LibraryVoicesSC

A Conversation with Sarah Blackman of Greenville's Fine Arts Center

Dr. Curtis Rogers discusses Greenville's Fine Arts Center and more with Sarah Blackman. Sarah is a poet, fiction, and creative nonfiction author originally from Washington D.C. She graduated from Washington College with a BA in English, a minor in Creative Writing, and earned her MFA from the University of Alabama. Her poetry and prose have been published in a number of journals and magazines, including The Gettysburg Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, Conjunctions, Oxford American Magazine and The Missouri Review. Her debut collection of short fiction, Mother Box and Other Tales, won the FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize in 2012. And her most recent novel, Hex, came out in 2016.

Links:

• Fine Arts Center http://www.fineartscenter.net/
• Crashtest Magazine http://www.crashtestmag.com/

Poetry with Ed Madden, Columbia’s Poet Laureate – Episode 39

Dr. Curtis Rogers discusses poetry and more with Dr. Ed Madden, Columbia South Carolina’s first Poet Laureate. Dr. Madden is a poet, activist, professor of English and Director of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina. He is the author of Signals, which won the 2007 SC Poetry Book Prize and Prodigal: Variations; Nest; Ark, and he recently edited Theologies of Terrain by Tim Conroy. His chapbook My Father’s House was selected for the Seven Kitchens Press Editor’s Series and his poems have appeared in Best New Poets 2007, The Book of Irish American Poetry, and in journals such as Prairie Schooner, Crazyhorse, Poetry Ireland Review, Los Angeles Review, and online at The Good Men Project. He is also the first poet laureate of Columbia, South Carolina.

Links:

• Columbia City Poet Laureate http://www.columbiapoet.org/
• University of South Carolina Bio http://www.sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/our-people/faculty-staff/madden_ed.php
• The State recognizes anniversary of Charleston church shooting with front-page poem http://ivoh.org/state-recognizes-anniversary-charleston-church-shooting-front-page-poem/ 
• POEM: The lesson that night http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article84322027.html
• Parking Ticket Poetry http://www.columbiapoet.org/2017/04/01/did-you-get-a-parking-ticket/
• Ed Madden’s poem ‘Body Politic’ honoring Columbia’s strength in unity, diversity http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article130049739.html 

The Watering Hole, Poetry, and Banned Books with Monifa Lemons – Episode 30

Dr. Curtis Rogers talks to poet, writer, and co-founder/director of The Watering Hole (TWH) about poetry and this year’s upcoming banned books week. TWH is a safe space for writers of color without regard for origin, age, gender, sexuality, varied abilities, or religion. In addition, TWH is equally a home for both written and spoken word artists–anyone who wants to grow in the craft.

TWH unapologetically invests in pursuing the craft of poetry, learning about southern poets of color and poets who write about the South, providing affordable classes and retreats, swinging open the door for diverse forms of poetry, and pushing the bounds of a contemporary writing community.

Links:

• The Watering Hole - https://www.twhpoetry.org/
• The Watering Hole Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/cavecanemsouth/
• Banned Books Week - http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
• Email contact: twhtribe@twhpoetry.org