Writers' Group of The Poetry Society of SC

Earlier I meant to give a shout-out to the PSSC Writers' Group, which has been going for decades. It's a critique group established for members of The Poetry Society of South Carolina. I had the pleasure of being its facilitator on February 23, and I thoroughly enjoyed the talents of our small group gathered around the table at the Charleston Library Society on a rainy Saturday morning. The Writers' Group meets once a month, with a different facilitator each month.

The anthology Seeking has been released!

It has been a long time coming, but the anthology Seeking: Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green, is now out. Edited by Kwame Dawes, with a preface by SC poet laureate Marjory Wentworth, Seeking is published by The University of South Carolina. It contains the works of twenty-nine poets and writers, as well as the beautiful art of Jonathan Green. The pillar piece of the book is Green's painting Seeking, which depicts a young boy in the woods going through a Gulla rite of passage. The painting was commissioned by Mepkin Abbey and has a wonderful story behind its beginning. I'm honored to have my poetry included in the book.

Poems recently published -- NCLR and Heron Tree

Thanks to North Carolina Literary Review (NCLR) for publishing my poems "Banding Hummingbirds" and "Beggar's-Lice" in the 2013 online issue, pp. 58-59. Both poems were finalists for the 2012 James Applewhite Poetry Prize.

I'm also pleased to have a poem published in the new online journal Heron Tree: "At Odd Angles Speedily" is now in their archives.

Both of these journals are ones that I'm truly proud to be in.

Initial plans for Brookgreen Gardens poetry series

Sunday afternoon poetry series
The Poetry Garden
A celebration of National Poetry Month
Poems of spring & gardens

Stay tuned for details about a poetry reading series on Sunday afternoons in April at Brookgreen Gardens, the Poetry Garden, Pawleys Island, SC. Cliff Saunders will read on April 7; Libby Bernardin and I, on April 21. Other featured poets to be announced.  All readings will be at 2 p.m.