Thur., Apr. 2: Two NC poets reading for Litchfield Tea & Poetry Series

Thursday, April 2, 2009
Litchfield Tea & Poetry
Barbara Conrad & Barbara Presnell
Waccamaw Higher Education Center
160 Wilbrook Blvd.
Pawleys Island, SC 29585
3 p.m.
Book signing & reception to follow
Homemade cookies & confections by Delores Roberts
843-349-4032
Free & open to the public

Cosponsored by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Coastal Carolina University
and The Poetry Society of South Carolina.


The final reading by featured guest poets for this year's Litchfield TEA & POETRY SERIES is tomorrow, and it's going to be another wonderful program. We've got extremely gifted North Carolina poets coming to read for us: Barbara Conrad, of Charlotte, and Barbara Presnell, of Lexington. I've known both poets for years, and I asked them to participate because I knew that those of you in the area will enjoy getting to know them and their fine poems.

Also, I've asked Barbara Conrad to demonstrate West African drumming for us, since she has been playing the drums for a number of years. Let's hope to hear a sample. A perfect pairing with poetry!

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Barbara Conrad, of Charlotte, NC, is author of The Gravity of Color and editor of Waiting for Soup, an anthology from Charlotte's homeless population. Her poems have been published in Tar River Poetry, Main Street Rag, Icarus, and Kakalak: Anthology of Carolina Poets. She works with the homeless, plays West African drums, and enjoys time with her two grown daughters.

North Carolina poet Barbara Presnell’s collection, Piece Work, won the 2006 Cleveland State University Poetry Center’s First Book Prize and was published by CSU in 2007. Her poems and short stories have been published in many journals, and she’s a recent recipient of the NC Arts Council Fellowship in Writing. Piece Work is the focus of an NC Touring Ensemble program to be performed across North Carolina later this year.

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This is our third year of the series, thanks to Linda Ketron of Coastal Carolina University, who initiated it and directs it. If you're in the area, please come to hear the poems of some of the best poets in the region. And please help us to get the word out.

It has been my pleasure to have the lovely duty of lining up the roster for Litchfield Tea & Poetry for the past three years. We'll be back next January with the 2010 Tea & Poetry Series.