Southern Voices Anthology nominated for prestigious award as USCA hosts annual Writers Series
Dr. Andrew Geyer (left) and Dr. Tom Mack (right) both co-authored, Southern Voices: Fifty Contemporary Poets, a poetry anthology featuring southern writings.
As the University of South Carolina Aiken gets ready to host the annual James and Mary Oswald Writers Series on Tuesday, April 1, the anthology Southern Voices: Fifty Contemporary Poets has been nominated for the Foreword INDIES Award in the Anthology category.
The anthology features an array of southern writings crisscrossing from Virginia to the Ozarks, the Texas hill country, and the Florida coast. Coedited by Dr. Andrew Geyer, chair of the USCA English Department, and Dr. Tom Mack, distinguished professor emeritus, it offers a vibrant collection of contemporary Southern poetry.
The Foreword INDIES Award, which has recognized outstanding works for the past 15 years, celebrates some of the best published books from around the globe.
This is the second time that Dr. Geyer and Dr. Mack have been selected as finalists for the Foreword INDIES Award. A Shared Voice, published by Lamar University Literary Press in 2013, was also selected as an "IndieFab Finalist" in the anthology category.
“It’s a really big honor to be nominated, and being one of ten finalists is exciting,” said Dr. Geyer.
“Foreword Reviews specializes in recognizing the very best books that have been published each year by smaller independent presses,” said Dr. Mack. “It gives me great pleasure to have our work recognized by critics and discerning readers.”
Southern Voices has also been nominated for:
- Indie Excellence Award
- IPPY Independent Publisher Award
- Next Generation Indie Book Award
During the James and Mary Oswald Writers Series on April 1, a selection of acclaimed South Carolina poets—Marcus Amaker, Jo Angela Edwins, John Lane, Roy Seeger, and Amanda Rachelle Warren—will read from Southern Voices.
The event, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Etherredge Center, is free and open to the public.
Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase copies of Southern Voices at the event or online, with all proceeds benefiting the Lamar University Press in Texas.
The Oswald Writers Series was established 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 writers series, later fostering a writing culture on campus. “It is because of their endowment that we can host the Oswald Writers’ 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. Julie Wise from USCA's 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.