Jasper Magazine and partners launch new literary journal

Jasper Magazine, in partnership with Richland Library, USC Press and One Columbia, will release the inaugural issue of a new annual literary journal, Fall Lines – a literary convergence, on Sunday, June 8 at 4 p.m., at a free reception at Richland Library.

A panel of judges selected 30 works of poetry and prose from nearly 500 submissions, and other writers were invited to submit works, including S.C. Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth (sponsored by the Roe Young State Farm Agency), Christopher Dickey, Josephine Humphreys and Ray McManus. In addition, Fall Lines will publish the South Carolina Academy of Authors 2014 fellowship winners in fiction and poetry, Nancy Brock of Columbia, and Jo Angela Edwins of Florence, respectively.

Two new literary arts prizes, sponsored by Friends of the Richland Library, will be presented.  The Saluda River Prize for Poetry will be awarded to Mary Hutchins Harris of Daniel Island, and the Broad River Prize for Prose will be awarded to Nicola Waldron of Columbia. A certificate and check for $250 will accompany each prize.

“Richland Library is not only interested in offering the best in literature to our community, we also value writers and want to support their work and success,” says Tony Tallent, director of literary and learning at Richland Library. “Partnering with Jasper to make Fall Lines a reality allows a new opportunity to explore the library’s role in supporting writers and unleashing their creations to our community and the world.”

A 98-page perfect-bound book with cover art by W. Heyward Sims, Fall Lines is published by Muddy Ford Press in lieu of the summer issue of Jasper Magazine and was edited by 2014 Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award recipient and Jasper editor-in-chief Cindi Boiter with poetry editor Ed Madden.

Fall Lines will be distributed in several locations in Columbia, including all branches of the Richland Library, USC Press offices on Senate Street, the One Columbia office on Taylor Street, Gallery West, Ed’s Editions, Trustus Theatre, If Art, Tapps Arts Center, City Art, 701 Whaley CCA, the S.C. Arts Commission, and the Jasper Studio in the historic Arcade at 1332 Main Street. Fall Lines will also be available as an E-book via Richland Library and for purchase from Amazon.com, BandN.com, and MuddyFordPress.com.