Literary & Ideas
Piccolo Spoleto offers a range of literary and idea events, including the Sundown Poetry Series, Piccolo Fiction, and more.
Sat., May 31, 5 pm, Piccolo Fiction presented by Blue Bicycle Books.
Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King Street. Free and open to the public. 843-722-2666.
The festival’s longest-running event exclusively devoted to fiction, Piccolo Fiction presents local and South Carolina authors reading brief short stories. The reading takes place in the courtyard beside the bookstore, and, following tradition, each story begins with “I ducked into the alley…”
Since 2000, Piccolo Fiction has featured dozens of S.C. writers, with stories broadcast by S.C. Public Radio and published in the Charleston City Paper.
Featured authors:
Laurie Devore was born and raised in smalltown South Carolina and graduated from Clemson University. She is the author of the YA novels Winner Take All and How to Break a Boy, and most recently crossed over to adult fiction with The Villain Edit. After four years in the Midwest, she now lives and works in Charleston. In her spare time, she reluctantly runs marathons.
Julia Elliott is the author of the story collection Hellions, released this spring by Tin House press, as well as The Wilds, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and the novel The New and Improved Romie Futch. Her stories have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories. She teaches English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina and lives in Columbia with her husband, daughter, and five hens.
Finn Merritt is a person who writes. (Writer is too much, he’s not quite there yet.) He graduated from S.C. Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities with semi-decent grades and has recently opened for David Sedaris. He is excited to be on stage any chance he gets, including the open mics in his hometown of Greenville. To see Finn again go to seefinnagain.com
Cape Romain
South Carolina has the largest undeveloped coastal area in the Continental US. It is uniquely and stunningly beautiful. How do we prepare for the future and ensure a functioning world for our children? J Henry Fair is a photographer and filmmaker whose exhibit, Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid, shows at the Gibbes Museum during Spoleto and into the fall. It links the history and beauty of this special place.
Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the US. The local Robert Lunz Group has 1,200 members in Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, and Dorchester counties in South Carolina. Sierra Club motto: Explore, enjoy and protect the planet. Free to attend.
- Thursday, June 5 at 7:00pm; Rita Hollings Science Center Auditorium, College of Charleston, 58 Coming Street
https://www.facebook.com/events/587649740983800
https://www.meetup.com/the-charleston-sierra-club-robert-lunz-group/events/307268859/
https://www.sierraclub.org/south-carolina/robert-lunz
Sundown Poetry
Washington Square Park, 80 Broad Street at 6pm
Admission: Free
*Signings/receptions to follow at Buxton Books, 160 King Street
Richard Garcia/Miho Kinnas
Tuesday, May 27th
Richard Garcia’s poetry books include The Other Odyssey, Dream Horse Press, 2014, The Chair, BOA 2015, and Porridge, Press 53, 2016. He has received a Pushcart Prize, and been in Best American Poetry. Miho Kinnas is a Japanese writer, translator and poet. Waiting for Sunset to Bury Red Camellias is her third poetry collection including the poem anthologized in Best American Poetry 2023. Her recent book reviews are published in World Literature Today and American Book Review. She lives on Hilton Head Island.
Thrive Over 55
Glenis Redmond
Wednesday, May 28th
Glenis Redmond is Greenville, South Carolina’s Inaugural Poet Laureate. She is a Baldwin Fellow 2024-2025, and a Poet Laureate Fellow 2023 selected by the American Academy of Poets. She was chosen to be a Citizen Diplomat with the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center. Glenis earned her B.A. at Erskine College and her M.F.A at Warren Wilson College. She has published seven books of poetry. Her latest books are The Listening Skin(Four Way Books), Praise Songs for Dave the Potter, Art by Jonathan Green, and Poetry by Glenis Redmond(University of Georgia Press and The Song of Everything: A Poet’s Exploration of South Carolina State Parks. Glenis received the highest arts award in South Carolina, the Governor’s Award, and was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2022. Glenis has most recently been published in Orion Magazine, Callaloo, American Poets, The New York Times and the North Carolina Literary Review. The Listening Skin was shortlisted for the Open Pen America and Julie Suk awards. Glenis is a mother of twin daughters, Amber and Celeste. She is a Grandmother (Gaga) to Julian, Paisley, and Quinn. Glenis believes poetry is the mouth that speaks when all other mouths are silent.
Claire Bateman
Thursday, May 29th
Claire Bateman is the author of THE PILLOW MUSEUM (Fiction Collective 2) and nine other collections, most recently, WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD (42 Miles) and SCAPE (New Issues) She has been awarded fellowships by the NEA and the Tennessee Arts Commission as well as two Pushcart Prizes.
Daniel Cross Turner
Friday, May 30th
Daniel Cross Turner (Ph.D., Vanderbilt) has published five books: Riding Light (poetry); Southern Crossings: Poetry, Memory, and the Transcultural South (monograph); Hard Lines: Rough South Poetry (anthology); Undead Souths: The Gothic and Beyond in Southern Literature (essay collection); and Coast Lines (anthology exploring SC coast). His writing appears in Five Points, Literary Matters, and Hub City, etc. Visit danielcrossturner.com
Len Lawson
Tuesday, June 3rd
Dr. Len Lawson is author of Negro Asylum for the Lunatic Insane and Chime. He is also editor of The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry. He is Assistant Professor of English and Director of African American Studies at Newberry College.
Maria Martin/Joe Zealberg
Wednesday, June 4th
Maria Martin’s poetry has appeared in The Threepenny Review, New Ohio Review, Pleiades, and elsewhere. She is a participant in Richard Garcia’s poetry workshop. From 2017-2021 she served on the board of the Poetry Society of South Carolina. mariasprogress.com. Joe Zealberg lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC and is a member of Richard Garcia’s Long Table Poets. His book of poems, “Covalence” was published in 2015 by The Word Works. He is a retired psychiatrist.
Melissa Whiteford St. Clair
Thursday, June 5th
Melissa Whiteford St. Clair is a poet and social justice advocate. She is the author of two books of poetry, and her poetry has been featured in several anthologies. Her poem “Harriet’s Feat to Freedom” was included on the Hilton Head Island Poetry Trail at Mitchelville.
Rich Ferguson
Friday, June 6th
L.A. poet/spoken-word performer Rich Ferguson has shared the stage with Patti Smith, Wanda Coleman, and other esteemed poets and musicians. He is the author of the novel New Jersey Me (Rare Bird Books), and two poetry collections 8th & Agony (Punk Hostage Press), and Everything is Radiant Between the Hates (Moon Tide Press). He was selected by the National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc. (NBPF), to serve as U.S. Beat Poet Laureate (Sept. 2023 to Sept. 2024).