Friday, March 28, 2008
YouTube Clip from our Dub Poetry Workshop
I am so pleased to be able to share this clip from our Dub Poetry/Music Event that took place at our college in January. Our special guest was Jamaican jazz guitarist Maurice Gordon, but this clip features a young man from Aruka, British Guyana, (now studying at Claflin), who did a spontaneous song for us called "I Need Your Love Every Time, Jesus." He was one of the band members who just showed up from various local colleges and the community to form a last-minute band on the stage with Maurice. It was just too cool. The video is shaky because we did it ourselves, and we are just learning, but we are pleased to be able to reach students where they live --- on YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and MOG ! We will be posting students performing their dub poems over the coming weeks; this is our first effort.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Poem by Tamara Miles
Around my neck, an Alma-tross,
my wayward grandmother's wedding band.
My father found it when he came in from
school at ten years old, along with a goodbye note
meant for his father. I'm sorry. Albert and I
are in love. We are leaving. Forgive me.
He never saw his mother again.
He wept when he told me about over lunch
at Wendy's, over fifty years old and it still
hurt that much. She was his adoptive mother,
he had already been abandoned once...
He ran away, too, eventually, and didn't go home
for 45 years. When his father died, the family
couldn't find Dad. He was, as he likes to say,
studying drinking then. Last week, he visited
his father's grave for the first time, and gave Alma's
ring to me. We are all runaways.
My mother whispered, as she lay dying of
pneumonia, "I want water. I want water," and
I gave it to her, a few drops at a time, through
a straw. Her only goodbye letter to me, my only
one to her. But there was all this love before
and after. All this grace.
Alma wanted to come home after Albert died in
prison in Arizona, and she didn't have any money
to bury him. You can't come home, my grandfather
said into the phone, but I'll send you the money to
put my brother in the ground.
All dead now, and all thirsty, they lie in the sun
and wait.
This wedding band is a prayer, and it
just might bring the rain.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Poem by Tamara Miles
Reinforcement
In the bathroom at the high school
Where I teach, two girls from the special
needs class wash their hands in the old white sink,
one lingers as the water rushes over her right
hand, left hand operating the chrome faucet.
I peek at her and she at me
while I quickly cleanse and towel.
I think of Helen Keller at the water pump,
Her teacher spelling w-a-t-e-r into her hand
In the sunlight, the sudden
Understanding and mad rush of words
In the bathroom at the high school
Where I teach, two girls from the special
needs class wash their hands in the old white sink,
one lingers as the water rushes over her right
hand, left hand operating the chrome faucet.
I peek at her and she at me
while I quickly cleanse and towel.
I think of Helen Keller at the water pump,
Her teacher spelling w-a-t-e-r into her hand
In the sunlight, the sudden
Understanding and mad rush of words
spilling.
The girl goes on washing one hand,
w-a-t-e-r,
As if it is a spiritual ritual, her friend now at the electric
Hand dryer, looking at me looking at her,
All these eyes calculating and no words spoken or spelled
But heavy in the air:
I am curious; this is awkward;
say something;
Her friend, who wears royal purple, points to my keys,
which have fallen to the floor from my bag:
“Hey. Your keys,” she says, and I celebrate
The words, the dawn of her smile. I am free to pick up the keys and go,
And still the girl washes.
W-a-t-e-r, I sign to God, to Him who sits
at the right hand of God.
The girl goes on washing one hand,
w-a-t-e-r,
As if it is a spiritual ritual, her friend now at the electric
Hand dryer, looking at me looking at her,
All these eyes calculating and no words spoken or spelled
But heavy in the air:
I am curious; this is awkward;
say something;
Her friend, who wears royal purple, points to my keys,
which have fallen to the floor from my bag:
“Hey. Your keys,” she says, and I celebrate
The words, the dawn of her smile. I am free to pick up the keys and go,
And still the girl washes.
W-a-t-e-r, I sign to God, to Him who sits
at the right hand of God.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Poem by Tom Cassidy
In 1968, a Third Grade Student Reports to His Class on the World Trade Center,
then Being Built
________________________________
History Replies
MY NAME IS BOBBY ACKERMAN AND THIS IS MY REPORT ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WHICH IS BEING BUILT IN NEW YORK CITY. IT IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD. THERE ARE GOING TO BE TWO OF THEM AND THEY ARE GOING TO BE BIGGER THAN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. LAST YEAR I VISITED NEW YORK CITY AND MY SISTER BECKY SAID THAT IF I WENT UP TO THE TOP OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING AND LOOKED DOWN THE PEOPLE WOULD LOOK LIKE ANTS. I WANTED TO GO BUT MY MOTHER WAS AFRAID I MIGHT FALL OFF. MY BROTHER DAVID SAID HE WAS GOING TO THROW PENNIES FROM THE TOP AND WATCH THEM FLY INTO TAXI CABS BUT SHE SAID NOBODY IS GOING UP THERE TODAY. I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TO BE BUILT. SO I CAN GO UP TO THE TOP AND SEE THE PEOPLE LOOK LIKE ANTS. IT IS GOING TO BE ALMOST A MILE HIGH AND I LIVE A MILE AWAY FROM SCHOOL AND THAT IS A VERY LONG WAY. THIS HAS BEEN MY REPORT ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WHICH IS GOING TO BE IN NEW YORK CITY. THE END.
i
My name is Bobby Ack.
My world is being built.
It is going to be big.
I can see the top.
I can’t wait to be.
ii.
The world is bigger than the empire.
I might fall off, and
I can’t trade up.
A mile high and a mile away,
My port on the world
Is going to end.
iii.
In New York City,
The people, like ants, fly high
A very long way.
________________________________
History Replies
MY NAME IS BOBBY ACKERMAN AND THIS IS MY REPORT ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WHICH IS BEING BUILT IN NEW YORK CITY. IT IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD. THERE ARE GOING TO BE TWO OF THEM AND THEY ARE GOING TO BE BIGGER THAN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. LAST YEAR I VISITED NEW YORK CITY AND MY SISTER BECKY SAID THAT IF I WENT UP TO THE TOP OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING AND LOOKED DOWN THE PEOPLE WOULD LOOK LIKE ANTS. I WANTED TO GO BUT MY MOTHER WAS AFRAID I MIGHT FALL OFF. MY BROTHER DAVID SAID HE WAS GOING TO THROW PENNIES FROM THE TOP AND WATCH THEM FLY INTO TAXI CABS BUT SHE SAID NOBODY IS GOING UP THERE TODAY. I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TO BE BUILT. SO I CAN GO UP TO THE TOP AND SEE THE PEOPLE LOOK LIKE ANTS. IT IS GOING TO BE ALMOST A MILE HIGH AND I LIVE A MILE AWAY FROM SCHOOL AND THAT IS A VERY LONG WAY. THIS HAS BEEN MY REPORT ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WHICH IS GOING TO BE IN NEW YORK CITY. THE END.
i
My name is Bobby Ack.
My world is being built.
It is going to be big.
I can see the top.
I can’t wait to be.
ii.
The world is bigger than the empire.
I might fall off, and
I can’t trade up.
A mile high and a mile away,
My port on the world
Is going to end.
iii.
In New York City,
The people, like ants, fly high
A very long way.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
One Poem Contest
From http://www.thestate.com/weekend/story/317836.html
Calling all poets
Time is running out to enter the 5th annual poetry contest sponsored by the S.C. Poetry Initiative and The State newspaper. Entries will be accepted through Feb. 26. Winners, whose work will be published in The State and who will receive cash prizes, will be announced April 26 at a poetry celebration at the Columbia Museum of Art.
GUIDELINES:
• Poems must be no more than 70 lines long.
• Authors must be at least 16 years old and a native or permanent resident of South Carolina.
• All entries must be unpublished and original poems.
• Each entry is a single poem; authors may submit multiple poems.
• Previous winners must wait a period of two years before submitting work.
• Entry fee is $5 per poem. Make checks payable to the USC Educational Foundation . (You can write one check to cover the cost of multiple entries by the same author.) Entries with checks made payable to other entities will not be accepted.
• The author’s name should not appear on the same page as the poem but should be on a separate cover sheet that includes name, address, phone number, name of the poem, e-mail address, author’s date of birth and a 50-70 word bio.
• Entries will not be returned to the authors.
• Mail entries to:
Poetry contest
c/o The State, Features Department
P.O. Box 1333
Columbia, SC 29202
POETRY BOOK CONTEST: The Poetry Initiative also sponsors a poetry book contest for unpublished collections of original poems. For more information on it or the single-poem contest, call Charlene Monahan Spearen at (803) 777-5492, e-mail her at cmspeare@gwm.sc.edu or view the guidelines at www.cas.sc.edu/engl/poetry
Calling all poets
Time is running out to enter the 5th annual poetry contest sponsored by the S.C. Poetry Initiative and The State newspaper. Entries will be accepted through Feb. 26. Winners, whose work will be published in The State and who will receive cash prizes, will be announced April 26 at a poetry celebration at the Columbia Museum of Art.
GUIDELINES:
• Poems must be no more than 70 lines long.
• Authors must be at least 16 years old and a native or permanent resident of South Carolina.
• All entries must be unpublished and original poems.
• Each entry is a single poem; authors may submit multiple poems.
• Previous winners must wait a period of two years before submitting work.
• Entry fee is $5 per poem. Make checks payable to the USC Educational Foundation . (You can write one check to cover the cost of multiple entries by the same author.) Entries with checks made payable to other entities will not be accepted.
• The author’s name should not appear on the same page as the poem but should be on a separate cover sheet that includes name, address, phone number, name of the poem, e-mail address, author’s date of birth and a 50-70 word bio.
• Entries will not be returned to the authors.
• Mail entries to:
Poetry contest
c/o The State, Features Department
P.O. Box 1333
Columbia, SC 29202
POETRY BOOK CONTEST: The Poetry Initiative also sponsors a poetry book contest for unpublished collections of original poems. For more information on it or the single-poem contest, call Charlene Monahan Spearen at (803) 777-5492, e-mail her at cmspeare@gwm.sc.edu or view the guidelines at www.cas.sc.edu/engl/poetry
Monday, February 11, 2008
Raise High the Jim Beam ... I Mean the Roof Beam, Carpenters
I love that title of one of J.D. Salinger's stories: "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" --- but I'm actually going to quote today from another of his stories, "Seymour: An Introduction" because it is full of self-conscious examination (by the narrator) of the writing process, and it makes me laugh. So, here goes:
"I happen to know, possibly none better, that an ecstatically happy writing person is often a totally draining type to have around. Of course, the poets in this state are by far the most 'difficult,' but even the prose writer similarly seized hasn't any real choice of behavior in decent company; divine or not, a seizure's a seizure. And while I think an ecstatically happy prose writer can do many good things on the printed page --- the best things, I'm frankly hoping --- it's also true, and infinitely more self-evident, I suspect, that he can't be moderate or temperate or brief; he loses very nearly all of his short paragraphs. He can't be detached --- or only very rarely and suspiciously, on down-waves. In the wake of anything as large and consuming as happiness, he necessarily forfeits the much smaller but, for a writer, always rather exquisite pleasure of appearing on the page serenely sitting on a fence. Worst of all, I think, he's no longer in a position to look after the reader's most immediate want; namely, to see the author get the hell on with his story. Hence, in part, that ominous offering of parentheses a few sentences back. I'm aware that a good many perfectly intelligent people can't stand parenthetical comments while a story's purportedly being told. (We're advised of these things by mail --- mostly, granted by thesis preparers with very natural, oaty urges to write us under the table in their off-campus time.)"
Hee hee.
"I happen to know, possibly none better, that an ecstatically happy writing person is often a totally draining type to have around. Of course, the poets in this state are by far the most 'difficult,' but even the prose writer similarly seized hasn't any real choice of behavior in decent company; divine or not, a seizure's a seizure. And while I think an ecstatically happy prose writer can do many good things on the printed page --- the best things, I'm frankly hoping --- it's also true, and infinitely more self-evident, I suspect, that he can't be moderate or temperate or brief; he loses very nearly all of his short paragraphs. He can't be detached --- or only very rarely and suspiciously, on down-waves. In the wake of anything as large and consuming as happiness, he necessarily forfeits the much smaller but, for a writer, always rather exquisite pleasure of appearing on the page serenely sitting on a fence. Worst of all, I think, he's no longer in a position to look after the reader's most immediate want; namely, to see the author get the hell on with his story. Hence, in part, that ominous offering of parentheses a few sentences back. I'm aware that a good many perfectly intelligent people can't stand parenthetical comments while a story's purportedly being told. (We're advised of these things by mail --- mostly, granted by thesis preparers with very natural, oaty urges to write us under the table in their off-campus time.)"
Hee hee.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
7 MORE RUMORS ABOUT BARACK OBAMA
7 More Rumors About Barack Obama, and
1 About Hillary Clinton:
Coming soon to a Conservative Blog Near You
His friends at Christ Church call him “Barry.” Consequently,
Many don’t know he’s running for president
And think that guy in the news
Must be a Muslim.
He once posed for a photograph in front of the flag, but
Failed to put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem
Because he was turning to face Mecca.
When he was 19, he published a poem about
Underground apes eating figs.
Figs are a conventional metaphor for blessings,
Apes for mindlessness,
And underground settings for the unconscious.
This means he wants to destroy America
(As if we didn’t know.)
Barack Obama writes to Nikki Giovanni every mother’s day.
He signs the cards “Noah.”
She thinks he’s cute.
After hearing Don Imus on the radio,
He called the captain of the Rutgers Ladies Basketball team
To offer some grooming tips.
She hung up on him.
Africans believe that after the US,
He will run for President of Kenya
And combine the two countries.
He has never denied this.
His campaign manager offered me money
Not to write this poem.
Hillary Clinton has put a mob “hit” on him
Like she did with Vince Foster
And Bill’s dog Buddy.
This explains a lot.
***
Go to
http://politicsanew.com/2008/02/07/stop-false-rumors-about-barack-obama/
and you will have an idea as to why I wrote this poem.
1 About Hillary Clinton:
Coming soon to a Conservative Blog Near You
His friends at Christ Church call him “Barry.” Consequently,
Many don’t know he’s running for president
And think that guy in the news
Must be a Muslim.
He once posed for a photograph in front of the flag, but
Failed to put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem
Because he was turning to face Mecca.
When he was 19, he published a poem about
Underground apes eating figs.
Figs are a conventional metaphor for blessings,
Apes for mindlessness,
And underground settings for the unconscious.
This means he wants to destroy America
(As if we didn’t know.)
Barack Obama writes to Nikki Giovanni every mother’s day.
He signs the cards “Noah.”
She thinks he’s cute.
After hearing Don Imus on the radio,
He called the captain of the Rutgers Ladies Basketball team
To offer some grooming tips.
She hung up on him.
Africans believe that after the US,
He will run for President of Kenya
And combine the two countries.
He has never denied this.
His campaign manager offered me money
Not to write this poem.
Hillary Clinton has put a mob “hit” on him
Like she did with Vince Foster
And Bill’s dog Buddy.
This explains a lot.
***
Go to
http://politicsanew.com/2008/02/07/stop-false-rumors-about-barack-obama/
and you will have an idea as to why I wrote this poem.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Ciliary Body
I am working on the first section of my book of poems possibly titled On My Last Nerve. It is Ciliary Body, and this is the first poem in that section. It is about my fears of Multiple Sclerosis, which took my mother's life --- and is associated with a particular memory of visiting an eye doctor in hopes he could tell me whether my optic nerve had any signs of sclera.
First, however, readers might be interested in knowing more about the actual ciliary body:
http://www.stlukeseye.com/anatomy/Ciliary.asp
Ciliary Body, #1
My inner body is as unknown to me
As the plains of Africa,
Its hills and valleys, crevices
Where mountain lions lie in wait
For the immune system to grow weary
And falter.
The bobcat’s tail swings in anticipation.
The cougar emerges from his nap.
All the cats set to pounce, to kill.
Deep in the night, I cannot rest for fear
They will smell me, they will leap.
My fingers clinch.
I try to think instead of mountain goats,
High, out of reach, sturdy on their feet.
Itinerant. Joyful.
But the king of beasts lazily
Moves toward me, not slouching toward
Bethlehem after all, not to be born
But to slay my paralyzed cells.
He is not to be tamed.
What preventive measures?
I am humbled by these felines,
Vaguely honored, in fact,
To be eaten nearly alive,
Neck snapped, spinal cord useless,
Vertebrae scattered.
Behind the iris,
I wait for those yellow days.
First, however, readers might be interested in knowing more about the actual ciliary body:
http://www.stlukeseye.com/anatomy/Ciliary.asp
Ciliary Body, #1
My inner body is as unknown to me
As the plains of Africa,
Its hills and valleys, crevices
Where mountain lions lie in wait
For the immune system to grow weary
And falter.
The bobcat’s tail swings in anticipation.
The cougar emerges from his nap.
All the cats set to pounce, to kill.
Deep in the night, I cannot rest for fear
They will smell me, they will leap.
My fingers clinch.
I try to think instead of mountain goats,
High, out of reach, sturdy on their feet.
Itinerant. Joyful.
But the king of beasts lazily
Moves toward me, not slouching toward
Bethlehem after all, not to be born
But to slay my paralyzed cells.
He is not to be tamed.
What preventive measures?
I am humbled by these felines,
Vaguely honored, in fact,
To be eaten nearly alive,
Neck snapped, spinal cord useless,
Vertebrae scattered.
Behind the iris,
I wait for those yellow days.
Monday, January 28, 2008
In the Soul's Haunted Cell
"He, who grown aged in this world of woe,
In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life,
So that no wonder waits him; nor below
Can love, or sorrow, fame, ambition, strife,
Cut to his heart again with the keen knife
Of silent, sharp endurance: he can tell
Why thought seeks refuge in lone caves, yet rife
With airy images, and shapes which dwell
Still unimpair'd, though old, in the soul's haunted cell."
Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the Third, #5
Sober reflections for a Monday morning, though I am quite happy.
I have written four or five poems this week --- fantasy types, mostly. The brief acquaintance with Jamaican music and culture a few weeks ago has me dreaming of Jamaica.
And now, for something completely different. :>) From the resident hippie of OC Tech. I'm writing in fragments this morning.
Do we have Writer's Group today? At 5?
In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life,
So that no wonder waits him; nor below
Can love, or sorrow, fame, ambition, strife,
Cut to his heart again with the keen knife
Of silent, sharp endurance: he can tell
Why thought seeks refuge in lone caves, yet rife
With airy images, and shapes which dwell
Still unimpair'd, though old, in the soul's haunted cell."
Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the Third, #5
Sober reflections for a Monday morning, though I am quite happy.
I have written four or five poems this week --- fantasy types, mostly. The brief acquaintance with Jamaican music and culture a few weeks ago has me dreaming of Jamaica.
And now, for something completely different. :>) From the resident hippie of OC Tech. I'm writing in fragments this morning.
Do we have Writer's Group today? At 5?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Red Shirt
Woman in a Red Shirt
There are lifestyles
that make it unnecessary
to wear pants around the house
but to drape them casually over a doorway
hung out like Rauschenberg's bed
yet within arm's reach
There is a state of mind
that makes it not required
to close the window blinds at sundown
or to take medications on time
if one can find them
in an unlocked cabinet
There is a time
when there is no concern
to count minutes, hours
days, weeks, and years
spent dripping into a divan
ruminating on a box of tissues and an empty glass
Copyright 2008, Janet Kozachek
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey to appear at Claflin University
I just received the South Carolina Arts Commission Literary Arts Bulletin from sbrailsford@arts.sc.gov. The highlight is Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey speaking at Claflin on January 23.
The English Department at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC is sponsoring the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-Wining Poet Natasha Trethewey in Minister's Hall on January 23, 2008 at 5:00p.m., with a reception and book signing to follow.
Trethewey's latest book of poetry, Native Guard, deals with what it is like growing up biracial in Mississippi and the experience of dealing with her mother's death at the hands of her abusive stepfather. Trethewey was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Native Guard.
Click here to listen to Trethewey's NPR interview with Terri Gross for the July 16, 2007 edition of "Fresh Air".
Visit http://www.claflin.edu/ for more information or Click here to email with questions
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ENDINGS: Piccolo Fiction Open 2008 Call for Entries
The Piccolo Fiction Open is a literary competition in its ninth year of the Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival. This year the theme is Endings.
$200 will be awarded for the top story, followed by a $150 and a $50 prize, as well as runners-up. One story (or more) will be chosen to appear in Dark Sky Magazine. There are no residency restrictions, though writers who would like to read their work in Charleston are encouraged to submit.
The word limit is 1200. Please submit 3 copies of your original, unpublished work by postmark April 9th, 2008. Include one separate cover page with your contact information and title of the story. At the top of your story, include your phone number only, and proceed as usual. A $5 submission fee is required.
Submit everything to-
PFO2008/City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs
133 Church St., Charleston, SC29401
PFO2008 is sponsored by
Blue Bicycle Books (http://www.bluebicyclebooks.com/)
Iodine Literary Projects (http://www.eatgoodbread.com/) home of the PFO archive, Dark Sky Magazine (http://www.darkskymagazine.com/), and the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs (http://www.piccolospoleto.com/).
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Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:K49BctA2ld0uFM:http://www.gaston.k12.nc.us/schools/highland/class/poston/Kakalak%25202007%2520cover.gif
Deadline: January 10, 2008. Reading fee $10/entry. Prize: $300 plus publication. Up to five poems. Now accepting poetry and visual art entries for the 2008 edition. Open to residents and natives of the Carolinas. Guest judge Colette Inez. Special guest contributor Steve Lautermilch. Editors Beth Cagle Burt, Lisa Zerkle, and Richard Allen Taylor. Details: http://www.kakalak.net/.
The Amazing Read @ Greenville Library
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The Greenville County Library System in cooperation with Greenville Forward's Vision 2025 Education Task Force have chosen the novel The Pleasure Was Mine by Tommy Hays for Greenville County's first community-wide, one-book reading initiative: The Amazing Read. The initiative will encourage reading, connect neighbors and families through literature, and increase awareness of Alzheimer's disease.
For more information, see http://www.greenvillelibrary.org/
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Call for entries for Hub City Prizes
http://www.hubcity.org/images/stories/hcwplogo.jpg
The Hub City Writers Project will award the Hub City Prizes again in March 2008 for excellence in creative writing among Spartanburg County adults. Prizes will be awarded for poetry and personal essay. The deadline for entry is Feb. 1, 2008. Winners each will receive a full, $500 scholarship to the Wildacres Writers Workshop, a week-long creative writing summer school in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Second-place winners receive a full scholarship to Hub City's "Writing in Place" workshop Aug. 1-3, 2008 at Wofford College.
Visit http://www.hubcity.org/ or call 577-9349 for more information.
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2008 South Carolina Fiction Project Deadline - January 15, 2008
The deadline for submissions to the 2008 South Carolina Fiction Project, a contest of previously unpublished short stories sponsored in partnership with The Post and Courier, is January 15, 2008. For more information, including full guidelines, please see the South Carolina Arts Commission Web site, www.soutcarolinaarts.com
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JANUARY LITERARY EVENTS AND DEADLINES
January 2, 2008
SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST NOVEL COMPETITION DEADLINE
In honor of the 40th Anniversary of the South Carolina Arts Commission, the Commission and its literary partners are pleased to announce a call for submissions for the inaugural South Carolina First Novel Competition. The application deadline is January 2, 2008; the award winner will be announced in May 2008. Click here for guidelines.
Partnering with the SC Arts Commission and the Hub City Writers Project for the First Novel Competition are the South Carolina State Library and The Humanities Council SC. The contest will be judged by a nationally recognized writer.
January 10
Deadline for submissions to Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets
Reading fee $10/entry. Prize: $300 plus publication. Up to five poems. Now accepting poetry and visual art entries for the 2008 edition. Open to residents and natives of the Carolinas. Guest judge Colette Inez. Special guest contributor Steve Lautermilch. Editors Beth Cagle Burt, Lisa Zerkle, and Richard Allen Taylor.
Details: www.kakalak.net.
January 11
Poets in the Forest: Reading by Starkey Flythe, Jr. and Laurel Blossom, author of Degrees of Latitude
Friday, January 11, 2008 at 7PM
Leopard Forest Coffee Company
26 South Main St., Travelers Rest, SC
sponsored by Traveler's Rest Arts Mission (TRAM)
January 14
Hub City Writers present poets Angela Kelly and Rick Mulkey
Monday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
The Showroom at Hub-Bub, 149 S. Daniel Morgan Avenue, Spartanburg
Info: http://www.hubcity.org/
January 14
Emrys Reading Room: Amy Knox Brown and Quinn Dalton
Monday, January 14, 7:00 p.m.
The Handlebar, 204 E. Stone Avenue, Greenville
Info: http://www.emrys.org/
January 15, 2008
2008 SOUTH CAROLINA FICTION PROJECT DEADLINE
The deadline for submissions to the 2008 South Carolina Fiction Project, a contest of previously unpublished short stories sponsored in partnership with The Post and Courier, is January 15, 2008. For more information, including full guidelines, please see the South Carolina Arts Commission Web site, http://www.soutcarolinaarts.com/
January 15
Converse College Writers Series: R.T. Smith (Sara Lura Mathews Self Writer in Residence)
Tuesday, January 15, 8:00 p.m.
Montgomery Student Center, Converse College, 580 East Main Street, Spartanburg
Free and open to the public
Info: rick.mulkey@converse.edu
January 16, 2008
The Book Stall: Reading and book signing by Laurel Blossom, author of Degrees of Latitude
Wednesday, January 16, 2008, time TBA
The Book Stall 413 Hayne Ave. Aiken SC
803-644-0604
January 17, 2008-March 31, 2008
"PAGES FROM THE PAST: A Legacy of Medieval Books in South Carolina Collections" will display medieval manuscripts from six South Carolina libraries.
Thomas Cooper Library on the USC Columbia campus.
The opening on January 17 at 4.30 pm will feature a brief performance of medieval song, a short illustrated lecture, and a light buffet. "PAGES FROM THE PAST" is sponsored by the Humanities CouncilSC, USC and participating libraries.
January 23
The English Dept. at Claflin University presents 2007 Pulitzer Prize-Wining Poet Natasha Trethewey
January 23, 5:00p.m
Minister's Hall, Claflin University in Orangeburg
Reception and book signing to follow.
Questions: cclaiborne@claflin.edu
January 24-26
SCCTE at the Beach: "Teaching and Creating South Carolina Writers"
South Carolina Council for Teachers of English Annual Conference
Kiawah Island Resort, Kiawah Island
Visit http://sccte.org/conf.htm for more information
January 24
Words to Say It: Visiting Writer Series: Poet A. Van Jordan, author of "Quantum Lyrics"
Thursday, Jan. 24, 4:30 p.m.
Wall Auditorium, Coastal Carolina University
Admission: Free and open to the public
January 27
Upstate Slam-Off
Pick the Upstate Slam Team
Sunday, January 27, 7:00 p.m.
Coffee Underground, Coffee Street, Greenville
$5 Cover
Info: www.witsendpoetry.com
Notable Upcoming Literary Events and Deadlines
Monthly Fiction Writing Group, Led by Sean Scapellato and Carol Peters
The second Tuesday of each month, starting September 11, 2007.
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m
Charleston County Main Library, 68 Calhoun St.
Free and open to the public
Information: hammesm@ccpl.org
Every Monday at 8 p.m.
Monday Night Blues
Monday Night Blues is a free, weekly poetry event with a featured poet and an open mic. Hosted by Ellie Davis and Jim Lundy. At four years, it is Charleston's longest running poetry event.
East Bay Meeting House, 159 East Bay Street, Charleston
Coffee and Poetry
Most Sunday Nights 7:30 Coffee Underground Downtown Gville The Upstate Slam Team hosts Coffee and Poetry Every Sunday at Coffee Underground at 7:30pm in Downtown Greenville. [1 E. Coffee Street] Bring your own poems to read or perform. Sign-up starts at 7:00pm. All poetry styles welcome! No shows on major holidays as posted. See www.witsendpoetry.com for more information and detailed schedule.
Writing with the Body classes at AMSA Studios on Wednesdays starting in January from 9:15 - 10:30 A.M. Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D. The classes combine journaling and meditation exercises that allow you to access the wise voice within that encourages you to bring about balance, self-care, and peace in your life and in the world. For more MSA and Writing with the Body reflections, check out Cassie's blog, "My Peace," at http://www.amsastudios.blogspot.com/.
February 22-24, 2008
2008 SOUTH CAROLINABOOK FESTIVAL (12th Annual)
Friday, February 22-Sunday, February 24
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, Lincoln Street, Columbia
Free and open to the public on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24
Info: http://www.scbookfestival.org/
March 17 - April 9, 2008
Caught in the Creative Act, Spring Session
Featuring: Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Balakian, Francine du Plessix Gray, and Salman Rushdie
Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:45 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
University of South Carolina, Columbia
Free and open to the public
Registration required
Info and registration: www.cas.sc.edu/cica
The English Department at Claflin University in Orangeburg, SC is sponsoring the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-Wining Poet Natasha Trethewey in Minister's Hall on January 23, 2008 at 5:00p.m., with a reception and book signing to follow.Trethewey's latest book of poetry, Native Guard, deals with what it is like growing up biracial in Mississippi and the experience of dealing with her mother's death at the hands of her abusive stepfather. Trethewey was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Native Guard.
Click here to listen to Trethewey's NPR interview with Terri Gross for the July 16, 2007 edition of "Fresh Air".
Visit http://www.claflin.edu/ for more information or Click here to email with questions
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ENDINGS: Piccolo Fiction Open 2008 Call for Entries
The Piccolo Fiction Open is a literary competition in its ninth year of the Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival. This year the theme is Endings.
$200 will be awarded for the top story, followed by a $150 and a $50 prize, as well as runners-up. One story (or more) will be chosen to appear in Dark Sky Magazine. There are no residency restrictions, though writers who would like to read their work in Charleston are encouraged to submit.
The word limit is 1200. Please submit 3 copies of your original, unpublished work by postmark April 9th, 2008. Include one separate cover page with your contact information and title of the story. At the top of your story, include your phone number only, and proceed as usual. A $5 submission fee is required.
Submit everything to-
PFO2008/City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs
133 Church St., Charleston, SC29401
PFO2008 is sponsored by
Blue Bicycle Books (http://www.bluebicyclebooks.com/)
Iodine Literary Projects (http://www.eatgoodbread.com/) home of the PFO archive, Dark Sky Magazine (http://www.darkskymagazine.com/), and the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs (http://www.piccolospoleto.com/).
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Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets
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Deadline: January 10, 2008. Reading fee $10/entry. Prize: $300 plus publication. Up to five poems. Now accepting poetry and visual art entries for the 2008 edition. Open to residents and natives of the Carolinas. Guest judge Colette Inez. Special guest contributor Steve Lautermilch. Editors Beth Cagle Burt, Lisa Zerkle, and Richard Allen Taylor. Details: http://www.kakalak.net/.
The Amazing Read @ Greenville Library
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The Greenville County Library System in cooperation with Greenville Forward's Vision 2025 Education Task Force have chosen the novel The Pleasure Was Mine by Tommy Hays for Greenville County's first community-wide, one-book reading initiative: The Amazing Read. The initiative will encourage reading, connect neighbors and families through literature, and increase awareness of Alzheimer's disease.
For more information, see http://www.greenvillelibrary.org/
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Call for entries for Hub City Prizes
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The Hub City Writers Project will award the Hub City Prizes again in March 2008 for excellence in creative writing among Spartanburg County adults. Prizes will be awarded for poetry and personal essay. The deadline for entry is Feb. 1, 2008. Winners each will receive a full, $500 scholarship to the Wildacres Writers Workshop, a week-long creative writing summer school in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Second-place winners receive a full scholarship to Hub City's "Writing in Place" workshop Aug. 1-3, 2008 at Wofford College.
Visit http://www.hubcity.org/ or call 577-9349 for more information.
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2008 South Carolina Fiction Project Deadline - January 15, 2008
The deadline for submissions to the 2008 South Carolina Fiction Project, a contest of previously unpublished short stories sponsored in partnership with The Post and Courier, is January 15, 2008. For more information, including full guidelines, please see the South Carolina Arts Commission Web site, www.soutcarolinaarts.com
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JANUARY LITERARY EVENTS AND DEADLINES
January 2, 2008
SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST NOVEL COMPETITION DEADLINE
In honor of the 40th Anniversary of the South Carolina Arts Commission, the Commission and its literary partners are pleased to announce a call for submissions for the inaugural South Carolina First Novel Competition. The application deadline is January 2, 2008; the award winner will be announced in May 2008. Click here for guidelines.
Partnering with the SC Arts Commission and the Hub City Writers Project for the First Novel Competition are the South Carolina State Library and The Humanities Council SC. The contest will be judged by a nationally recognized writer.
January 10
Deadline for submissions to Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets
Reading fee $10/entry. Prize: $300 plus publication. Up to five poems. Now accepting poetry and visual art entries for the 2008 edition. Open to residents and natives of the Carolinas. Guest judge Colette Inez. Special guest contributor Steve Lautermilch. Editors Beth Cagle Burt, Lisa Zerkle, and Richard Allen Taylor.
Details: www.kakalak.net.
January 11
Poets in the Forest: Reading by Starkey Flythe, Jr. and Laurel Blossom, author of Degrees of Latitude
Friday, January 11, 2008 at 7PM
Leopard Forest Coffee Company
26 South Main St., Travelers Rest, SC
sponsored by Traveler's Rest Arts Mission (TRAM)
January 14
Hub City Writers present poets Angela Kelly and Rick Mulkey
Monday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
The Showroom at Hub-Bub, 149 S. Daniel Morgan Avenue, Spartanburg
Info: http://www.hubcity.org/
January 14
Emrys Reading Room: Amy Knox Brown and Quinn Dalton
Monday, January 14, 7:00 p.m.
The Handlebar, 204 E. Stone Avenue, Greenville
Info: http://www.emrys.org/
January 15, 2008
2008 SOUTH CAROLINA FICTION PROJECT DEADLINE
The deadline for submissions to the 2008 South Carolina Fiction Project, a contest of previously unpublished short stories sponsored in partnership with The Post and Courier, is January 15, 2008. For more information, including full guidelines, please see the South Carolina Arts Commission Web site, http://www.soutcarolinaarts.com/
January 15
Converse College Writers Series: R.T. Smith (Sara Lura Mathews Self Writer in Residence)
Tuesday, January 15, 8:00 p.m.
Montgomery Student Center, Converse College, 580 East Main Street, Spartanburg
Free and open to the public
Info: rick.mulkey@converse.edu
January 16, 2008
The Book Stall: Reading and book signing by Laurel Blossom, author of Degrees of Latitude
Wednesday, January 16, 2008, time TBA
The Book Stall 413 Hayne Ave. Aiken SC
803-644-0604
January 17, 2008-March 31, 2008
"PAGES FROM THE PAST: A Legacy of Medieval Books in South Carolina Collections" will display medieval manuscripts from six South Carolina libraries.
Thomas Cooper Library on the USC Columbia campus.
The opening on January 17 at 4.30 pm will feature a brief performance of medieval song, a short illustrated lecture, and a light buffet. "PAGES FROM THE PAST" is sponsored by the Humanities CouncilSC, USC and participating libraries.
January 23
The English Dept. at Claflin University presents 2007 Pulitzer Prize-Wining Poet Natasha Trethewey
January 23, 5:00p.m
Minister's Hall, Claflin University in Orangeburg
Reception and book signing to follow.
Questions: cclaiborne@claflin.edu
January 24-26
SCCTE at the Beach: "Teaching and Creating South Carolina Writers"
South Carolina Council for Teachers of English Annual Conference
Kiawah Island Resort, Kiawah Island
Visit http://sccte.org/conf.htm for more information
January 24
Words to Say It: Visiting Writer Series: Poet A. Van Jordan, author of "Quantum Lyrics"
Thursday, Jan. 24, 4:30 p.m.
Wall Auditorium, Coastal Carolina University
Admission: Free and open to the public
January 27
Upstate Slam-Off
Pick the Upstate Slam Team
Sunday, January 27, 7:00 p.m.
Coffee Underground, Coffee Street, Greenville
$5 Cover
Info: www.witsendpoetry.com
Monthly Fiction Writing Group, Led by Sean Scapellato and Carol Peters
The second Tuesday of each month, starting September 11, 2007.
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m
Charleston County Main Library, 68 Calhoun St.
Free and open to the public
Information: hammesm@ccpl.org
Every Monday at 8 p.m.
Monday Night Blues
Monday Night Blues is a free, weekly poetry event with a featured poet and an open mic. Hosted by Ellie Davis and Jim Lundy. At four years, it is Charleston's longest running poetry event.
East Bay Meeting House, 159 East Bay Street, Charleston
Coffee and Poetry
Most Sunday Nights 7:30 Coffee Underground Downtown Gville The Upstate Slam Team hosts Coffee and Poetry Every Sunday at Coffee Underground at 7:30pm in Downtown Greenville. [1 E. Coffee Street] Bring your own poems to read or perform. Sign-up starts at 7:00pm. All poetry styles welcome! No shows on major holidays as posted. See www.witsendpoetry.com for more information and detailed schedule.
Writing with the Body classes at AMSA Studios on Wednesdays starting in January from 9:15 - 10:30 A.M. Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D. The classes combine journaling and meditation exercises that allow you to access the wise voice within that encourages you to bring about balance, self-care, and peace in your life and in the world. For more MSA and Writing with the Body reflections, check out Cassie's blog, "My Peace," at http://www.amsastudios.blogspot.com/.
February 22-24, 2008
2008 SOUTH CAROLINABOOK FESTIVAL (12th Annual)
Friday, February 22-Sunday, February 24
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, Lincoln Street, Columbia
Free and open to the public on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24
Info: http://www.scbookfestival.org/
March 17 - April 9, 2008
Caught in the Creative Act, Spring Session
Featuring: Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Balakian, Francine du Plessix Gray, and Salman Rushdie
Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:45 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
University of South Carolina, Columbia
Free and open to the public
Registration required
Info and registration: www.cas.sc.edu/cica
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