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Inaugural Deckle Edge Literary Festival to honor traditions and forge new ground

Note: One Columbia for Arts and History received a South Carolina Arts Commission Quarterly Grant to help support the Deckle Edge Literary Festival. The inaugural Deckle Edge Literary Festival, taking place Feb. 19 – 21 in Columbia, S.C., features readings, book signings, panel presentations, exhibitors, writers’ workshops, activities for children and young adult readers, and a range of other literary events for many interests and all ages. Events take place in or near downtown Columbia, and many events are free. A sample of events: Friday, Feb. 19

  • 1 - 2 p.m.: Top 20 "Outside the Box" Book Marketing Ideas, Shari Stauch, $30 per person, Historic Columbia's Woodrow Wilson Family Home
  • 2 - 3 p.m.: Plotting Strategies for Short Stories, Novels, and Plays, $30 per person, Paula Gail Benson, Historic Columbia's Woodrow Wilson Family Home
  • 7 p.m.: Opening Night Celebration - Concert and Burlesque Show, Columbia Museum of Art, $10
Saturday, Feb. 20
  • 9 - 10 a.m.: S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) Workshop for Kids, free, presented by The Watering Hole Poetry Organization, Tapp's Art Center
  • 11 a.m. - noon: Hub City Press Executive Director Betsy Teter moderates a panel of First Novel Prize winners Matt Matthews, James E. McTeer and Susan Tekulve, Columbia Museum of Art
  • 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.: Conversation with Southern Superstar Mary Alice Monroe, Columbia Museum of Art
Sunday, Feb. 21
  • 9 - 10:15 a.m.: Overcoming Creative Anxiety: 5 Steps to Jumpstart Your Writing & Remain Calm, Cassie Premo-Steele, $30 per person, location TBA
  • 1 - 2:30 p.m.: Writing and Healing with Ed Madden, $30 per person, Historic Columbia's Seibels House
  • 3 - 4 p.m.: IndieSC Launch - Calling all indie authors and aspiring writers in S.C! Presentation of free self-publishing platform by the South Carolina State Library, Columbia Museum of Art
View the full schedule online. Read a Free Times article about the festival. While Deckle Edge has its roots in the storied tradition of South Carolina’s literary life, festival organizers are committed to forging new ground and hope to appeal to regional and national audiences while remaining a community-focused effort. Festival partners make up an extensive network of South Carolina literary and cultural organizations, including Richland Library, the University of South Carolina Press, Hub City Writers Project, the S.C. Center for Children’s Books & Literacy, Ed Madden and the Columbia Office of the Poet Laureate, South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, the Low Country Initiative for Literary Arts, Jasper Magazine, Richland County schools, and others. Deckle Edge is built on the strong foundation of the South Carolina Book Festival, a project of the Humanities CouncilSC , which announced the festival’s dissolution this past summer. The Humanities CouncilSC is now actively pursuing a variety of year-round statewide literary initiatives and has been supportive of the plans for Deckle Edge as a new literary event to be hosted in Columbia. “The S.C. Book Festival was a tremendous gift to readers and writers in the South, and we’re grateful to the Humanities CouncilSC for sharing their expertise with us as we create something new,” said Deckle Edge co-chair Darien Cavanaugh. “We would not have been able to move so quickly on launching Deckle Edge without their guidance and good will.” In addition to local talent, the festival will highlight a handful of New York Times bestselling authors from the Carolinas, beloved favorites from past S.C. Book Festivals, and many voices not previously heard from at South Carolina literary events. “This is Columbia’s literary festival,” said Deckle Edge co-chair Annie Boiter-Jolley, “but it’s also joining the larger conversation about literature of and in the South. We look forward to sharing our vision with writers and readers, and to hearing from them as to what Deckle Edge might become in future years.” Via: Deckle Edge Literary Festival

Young readers invited to write to favorite authors

[caption id="attachment_23308" align="alignright" width="250"]Lindsey Knott Lindsey Knott, Level 1 first place winner, reads her letter during the 2015 awards ceremony.[/caption] Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Letters about Literature contest, a national reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre (fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic) explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s life or view of the world. The 23rd annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with the South Carolina Center for the Book and the South Carolina State Library with financial support from the South Carolina State Library Foundation. Prizes will be awarded on both the state and national levels. The South Carolina Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select the top letter writers in the state, to be honored in an awards ceremony on April 29, 2016. Their winning letters will be published online at the South Carolina Center for the Book’s website. South Carolina winners will also receive monetary prizes, and then advance to the national judging. South Carolina winners will receive $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place in each level. For more information and entry forms, please visit www.read.gov/letters. Last year’s South Carolina winners may be found at the ReadSC.org website. Submissions from grades 9-12 must be postmarked by December 4, 2015. Submissions from grades 4-8 must be postmarked by January 11, 2016. Image above: seven of the nine winners from the 2015 contest.

South Carolina State Library unveils new ReadSC website

The South Carolina State Library has launched a newly redesigned ReadSC.org, the website for the South Carolina Center for the Book. The new site has an easy-to-navigate menu bar and provides keyword searching of its website pages. The South Carolina Center for the Book is the South Carolina affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book and is a cooperative project of the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science, and the Humanities CouncilSC. The Center is located at 1500 Senate, Columbia, S.C., in the State Library. The Center officially began in 1996. ReadSC.org celebrates South Carolina’s rich literary heritage and brings public attention to the importance of books, writers and reading. The website provides information about literary events and projects such as Letters About Literature, an annual student writing contest sponsored by the State Library, Center for the Book, and State Library Foundation. For more information about ReadSC.org, contact Dr. Curtis R. Rogers, coordinator of the South Carolina Center for the Book at crogers@statelibrary.sc.gov or 803-734-8928.

Young readers invited to write to favorite authors

Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a national reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or deceased) from any genre (fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic) explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. This reading and writing promotion is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with the South Carolina Center for the Book and the South Carolina State Library with financial support from the South Carolina State Library Foundation. Prizes will be awarded on both the state and national levels. The South Carolina Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select the top letter writers in the state, to be honored in an awards ceremony on April 29, 2015. Their winning letters will be published online at the South Carolina Center for the Book’s website. South Carolina winners will also receive monetary prizes, and then advance to the national judging. A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select one national winner per competition level (Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7-8, and Level III for grades 9-12) to receive a $1,000 cash award, to be announced May 2015. The judges will also select one national honor winner on each competition level to receive a $200 cash award. South Carolina winners will receive $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place in each level. Teachers, librarians, and parents can download free teaching materials on reader response and reflective writing, along with contest details and entry forms, at www.read.gov/letters. Last year’s South Carolina winners may be found at the ReadSC.org website. Submissions from grades 9-12 must be postmarked by December 15, 2014. Submissions from grades 4-8 must be postmarked by January 15, 2015. For more information, contact Dr. Curtis R. Rogers at (803) 734-8928 or crogers@statelibrary.sc.gov.

First Novel Prize book release and author talk

Take advantage of two opportunities to celebrate the release of the 2012 South Carolina First Novel prize, In the Garden of Stone by Spartanburg author Susan Tekulve. In the Garden of StoneOn April 18, Tekulve is the featured author for the Speaker @ the Center program in Columbia. The program takes place from noon to 1 p.m. at the South Carolina State Library's Center for the Book in Columbia. Bring your lunch! On April 25, the official Hub City Press book launch takes place from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at The Showroom in Spartanburg. Both events are free and open to the public, and books will be available for purchase and autographing. You can pre-order your copy of the book today.Susan Tekulve In the Garden of Stone is a multi-generational tale about the nature of power and pride, love and loss, and how one impoverished family endures estrangement from their land and each other in order to unearth the rich seams of forgiveness. Via: Hub City Press, South Carolina Center for the Book

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