The Coming of Light

Even this late it happens:
the coming of love, the coming of light. 
You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves, 
stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows, 
sending up warm bouquets of air.
Even this late the bones of the body shine 
and tomorrow’s dust flares into breath.

                       ~  Mark Strand 

Happy Holidays, poetry lovers!

Farewell, Maya Angelou

I remember tearing up as she delivered "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Clinton's inauguration.  Ordered the audio tape and listened to it many times.  She was the second poet in history to be invited to write a poem for an inauguration. 

I liked her poems; I liked her prose.  I loved her strength, her courage and the dazzling, luminous spirit  she wore as comfortably as a well-worn pair of slippers. She was at home in herSelf.  And she was at home in Winston Salem when she died today at 86. 

Tributes will be written, her life revisited.  She deserves all the glory she will be given—and then some.  For now I will just say it's hard to believe she has left this world, and I'm sad.  Not for her.  I imagine she was okay with the transition.  And I have little doubt there's one fine welcoming celebration going on in the Hereafter.  I'm sad most of all for the turbulent world which was a little better because she was in it. 

Of so many favorite Angelou quotes, I this one keeps taking over the space in my head today:  "The first time someone lets you see who they really are, believe them."  Great advice.   

May you rest in peace, dear Maya Angelou.  That "little light" of yours was never little, m'am.  May it shine on through your generous work.  And may we continue to be inspired by the Light of your spirit.

A Rebirth

Happy to see the University of South Carolina Press is resurrecting the Palmetto Poetry Series.  The Series editor is none other than National Book Award winner, Nikky Finney.  The first book, just released, is the New and Selected Poems of Marjory Wentworth, South Carolina's Poet Laureate.   For more details, check out today's piece in The State newspaper linked below:

http://www.thestate.com/2014/04/27/3411927/usc-press-brings-poetry-series.html

Teaching Poetry Is Important

Excellent piece in The Atlantic, poetry lovers—and poetry lovers-to-be.  Check it out at

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/why-teaching-poetry-is-so-important/360346/?fb_action_ids=10151954493086442&fb_action_types=og.recommends

Happy Poetry Month

Poets and poetry lovers will be enchanted by the beauty at Brookgreen Gardens in Litchfield/Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.  Treat yourself to a meditative walk among the majestic oaks and amazing flowers.  Give yourself the gift of enchantment this spring. . . maybe before Poetry Month ends!

Best Napkin Quote

Best note on napkin EVER. From Minerva King during Nikky Finney's remarks at her father's Commitment to Justice Award Reception.  Thanks for posting this on Facebook, Marjory Wentworth!   Marjory, our cool Poet Laureate has a new book out, "New and Selected Poems."  Don't miss it!

PSSC Fall Competition Winners

The Poetry Society of South Carolina announced the following on their Facebook Page.  I add my congrats to each winner and thanks to the PSSC for sponsoring these opportunities for poets:

 Thanks to all who entered the fall 2013 PSSC contests, and special thanks to our three capable, esteemed judges: Paulette Beete, Josh Bell, and Sean Heuston. Congrats to all winners and runners-up. Because of icy weather, the deadline for the spring contests has been extended until February 19th. We hope you'll enter! Sending our best, Barbara and Katrina (Barbara G.S. Hagerty and Katrina Murphy, PSSC Contest Co-chairs)

The Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Society Prize
Winner: Ellen Hyatt
"Daffodils"
Judge: Paulette Beete

The John Edward Johnson Prize
Winner: Michael H. Lythgoe
"Lenten Sonnet (II)"
Judge: Sean Heuston

Lyric Poem Prize
William Winslow, Winner
"Last Night at Home (letter from Vietnam)"
Judge: Paulette Beete

The Jane Moran Prize
Winner: Brian Slusher
"The Means of Production"
Judge: Paulette Beete

The Marjorie E. Peale Memorial Prize
Winner: Debra A. Daniel
"Photography Class--Lessons in Black and White"
Judge: Sean Heuston

The Pegasus Prize
Winner: Libby Bernardin
"How the Painter Giovanni Signorini Renders Celebration
as the People Gather on the Ponte alla Carraia in Florence"
Honorable Mention: Aly Goodwin
Judge: Josh Bell

The Nancy Walton Pringle Memorial Prize
Winner: Debra A. Daniel
"Violin Played as Titanic Sank Sells for 1.7 Million"
Judge: Sean Heuston

The Constance E. Pultz Prize
Winner: Laurel Blossom
"Jason Is Risen"
HM: Aly Goodwin
Judge: Josh Bell

The Kinloch Rivers Memorial Prize
Winner: Tim Harkins
"Choosing Totems"
HM: Ethan Fugate
Judge: Josh Bell

The Archibald Rutledge Prize
Winner: Susan Finch Stevens
"Scuppernongs"
Judge: Sean Heuston

 

Litchfield Tea and Poetry

On Thursday, March 6, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Coastal Carolina University and The Poetry Society of South Carolina will host this year's Tea and Poetry Series finale.  

Michele Reese, an associate professor of English at the University of South Carolina Sumter and the director for the South Carolina Center for Oral Narration, will be reading.  Her poems have appeared in literary journals, including Connotation Press, The Paris Review, IthacaLit, and American Athenaeum.  Her first book of poetry, Following Phia, was pubished in 2006.

Open Mic! As part of the 2014 series grand finale, all poets in the audience are invited to read a short poem that he or she has written (a single poem, no longer than a page).  Expect a variety of voices, and make one of them your own!  

The reading at Litchfield Higher Education Center (just down from Bi-Lo) begins at 3 pm, ending around 4— followed by refreshments, conversation and  book signing.  There is no admission fee for this open-to-the-public event.  Questions?  Contact Susan Laughter Meyers at bardowl2@aol.com or Libby Bernadin at libbypoet@gmail.com.
 

 

Poetry Reading February 6

Thanks to Susan Laughter Myers and Libby Bernadin for coordinating the Tea and Poetry Series at Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  It's an honor to be reading with Michael Lythgoe on February 6.

Details below.  Y'all come!

Litchfield Tea & Poetry

Thursday, February 6, 2014

3 - 4 p.m.

LUCINDA SHIRLEY & MICHAEL LYTHGOE
Litchfield Education Center

(just north of The Exchange)
Pawleys Island , SC 29585
Free & open to the public
Reception & book signing following the reading