The Poetry Society of South Carolina announced on Saturday that it will expand from its Lowcountry base by adding three new regions to its territory and transitioning to year-round programming. The Society, which was founded in Charleston in 1920, is the oldest state poetry society in America. Despite what its name might suggest, the Society has historically held all of its meetings, workshops, and readings in Charleston. The group has eschewed summer meetings altogether.
The new Society will be divided into four regions: The Lowcountry, Midlands, Pee Dee, and Upstate. Each region will receive three months of focused attention; poets from each region will be encouraged to travel to other regions.
"This is an enormous change," says Jim Lundy, current board member, former president, and author of The History of the Poetry Society of South Carolina: 1920 to 2021. "I'd say [this is] the biggest change ever. The Poetry Society started in Charleston and was central to Charleston."
"The Poetry Society of South Carolina has long had a reputation for serving the poets of the Lowcountry primarily," explains current president Tamara Miles. "I want to see us serve the entire state much more fully. We are doing that through an initiative called Every Corner, Every County."
In advance of the official announcement, Miles has spent the past year driving around the state, visiting libraries and meeting local poets. "I am personally traveling to every county, introducing myself and the Society," she says. "I have visited around 30 counties now. So far I've had really good results."
Miles, who lives in Elgin, SC, says that poets throughout the state are "aching for inclusion."
Lundy says that the Society has tried to move beyond the Lowcountry before, but "it never really took hold. It just never took off." This time, he has reason to believe that the expansion effort will be more successful than previous attempts. "I think it was Tamara," says Lundy. "[She is] the first president who does not live in the Charleston area. She put a lot of time and enthusiasm into spreading the word."
"The other attempts [were] half-hearted or they just lacked that much energy," explains Lundy. But Miles, who is in her 2nd year as president, spent her first year setting up successful supplemental events throughout the state. "It really started building momentum and becoming more of reality," says Lundy. "[Program director] Jessy Hylton, with Tamara, took it from general to it being a very specific plan."
"We want to focus on South Carolina poets," says Miles. "I believe it's very important to celebrate our own poets."
The Every Corner, Every County Reading Series will host a kick-off reading in the Pee Dee region on May 4. Kimberly Gibbs will read at the Georgetown Historical Museum, with an opening reader from Coastal Carolina University, and a workshop to follow. Updates will be posted on the Poetry Society of South Carolina's website.
