South Carolina Writers Association / The Quill / January 2022
January 2022
Message from the President
Writers understand the opportunity with each new page or chapter. How will the characters, whether existing or new to our story, create an exciting outcome? So is the case with your board of directors as we launch 2022 with changes, saying grateful goodbyes to some and welcoming new SCWA leaders.
The SCWA board expresses its deepest gratitude to the following directors and advisors who have steered SCWA to new heights and are now retiring from the board: Vivian Bikulege, Barbara Evers, Roger Jones and Nancy Allen-Mastro.
Susan Zurenda and David Wilson also are retiring as directors, but they will continue to serve as advisors. I will support the board as past president and advisor.
These board members built upon the success created by former boards, the dedication of the chapter leaders, and many other volunteers whose passion for writing has made SCWA successful for 31 years.
We look with admiration and hope to the following new board members to carry on this leadership. We welcome the following new directors: Catherine Con, Wanda Craig (Raegan Teller), Austin Hehir, Ralph Jarrells, Yvette Murray, Sharon Clemmons Thomas and Lynn Allison Volkenant. They will be joined by our new advisors Peter Coan and Brad Land.
The new Executive Board will be elected at the Jan. 15 board meeting to which all members are welcome to attend. This will be a virtual meeting due to COVID concerns. If you wish to attend, email Laura Corbin, administrator, at writersassociationsc@gmail.com and she will provide you with the Zoom link.
I subscribe to the philosophy that there are three kinds of characters in a story – those who make things happen; those who watch things happen; and those who say ‘what the hell just happened?’”
As I leave the role of president, I consider myself blessed to have been part of the board team and am confident the new board will be making great things happen for our members.
Mike Lee
President
SCWA Board of Directors
Events and Education
JANUARY EVENTS
Join us for our January workshop series free to members. Spots are filling fast, and our Become an Author: Writing Sound and Silence workshop is almost full. Sign up now to get your spot or sign up for our other virtual offerings. To register, go to myscwa.org/virtual-events.
FEATURED SPEAKER OF THE MONTH
I’m reading Brad Land’s memoir, Goat, and I can’t put it down. I read it in bed, at my desk, on the couch, at dinner. It’s a coming-of-age story with a South Carolina twist, a brutal tale about the world of hazing at Clemson University, but it’s like nothing I’ve read before.
I’m not alone in my admiration. I flip to the front of my paperback copy, a blood-red book with a goat on the cover. Four pages of accolades precede the story. “Harrowing,” says Entertainment Weekly. “Goat casts an eerie spell,” says Newsday. A “whirlwind of a book,” says Fort Worth-Star Telegram.
In 2016, American director Andrew Neel turned Goat into a film starring Nick Jonas, James Franco and Ben Schnetzer.
SCWA members can hear about Land’s memoir, his novel and his experiences with publishers and Hollywood at noon on Thursday, Jan. 13, in Writing Conversations: Manuscript to Marketplace, part of a yearlong program of virtual events. Go to myscwa.org/virtual-events to register for Land’s presentation.
—Paul Davis, Events and Education director
Come Write by the Beach
It's time to SAVE THE DATE for SCWA's annual conference in beautiful Pawleys Island, S.C. Registration opens Feb. 1. We'll have craft and publishing workshops, along with the chance to pitch agents, have your work read by editors and agents in real time and more. Come write by the beach!
Publications
THE PETIGRU REVIEW
The SCWA board is pleased to announce the following appointments to the 2022 edition of The Petigru Review:
Maria Picone is appointed managing editor and fiction editor. Maria is a Myrtle Beach resident and current managing editor of Chestnut Review. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton and postgraduate degrees from Rice, Goddard and Western New Mexico, Maria has numerous poetry, nonfiction and fiction publications and awards.
Yvette Murray is appointed poetry and nonfiction editor. Yvette, a resident of Charleston, has been supporting SCWA for several years in the capacity of board advisor, the poetry editor of the 2021 edition of Catfish Stew and is a newly elected board director for SCWA. A graduate of Duquesne University, Yvette is published in Emerys Journal, Catfish Stew, The Petigru Review as well as other publications and has received numerous awards and nominations. Yvette also serves on the board of the Poetry Society of South Carolina.
SCWA is happy to have Maria and Yvette lead The Petigru Review publication and editorial processes. We’ll be announcing the publication schedule soon.
Membership News
SCWA CONTINUES TO THRIVE; LEADERSHIP CHANGES
SCWA finished 2022 with 439 members – a record level! 2021 membership participation in chapters, the Writing Conversations and Become an Author programs and the April conference reached new highs. SCWA also created a subscriber’s list of over 800 contacts and a Facebook page with 1,600 followers. Congratulations, and thank you all for your support of SCWA.
We enter 2022 with a total of 24 active chapters, six of which are virtual. For a complete listing go to myscwa.org/local-and-virtual-chapters.
Chapter success depends on strong chapter leadership and active participation. We regretfully say goodbye with many thanks to departing chapter leaders Ginny Padgett of Columbia II and Brenda Remmes of Camden, who have supported the local members with dedication and enthusiasm. We welcome new chapter leaders Kathryn Etters Lovatt of Camden and Lis Anna-Langston of Columbia II and wish you well in your new roles.
As mentioned in the Message from the President, Chapter Liaisons Vivian Bikulege and Barbara Evers are retiring from the board. Vivian and Barbara developed new standards of communication and support for which all of SCWA is grateful. Thank you, Vivian and Barbara! New board chapter liaison responsibilities will be announced soon.
Questions or suggestions about SCWA membership?
Email scwamembership@gmail.com.