Saturday, May 24, 2014

May 16 - 18: Last weekend's SC Book Festival


Last weekend’s 18th annual SC Book Festival drew its usual crowds, and I was delighted to be a part of it:

May 16-18
SC BOOK FESTIVAL
Columbia Convention Center
Columbia, SC
Sunday, May 18, 1:30 p.m. panel: "Diverse Verse"
with Gil Allen, Barbara Hagerty, Susan Laughter Meyers & Marjory Wentworth; Ed Madden, moderator
free & open to public
http://scbookfestival.org

I especially enjoyed hearing Nikki Giovanni talk and read a couple of poems in her session. That session was one of only two poetry events offered at the Festival. So the other events there that I attended featured writers of other genres. Sessions I sat in on included Christopher Buckley, the keynote speaker; novelist Gail Godwin; and a roundtable by Pat Conroy and his siblings.

Those of us on the poetry panel were happy to see the room filled with about 50 poets and friends of poetry. Gil read a couple of poems from his new book Catma; Barbara from Twinzilla; me from My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass; and Marjory from her New and Selected. (Ed will be reading from his new book, Nests, at next year’s Festival.)

Barbara Hagerty and I would like to say a big thank you to the wonderful Hub City Press booth for carrying our books: her Twinzilla (The Word Works, 2014) and my own My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass (Cider Press Review, 2013).

The Poetry Society of SC and LILA shared a booth in the Festival’s exhibit hall—with members taking turns to be at the booth. Among them—Debbie Scott, outgoing president of PSSC; Frances Pearce; Barbara Hagerty; Linda Annas Ferguson; and me. Linda was my guest for the weekend, giving us a chance to catch up on all things poetry and non-poetry. Such a fun-filled weekend!



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