Throughout the year, the Poetry Initiative will host a range of activities for poets and for lovers of poetry throughout the state. With its many partnerships with organizations and institutions around South Carolina, the Poetry Initiative organizes, supports and promotes events that range from small workshops to high profile events like the annual SC Poets' Summit.
Event: South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s 2007 Chapbook Contest
The University of South Carolina's outreach organization, the South Carolina Poetry Initiative, is proud to announce its second annual chapbook contest. This contest seeks to introduce a series of five chapbooks to South Carolina’s book reading public. The South Carolina Initiative produces all five books by selected poets as a work of art, presenting each publication with a distinctive design, with beautiful print values, and as part of an exclusive numbered series. The publications will garner statewide attention for poetry through readings, a book launch, and other promotional activities. The winning chapbook series will be selected and edited by Kwame Dawes. Manuscripts will be published by Stepping Stones Press and will be distributed by the South Carolina Poetry Initiative.
Click here for contest guidelines and information.
CELEBRATION OF BRIMMING TIDES: PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS BY BRIAN RUTENBERG
Event: Performance Piece written by Poet Kwame Dawes
Inspired by Brimming Tides: Paintings and Drawings by Brian Rutenberg, presented in conjunction with a morning workshop and afternoon lecture by artist Brian Rutenberg.
Date: Saturday, August 26th, 2006
Place: South Carolina State Museum
Huger Street
Columbia, SC
*Workshop: 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. The poetry workshop is part of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Poetry School 101 series. It will take place in the Museum Conference Room and will include a light lunch.
*Lecture: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Brian Rutenberg will be discussing his art
*Performance: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
*Admission to all events gifted by the USC Arts Institute
Partnering with USC’s Art Department’s Atelier program, the University’s Arts Institute, and the South Carolina State Museum, the South Carolina Poetry Initiative will mount a multifaceted celebration of Brimming Tides: Paintings and Drawings by Brian Rutenberg. Poet Kwame Dawes has composed a sequence of poems based on the art of Brian Rutenberg. The poems are written for multiple voices and will include some music and movement in performance. Dawes has done a number of important pieces in this fashion in the past, including the stunning renditions of Tom Feelings' art in his piece Requiem which was a collaboration with musician John Carpenter, and Wisteria, a collaboration with Kevin Simmonds that has won critical acclaim here and abroad. The workshop and performance will feature USC graduate student Raychelle Heath, creative writing; recent PhD graduate Ray McManus, creative writing and composition and rhetoric, Therese Gleason, education; Cora Phillips, cello; Celia Teasdel, vocal performance; and members of the USC Dance Company. “Brimming” will employ voices and dance movements to celebrate Rutenberg’s art and the poetry of Kwame Dawes. The event is guaranteed to startle, tantalize, and shake-up any slumbering muse!
*About the workshop: Using the art housed in this exhibit, participants will discover through examples of poetry written by Archibald Rutledge and other revered poets, dialogue with fellow participants, and challenging poetry exercises how we can bring forth in our poems ideas, emotions, and desired moments in time that move the reader to a point of empathy. We will discover, as we hone our craft, how we can best shape these ideas. We'll look at the "hot spots" in our minds, and we will also look at places and events that continue to burn and challenge the imagination.
For reservations for the workshop and further information contact:
University of South Carolina Arts Institute
Tel: 777-5492 or Email: Charlene Spearen (Program Coordinator) CMSPEARE@gwm.sc.edu
Event: Amazing Grace: South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s
Chapbook Contest Winners
Chapbook Series Book Launch, Poetry Reading, and Reception
Date: September 9, 2006
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Vista Arts-Gallery (Gallery 80808)*
808 Lady Street
Columbia, SC
Event is Free and Open to the Public
*Parking may be difficult directly in front of the gallery, but there is plenty of convenient parking on the side streets and in the surrounding area.
The University of South Carolina's outreach organization, known as the South Carolina Poetry Initiative, is proud to bring to USC’s campus and public community the powerful, lyrical, wake-up and take notice voices of the five winners of its 2005 Annual Chapbook Contest. The work of this cast of poets is profound and moves the reader into spaces that punctuate the fact that the human sense of imagination is itself a work of art. The books: Songdog (Phebe Davidson); Signals (Ed Madden); Libation (Therese Gleason); Small Industry (Mike Smith) and Waking in the driver’s seat (Brian Slusher) are truly works of art. Published in the UK, they are part of an exclusive numbers series. The series, selected and edited by Kwame Dawes, will be launched at an exciting reading that will feature the winning poets. The event will be lively as well as informative. There will be a reception that will create a space to meet and chat with these superb writers. Joining the winning poets will be Charlene Spearen and the evening will also celebrate the launch of her chapbook Without Possessions. Spearen’s book represents the inauguration of a bi-annual award known as The South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Editor’s Choice Award. This event will also feature an exhibition of artwork entitled Monotypes by local artists Mary Gilkerson and Phil Garrett. Mary Gilkerson is a Columbia artist and art professor at Columbia College. Gilkersons is well-known as a painter and this will be her first exhibition of monotypes. Phil Garrett is a painter and master printmaker in Greenville, SC, with a print studio where many artists come to make monotypes under his supervision. Garrett is especially known throughout the Southeast for his monotypes.
2006 POETS SUMMIT: POETRY AND WRITING IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Date: Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
Time: 9:30 a.m.– 4:00 p.m.
Place: Columbia Museum of Art
Corner of Hampton and Main Street
Agenda:
9:30-10am: Sweets and Juice
10:00 -11:15am. “Battling the World of Publishing in the 21st Century”
Moderator: Linda Ferguson
Poets: John Lane, Susan Meyers, Michele Reese, and
Ryan Van Cleave.
11:30-12:30pm. “The Clout and Punch of Poetry in Today’s World”
Poet: Patricia Smith
12:30-1:30p.m. Lunch (compliments of South Carolina Poetry Initiative)
1:30-2:24 p.m. Poetry Reading: Patricia Smith, John Lane, Michele Reese,
Susan Meyers, Ryan Van Cleave
3:00 p.m.-4:p.m. Brimming, an amazing performance piece written by Kwame Dawes
based on the art of Brian Rutenberg
The University of South Carolina’s Poetry Initiative is hosting its 2006 South Carolina Poets Summit. This annual event is presented to the public with the intent of bringing together poets from around the state to discuss the state of the art of writing and performing poetry in South Carolina. This event is open to all poets and poetry lovers in the state and will feature panel discussions with leading South Carolina poets, a book fair featuring poetry books, presentations by various writing organizations in the state and featured lectures by nationally renowned poets, including Patricia Smith, John Lane, Susan Meyers, Michele Reese, and Ryan Van Cleave. The South Carolina Poetry Initiative Poetry 101 series will host two poetry workshops; one workshop will focus on oral histories and their narratives. A second workshop will focus on writing the historical moment. The afternoon’s agenda will feature a performance of Brimming. The South Carolina Poetry Initiative will mount a multifaceted celebration of Brimming Tides: Paintings and Drawings by Brian Rutenberg. Poet Kwame Dawes has composed a sequence of poems based on the art of Brian Rutenberg. The poems are written for multiple voices and will include some music and movement in performance. Dawes has done a number of important pieces in this fashion in the past including the stunning renditions of Tom Feelings art in his piece Requiem which was a collaboration with musician John Carpenter, and Wisteria, a collaboration with Kevin Simmonds that has won critical acclaim here and abroad. A company of poets, actors, singers, musicians and dancers will stage this piece written by Dawes. “Brimming ” will employ voices and dance movements to celebrate Rutenberg’s art and the poetry of Kwame Dawes. The event is guaranteed to startle, tantalize, and shake-up any slumbering muse!
FINDING A SPACE FOR HEALING THROUGH ART
Event: Finding a Space for Healing through Art:
Exploring Nickel Run by Cindy Nord
Date: Saturday, September 30th, 2006
Events: Poetry Workshop: 12:00 Noon – 1:30 p.m. (located in the “Theatre”
in USC’s Visitors Center)*
Roundtable Discussion: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Carolina Room)
Reading and Performance: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Carolina Room)
Location for Poetry Workshop: USC’s Visitors Center is located in McKissick
Museum on USC’s Horseshoe. The Theatre is
located on the first floor.
Location for Roundtable and Performance: Inn at USC
1619 Pendleton Street
Columbia, SC
Event is free and open to the public
In a profound and moving multidisciplinary arts-based event sponsored by the University of South Carolina’s Arts Institute, Nickel Run, a powerful book utilizing free verse and elements of visual art written by child psychologist Cindy Nord, will be explored and celebrated in a myriad of artistic ways. The day’s event will begin with a brown bag luncheon poetry workshop. This workshop will be hosted by poets affiliated with the South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Poetry School 101 roster of artists. The focus of the workshop* will be how art and poetry can help towards healing trauma caused by events in our lives. Next on the day’s agenda will be a round table discussion led by various USC faculty members who have been schooled in the field of trauma and transformation. The day’s program of events will culminate with a powerful evening reading by Nord that will feature a stellar performance of excerpts from Nord’s book. This performance will feature an exhibit of artwork from her book and student artwork inspired by her book. Woven throughout the performance will be pieces created and presented by students from the school of language arts, music, and dance. The reading will also include guest readers who have a vested interest in relationship abuse. The event will culminate with a reception honoring Cindy Nord, her book, and her work.
* Cindy Nord’s book Nickel Run will be available for purchase at a fee of 40.00. All proceeds from book sales will benefit The Nurturing Center and is a tax deductible.
For reservations for the workshop and further information contact:
University of South Carolina Arts Institute
Tel: 777-5492
Email: Charlene Spearen (Program Coordinator) CMSPEARE@gwm.sc.edu
EXPERIENCE THE ENERGY OF REVOLUTIONARY REGGAE POET LINTON KWESI JOHNSON
Event: Poetry Reading, Workshop, Seminar, and Performance centered on the work of reknowned poet Linton Kwesi Johnson
Date: Thursday, October 5th, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Gambrell Auditorium
Event: Workshop
Date: Friday, October 6th, 2006
Time: 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Place: McKissick Museum, Gallery 2
Event: Lunchtime Seminar with Linton Kwesi Johnson
Date: Friday, October 6th, 2006
Time: 12:00-1:15 p.m.
Place: Rutledge Chapel
Event: Multi-Disciplinary Arts Performance Inspired by the Work of Johnson
Date: Friday, October 6th, 2006
Time: 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Place: Rutledge Chapel
All events are free and open to the public
The University of South Carolina’s Arts Institute will feature the poetic art of Linton Kwesi Johnson, world renowned British/Jamaican poet and musician. Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. In the early 60’s he joined the Black Panthers, helped to organize a poetry workshop within the movement and developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of poets and drummers. He recorded his independently released album, LKJ Live in Concert with the Dub Band¸ at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 1985. This was followed by Tings An' Times in 1991, also the title of his Selected Poems co-published by Bloodaxe Books and LKJ Music Publishers the same year. His most recent album is LKJ A Capella Live, a collection of 14 poems including some unpublished works. His most recent publication, Mi Revalueshanary Fren: Selected Poems, was published by Penguin Classics in 2002. The event will showcase Johnson’s talents with a reading by Johnson of some of his most revered work on the evening of October 5th. On Friday, October 6th, a poetry workshop, as part of the SC Poetry Initiative’s Poetry School 101 series, will be hosted by poets affiliated with the South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Poetry School 101 roster of artists. This workshop will be free and open to the public. Following this event, there will be an offering of a luncheon seminar with poet LKJ and an extraordinary performance of student work showcasing several pieces inspired by Johnson’s poems.
*Further information regarding this event will be forthcoming.
Event: 2006 Chapbook Awards Ceremony
Date: Saturday, October 7th, 2006
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Columbia Museum of Art
Corner of Hampton and Main
A celebratory atmosphere will dominate the day’s events. The South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Poetry School 101 staff of artists will be hosting writing workshops that will focus on the art of bringing landscape into your poems. There will be a roundtable discussion on how to construct a publishable chapbook manuscript, and we will also have a reading by the winners of last year’s contest. The day will conclude with the announcement of this year’s winners.
Event: Performance Centering on Michael Ondaatje’s Slaughter House
Event will coincide with USC’s 2006 Fall Writers Festival
Sponsored by USC’s Arts Institute
Date: Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
As part of the University of South Carolina’s 2006 Fall Festival of Writers, USC’s Arts Institute will bring to life, via a variety of arts based performances, several works by the acclaimed writer/poet Michael Ondaatje. Events will focus on such stunning works as: Coming Through Slaughter, an amazing work focusing on the music of jazz performer Buddy Bolden, The English Patient, and Running in the Family. Events will include staged readings, dance performances, as well as selected Fine Arts students responding with new pieces that found their genesis in works selected from Ondaatje’s oeuvre.
THE 3RD ANNUAL GATHERING OF YOUNG POETS
Event: Young Poets Awards Ceremony
Columbia Museum of Art
Date: Saturday, November 11th, 2006
The University’s South Carolina Poetry Initiative’s Split P Soup proudly announces the third annual South Carolina Gathering of Young Poets to be held November 11, 2006, at the Columbia Museum of Art. The event starts at 10:00am. The gathering will host a wide array of events from workshops including workshops for young poets (age 14-19), performances from local poets and performers of poetry, and a reading by this year’s judge for the South Carolina Young Poets Prize (SCYP). The winners of the SCYP prize will be announced and awards will distributed at the end of the gathering. The event is free and open to the public. For more info contact the Split P Soup Office at 777-2374 or splitp@gwm.sc.edu.
CALLING ALL LOVERS OF THE ARTS!
Event: Valentine's Celebration of Music and Poetry
Date: Friday, February 9th, 2007
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: The Columbia Museum of Art
Corner of Main and Hampton
Donation: 10.00 per person
Join the Columbia Guitar Society and the SC Poetry Initiative for this truly special Valentine’s extravaganza centered on love, poetry, and music. Plan on attending this entertaining and worthwhile event where classical guitarists will demonstrate their talents by playing extraordinary compositions that highlight a variety of styles and musical themes. To enhance the evening’s agenda, guitarists will be joining hands with the voices of poets from around the Columbia area.
Performing guitarists and poets to be announced.
*All proceeds will be used to benefit the Columbia Guitar Society, so the organization can continue with its effort to provide Columbia and the surrounding areas with quality concerts.
Event: Single Poem/Book Awards Ceremony, Columbia Museum of Art
Date: Saturday, April 4th 2007
Partnering with the Columbia Museum of Art, the State Newspaper, the South Carolina Arts Commission, and the National Endowment of the Arts, USC’s South Carolina Poetry Initiative will host a gala celebration on the art of writing and performing poetry. This event will host early morning sweet treats, a festive lunch, and readings by several talented and well-known poets. This event is free and open to the public and anyone interested in poetry will find the day an engaging and exciting one. Poetry books will be on sale. The winning poem for the single poem contest will win $400.00. There will be over $500.00 awarded in additional prizes. The winner of the Poetry Book Prize will see the publication of his or her manuscript by USC Press.
Single Poem/Book Awards Ceremony, Columbia, Museum of Art
Event Sponsor: USC’s Poetry Initiative
© 2003.University of South Carolina.
