Oswald Writers Series postponed to April 1 in response to Helene's aftermath
Andrew Geyer (left) and Dr. Tom Mack (right) both co-authored, Southern Voices: Fifty Contemporary Poets, a poetry anthology featuring southern writings.
This story was originally posted on September 24, 2024.
Get ready to immerse yourself with some of the best southern writers.
The University of South Carolina Aiken will host its annual James and Mary Oswald Writers Series, at the Etherredge Center on April 1, 2025 at 7:30p.m. The event is a free event for the community.
Acclaimed South Carolina poets, Marcus Amaker, Jo Angela Edwins, John Lane, Roy Segler, and Amanda Rachelle Warren will read selections of their work written in Southern Voices: Fifty Contemporary Poets. The poetry anthology features an array of southern writings crisscrossing from Virginia to the Ozarks, the Texas hill country, and the Florida coast. The anthology was coedited by Andrew Geyer, chair of the English Department at USCA, and Dr. Tom Mack, distinguished professor emeritus.
Every section in the anthology starts with a poet biography and map of all the southern states. “It's not the kind of book that you would necessarily want to read cover to cover, but you could pick a poet a day and thus travel the South through poetry." Dr. Mack said.
“We specifically sought out poets laureate, folks who had been chosen by the people to speak for them so that we could try to capture the voice of the different parts of the south,” Geyer said.
The Oswald Writer Series was started by the late James and Mary Oswald, two longtime Aiken residents and retired librarians. Their generous donation to USCA served as the foundation for the creation of the writer’s series, later fostering a writing culture on campus. “It is because of their endowment that we are able to host the Oswald Writer’s Series for free and open it to the public,” Dr. Mack said.
The endowment also funds The Oswald Review, the first international, intercollegiate refereed journal of undergraduate research in the discipline of English, edited by Dr. Doug Higbee of the USCA English Department.
For more information on the Oswald Writers Series, click the link here.
For more information, contact USCA Marketing & Communication at news@usca.edu.