LibraryVoicesSC

Summer Reading with Rebecca Antill - Episode 58

Dr. Curtis Rogers discusses summer reading with Rebecca Antill. Rebecca is the Youth Services Consultant here at the South Carolina State Library. She received her Master’s in Library and Information Science from Kent State University in Ohio, and has been working and volunteering in libraries since the age of eleven. Rebecca has worked in public libraries of all types in Ohio, North Carolina, and most recently Charleston, South Carolina.

Links:

• Summer Reading in South Carolina: http://guides.statelibrary.sc.gov/c.php?g=11781&p=62125
• CSLP: https://www.cslpreads.org/

 

Children's Literature with Carmen Agra Deedy - Episode 55

Dr. Curtis Rogers discusses children's literature and more with award-winning author, Carmen Agra Deedy. Carmen has been writing for children for over two decades. Born in Havana, Cuba, she came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1964. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia, where she lives today. She began writing as a young mother and storyteller whose NPR commentaries on All Things Considered were collected and released under the title, Growing Up Cuban In Decatur, Georgia. The collection of twelve stories soon garnered awards, among them a 1995 Publishers Weekly Best Audio (for Adult Storytelling) and a 1996 Parents’ Choice Gold Award. She has also been an invited speaker at venues as varied as The American Library Association, Refugees International, The International Reading Association, Columbia University, The Smithsonian Institute, TED, The National Book Festival, the Kennedy Center, and StoryfestSC to kick off summer reading in South Carolina.

Links:

• Bio: https://carmenagradeedy.com/about/
• TEDx Charlottesville: https://youtu.be/pSCef_AYqaA
• 14 Cows for America: http://www.14cowsforamerica.com/

Bonnie Stanard discusses What Missing Means and more - Episode 45

Dr. Curtis Rogers talks to South Carolina author, Bonnie Stanard about her novel, What Missing Means, as well as her poetry and her upcoming novel. Bonnie, who grew up in rural South Carolina, moved away after college and married Douglas Stanard of LaSalle, Illinois. Before her husband's retirement, her family lived in Chicago, Brussels, Atlanta, and Richmond. She has edited several regional publications, and her poetry has appeared in literary journals such as Harpur Palate, Slipstream, and The Griffin. Upon retirement, she and her husband moved to South Carolina where they currently reside in Lexington. She has published four antebellum novels and two historical fiction novels and has also published a children's picture book. She is a member of the Columbia II chapter of the SC Writers Association.

Links:

• Main website: http://www.bonniestanard.com/
• Her blog: http://writepersona.blogspot.com
• SC Writers Association http://columbiawritersworkshop.blogspot.com/search/label/Bonnie%20Stanard

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/

Family of Warriors with Ed DeVos

Dr. Curtis Rogers discusses Family of Warriors with author Ed DeVos. This is a story of five brothers who serve in five different combat areas during World War II and about their love for their country and for their fellow soldiers. And it is a story of a mother and father’s love for their warrior sons and how ordinary people answered the call to serve their country and ran to the sound of the guns and not away from them. These men did not serve for riches or for wealth. They did not serve for fame or notoriety. They served because it is their duty to their country. They served for the common good. They served because it was the “right thing to do.”

DeVos is a highly decorated military officer and is also an experienced writer of thought-provoking historical fiction. His four works, The Stain, The Chaplain's Cross, Revenge at Kings Mountain, a Revolutionary War battle fought in October, 1780, and Family of Warriors, feature characters who model valor, integrity, honor, and courage as they face spiritual and moral dilemmas that warriors have always faced on the battlefield. His works inspire the readers to search how they too would fare in the dilemma posed. He now makes his home in South Carolina where he speaks to various veteran, church, and civic organizations about these themes.

Links:

• https://www.deedspublishing.com/devos/
• https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6881702.Ed_Devos