The Poetry Society of South Carolina will offer a series of six poetry readings, discussions, and workshops from August 2024 – January 2025 in Charleston and Columbia as part of their “Every Corner, Every County Reading Series.” Featured poets include Jo Angela Edwins, Claire Bateman, Al Black, Quitman Marshall, Adam Houle, and Angelo Geter. SC Humanities supported this program with a Fast Track Literary Grant.
Through the “Every Corner, Every County Reading Series,” the Poetry Society of South Carolina is working to expand their reach beyond the Lowcountry and create new audiences for poetry by offering diverse voices. Once limited to Charleston audiences only, the ECEC Reading Series will operate year-round and will feature three readings in each of four regions: the Pee Dee, Midlands, Upstate, and the Lowcountry. The series will be free and open to the public.
Scheduled programs include:
Saturday, August 3, 2024 | 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Workshop with Jo Angela Edwins
Jo Angela Edwins teaches creative writing, American Literature, and composition at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, and serves as the first poet laureate of the Pee Dee region of SC. Her poems have appeared in journals and publications including Calyx, Adanna, Naugatuck, River Review, descant, Breakwater Review, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, and other venues. Her chapbook, Play, was published in 2016 by Finishing Line Press. She received the Carrie McCray Nickens Poetry Fellowship Prize from the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2014. Her latest collection, A Dangerous Heaven, was published in 2023 by Gnashing Teeth Publishing.
Location: Gage Hall, 4 Archdale Street, Charleston, SC 29401
OR register for Zoom: https://www.poetrysocietysc.org/event-info/workshop-with-jo-angela-edwins
Saturday, August 3, 2024 | 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Reading with Jo Angela Edwins
Location: Gage Hall, 4 Archdale Street, Charleston, SC 29401
OR register for Zoom: https://www.poetrysocietysc.org/event-info/reading-with-jo-angela-edwins
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Reading and Workshop with Claire Bateman
A teacher and visual artist, Claire Bateman is the author of Wonders of the Invisible World (42 Miles Press, 2023) and eight other poetry books: Scape (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2016), Locals (Serving House Books, 2012), Coronology (Etruscan Press, 2010), Leap (New Issues, 2005), Clumsy (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2003), Friction (Eighth Mountain Poetry Prize, 1998), At the Funeral of the Ether (Ninety-Six Press, 1998), and The Bicycle Slow Race (Wesleyan University Press, 1991). Her fiction collection, The Pillow Museum, is forthcoming from FC2 in early 2025. She has been awarded Individual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the Surdna Foundation.
Location: 184 E. Bay Street, Charleston, SC
Details TBA soon
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Reading and Workshop with Al Black
Al Black writes poetry, hosts workshops, and since 2010, has hosted over 1,000 poetry/music events in the Midlands of SC. He is author of two books of poetry, I Only Left for Tea (2014 Muddy Ford Press), Man with Two Shadows (2018 Muddy Ford Press); co-editor Hand in Hand: Poets Respond to Race (2017 Muddy Ford Press); was the 2017 Jasper Literary Artist of the Year; co-founded the Poets Respond to Race Initiative; co-hosts Chewing the Gristle, a poetry chat YouTube series, and has a weekly byline in jasperproject.org – Poetry of the People.
Location: Gage Hall, 4 Archdale Street, Charleston, SC 29401
Details TBA soon
Additional program dates for Columbia programs in November, December, and January will be added soon.
The Poetry Society of South Carolina hosts free readings and lectures and fosters the craft of poetry by offering seminars, workshops, writers’ groups, and prizes that include cash awards and publication. Among the major American poets they have featured through the years are Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Henry Taylor, and Billy Collins. Learn more: https://www.poetrysocietysc.org/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
