2016 Piccolo Spoleto Sundown Poetry Series schedule

Barbara G.S. Hagerty and I are happy once again this year to be coordinating the Piccolo Spoleto Sundown Poetry Series, which starts next Tuesday evening. What a roster of talented poets! If you're in the area, we'd love to see you at some of the events. Experience these magical moments at the historic Dock Street Theatre Courtyard, where the readings are free and open to the public, each followed by a lovely art gallery reception.

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2016   P i c c o l o   S p o l e t o  

S u n d o w n   P o e t r y   S e r i e s

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May 31 – Jun. 3  &  Jun 7 - 10     •    6:30 p. m.

Dock Street Theatre Courtyard, 135 Church St., Charleston, SC 

Reception at a nearby art gallery after each reading    •    Free & open to the public  

  

Tue., May 31– “From the Ward to the Word: Nurses as Writers.” Poetry performances by four award-winning and widely published nurse writers coming from various locations to read for us: Cortney Davis, Jeanne Bryner, Veneta Masson, and Muriel A. Murch. Lisa Kerr, facilitator. Brief readings that showcase how nurses translate the mysterious moments they share with patients and their observations of health care into artful poetry and prose. Co-sponsored by the MUSC Writing Center and University Humanities Committee.

Wed., Jun. 1 – Dannye Romine Powell, of Charlotte, NC, is the author of four poetry collections, including her latest, Nobody Calls Me Darling Anymore (Press 53, 2015). Her awards include poetry fellowships from the NEA and the NC Arts Council, as well as numerous book awards. She is a long-time columnist and book reviewer for The Charlotte Observer.

Thur., Jun 2 – John  Milkereit, of Houston TX, is the author of A Rotating Equipment Engineer Is Never Finished (Ink Brush Press, 2015), as well as two chapbooks published by Pudding House Productions. His work has also appeared in San Pedro River Review, Big River Poetry Review, and other journals. A Charleston native, he is completing an MFA degree at Rainier Writing Workshop.

Fri., Jun. 3 – Jaki Shelton Green, of Mebane, NC, is the author of numerous poetry collections, including her latest, Feeding the Light (Jacar Press, 2014). Her work has also appeared widely in publications such as Essence Magazine, Obsidian, and Poets for Peace. A highly regarded literary teacher and consultant, she was the inaugural Poet Laureate of Piedmont NC and  2016 Writer-in-Residence at Lenoir-Rhyne University. In 2014 she was inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame.  

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Tue., Jun. 7 – Nick Lindsay is—at 89—a troubadour, expert builder, master storyteller, and accomplished musician. Son of Vachel Lindsay and a longtime resident of Edisto Island, he will read from his book Esau Lanier, a lyrical exploration of race, work, place, the natural world, and more. This epic poem is rendered in Pushkin sonnets, telling of Nick’s African American friend and co-worker Esau, with whom he built houses on Edisto Island in the mid-20^th century.

Wed., Jun. 8 – Jacqueline Johnson, of Brooklyn, NY, is the author of the award-winning poetry collections A Woman’s Season (Main Street Rag Press, 2015) and A Gathering of Mother Tongues (White Pine Press, 1998). She is a Cave Canem fellow and has performed at numerous venues, including the New York Center for Book Arts, St. Marks Poetry Project, Pratt Institute, and Metropolitan Museum.

Thur., Jun 9 – Laurel Blossom is the Poet Laureate of Edgefield, SC. Her new collection, Longevity (Four Way Books, 2015) is a book-length narrative prose poem and companion piece to her book Degrees of Latitude. Her earlier books are Wednesday: New and Selected Poems; The Papers Said; What’s Wrong; and Any Minute. Her many awards include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Fri., Jun 10 – Nikky Finney, of Columbia, SC, is the author of four poetry collections, including her latest, Head Off & Split (Triquarterly Books/Northwestern U Press, 2011), winner of the National Book Award. She is also editor of the anthology The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (Univ. of Georgia Press, 2007) and cofounder of the Affrilachian Poets. She is the John H. Bennett, Jr., Chair in Southern Letters and Literature at the University of South Carolina.

Barbara G. S. Hagerty & Susan Laughter Meyers, Coordinators

2017 applications available in the fall of 2016 at http://www.piccolospoleto.com

Last July's launch for Fall Lines, the summer issue of Jasper Magazine

I'm still remembering the lovely evening of poetry and prose back in July that celebrated the launch of Fall Lines for 2015. A room full of poets and friends of poetry gathered at Tapps Art Center in Columbia to see the unveiling of Jasper's summer issue and to hear some poetry and fiction from it. Congratulations again to Worthy Evans, winner of the Saluda Prize for Poetry, and Liesel Hamilton, winner of the Broad River Prize for Prose. I was honored to be included in the issue with them and many other talented poets and writers. Here are the details:

On July 13^th, Jasper Magazine, with the support of Richland Library, One Columbia, USC Press, and Muddy Ford Press, released the second volume in Columbia, SC’s own literary journal, Fall Lines – a literary convergence.  Edited by Jasper’s Cindi Boiter, Ed Madden, and Kyle Petersen, and adjudicated by Madden and Julia Elliott, Fall Lines welcomed thirty-three authors to its pages, contributing poetry, essays, short fiction, and flash or micro-fiction including Jennifer Bartell, Libby Bernardin, Rob Bockman, Susan Boyer, Nancy Brock, Fran Cardwell, Tim Conroy, Karla Cordero, Delia Corrigan, Carla Damron,  Debra Daniel, Worthy Evans (winner of the 2015 Saluda River Prize for Poetry, sponsored by Friends of Richland Library), Scott Gould, Barbara G. S. Hagerty (winner of the 2015 Carrie McCray Nickens Poetry Fellowship, sponsored by the SC Academy of Authors), Liesel Hamilton (winner of the 2015 Broad River Prize for Prose, sponsored by the Friends of Richland Library), Kristine Hartvigsen, Lisa Hase-Jackson, Ann Herlong-Bodman, Mick Johnson, Susanne Kamata, Len Lawson, Ray McManus, Susan laughter Meyers, Bo Petersen, Tom Poland, Rachel Richarson (winner of the 2015 Fellowship in Fiction Award sponsored by the SC Academy of Authors0, Eileen Scharenbroch, Chris Schumerth, Aries Selwood, Cassie Premo Steele, Tony Tallent, Ceille Baird Welch, and Mary Whyte.

    Thanks, Jasper!

Fall Lines: Summer issue of Jasper magazine



Fall Lines reception, June 8, 2014
 

Fall Lines, the summer issue of Jasper: The Word on Columbia Arts, made its debut this summer. It offers a full issue of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction with a prize in poetry and prose. Mary Hutchens Harris won the Saluda Poetry Prize, and Nicola Waldron won the Broad River Prize for Prose. A reception was held on Sunday, June 8, to celebrate Fall Lines, along with its prize winners and contributors. Here are the contributors for Fall Lines 2014. Congratulations to all! I'm happy to be included, among so many talented poets and writers.

Dig and Delve – Nicola Waldron

April, 1965 – Betsy Breen

Soon – Jonathan Butler

Accidentals – Mary Hutchins Harris

Forgotten – Marjory Wentworth

Militants Ban School Bells in a Town in Somalia – Marjory Wentworth

Taste the Sound – Jennifer Bartell

Davy Crockett’s Last Stand – Nancy Brock

Like – Jo Angela Edwins

Island Time – Josephine Humphries

What I wish I had said to Billy Collins – Brandi Perry

Queens – Alexis Stratton

Almost – Angie Zealberg

Ghost Crabs – Hastings Hensel

Lap – Robert Petersen

Like a little bell he trembles III – Matthew Stark

Pilgrimage – Christopher Dickey

Want a ride? – Aïda Rogers

A Bike – Bob Blencowe

Cancer Voodoo II – Melissa Johnson

The Ache of Beekeeping – Tony Tallent

Ruts – Ray McManus

At Congaree Swamp – Nicola Waldron

My Father’s Chest – Jarred Coffin

Jumping into the Abyss of History, A Prologue – Megan Volpert

you burn me – Susan Laughter Meyers

The Gunpowder Craze – Doug Berg

One Quiet Morning – William Claxon

In May’s Blue Box – Linda Lee Harper

What Tassio Fulgrass Thinks of Life – Susan Levi Wallach

Letting You Die – Marlena Impisi

early November – Laura Rashley

Crazing – Lisa Hammond

Mission – Tara Powell

The Ride Back – Jo Ann Hoffman

Open Windows – Matt Mossman

Fishing for Bream – Ivan Young

Through a Glass Darkly – Debra Daniel

The Columbia Broadside Project celebrates its success

On Friday night the Columbia Broadside Project, directed by Darien Cavanaugh, held a closing reception at Tapp's Arts Center to celebrate its month-long exhibit there. The reception included music, poetry readings, and a panel about the collaboration process. The Project, funded by a Kickstarter campaign, brought about the collaboration of 28 visual artists and poets to result in 14 beautiful broadsides by the participating pairs. Such an imaginative and talented group! I was honored to participate and to collaborate with artist Matt Catoe on our broadside entitled Lately She Falls to Dreaming.

The broadsides, as well as a chapbook of the broadside art and poems, are available for sale. For further information, check at the Columbia Broadside Project page on Facebook.

Good News from the Columbia Broadside Project

Congratulations to artist Matt Catoe, my talented partner for the Columbia Broadside Project! The following news has been announced by Darien Cavanaugh, director of the project:

"Congratulations to Matt Catoe and Susan Laughter Meyers for selling the original of "Lately She Falls to Dreaming" on opening night at Tapp's Arts Center. All the other originals are still available at Tapp's through the 28th, and I've just made them available at a new pledge level on our Kickstarter page. I know that serious buyers are looking at at least two others, so if you see one you like. . . ." 

Be sure to check out the beautiful broadsides, including "Lately She Falls to Dreaming," at the Kickstarter page. And I hope to see those of you in the Columbia, SC, area at the closing reception on February 28. Details later.

The Columbia Broadside Project

I am honored to be included in the Columbia Broadside Project, an art-and-poetry collaborative project whose month-long exhibit opened last night at Tapp's Arts Center, Columbia, SC. The project director is Darien Cavanaugh.

For the project, twenty-eight poets and artists from Columbia and other cities throughout South Carolina paired up and collaborated to create 14 original broadsides, each consisting of an image and poem that correspond to one another. Many of the poets and artists were present at the opening. There will be a closing reception on February 28 that will include readings by some of the poets and a panel discussion with some of the poets and artists.

The participating poets and artists are:

Gil Allen and somethingRed
Betsy Breen and Ashley Berendzen
Jonathan Butler and Alejandro Garcia-Lemos
Juan David Cruz and Thomas Crouch
Worthy Evans and Allan Anderson
Will Garland and Alex Coco
Keith Higginbotham and Kristyn Larsen
Julia Koets and Dre Lopez
Ed Madden and Rachel Parker
Ray McManus and Josh Drews!
Susan Laughter Meyers and Matt Catoe
Brandi L. Perry and Michael Krajewski
Nicola Waldron and Lee A. Monts
Susan Levi Wallach and Sammy Lopez

This closing reception is free and open to the public. For more information, visit The Columbia Broadside Project on Facebook or email colabroadside@gmail.com.

Please visit these participants' personal websites:

Ashley Berendzen
Josh Drews
Alejandro Garcia Lemos
Kristyn Larsen
Dre Lopez and Sammy Lopez
Ray McManus
Lee A. Monts
Brandi L. Perry
Susan Levi Wallach

*This project is funded by the Cultural Council of Richland & Lexington Counties and the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of SC.