SCWA / The Quill / April 2025
A Newsletter of the South Carolina Writers Association
April 2025
Message from the President
SITTING UP WITH THE DEAD
Happy April, y’all!
I’ve started reading a book titled Sitting Up with the Dead by Pamela Petro. Petro, from the North, finds herself at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and falls in love with the art of oral storytelling. She then chronicles her journey through the South meeting storytellers as well as writing the stories they chose to share with her.
The title Sitting Up with the Dead references a tradition in which family and friends would sit up with a deceased love one until their funeral would take place. This was to respect the dead, support those grieving and protect the body from harm. Today, we do a shortened version with a wake or viewing.
Having family and knowing the older community, I have been told stories of people sitting with the dead and the adventures that would happen. Such as when my grandma was keeping her mother-in-law company with a relative and the casket started shaking with wild sounds. Then, they discovered two raccoons were fighting under the house under the casket. Or the mortician who worked extra hard on a fellow whose family was going to sit with him. She was not familiar with this custom and was shocked when she picked him up to see his clothes wrinkled and ask the family whether had done she a bad job. They said, no … that he looked so good they got him out and took pictures with him. (Another older tradition.)
Wakes and sitting with the dead are also a time where we share oral stories of the one lost. These are ways we remember them and share a way for them to live on in our minds. We see this especially in the book and movie Big Fish. A story of a son whose father is dying and telling stories about his life. The oral storyteller, his father, is what makes him the writer the he is today.
As writers, we come from the great storytellers. While oral storytellers bring people in with word choice, gestures and personality, writers have adapted to do this with word choice and our personality translated into page. We all on some level abide by “never let truth get in the way of a good story.” I love the passion we get to see in the storyteller’s eyes because we have that passion when we write down our stories.
All this to say, be excited for your story. It’s okay to get excited and be geeky when it comes to our craft. Just like Spencer from Criminal Minds or Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who go on an excited ramble about some fact that was mentioned, do this when talking about your story and the art of writing a story. We come from a strong line of storytellers who have paved the way for us since the beginning of language. Even cave people wrote stories on cave walls.
We are in good company with those who have passed before us, and I’m proud to be part of the storytelling tradition.
May the Muse be ever in your favor.
Ash Smith
President
president@myscwa.org
Piedmont Publishing Symposium
SCWA SUPPORTS EVENT WITH USC PRESS, HUB CITY PRESS, OTHERS
SCWA is proud to support the Piedmont Publishing Symposium, a day and a half program May 28 and 29 at Wofford College in Spartanburg designed to provide authors with a learning and networking opportunity among the publishing community in South Carolina and the larger Southeast region.
The symposium is organized by Clemson University Press, Hub City Press, University of North Georgia Press and University of South Carolina Press.
The event will offer eight sessions appealing to different constituencies: academic writers, non-academic writers, publishing professionals, and students and recent graduates who want to know more about publishing.
FULL SCHEDULE FOR PIEDMONT PUBLISHING SYMPOSIUM
REGISTER NOW ($50; SPACE IS LIMITED)
Events & Education
AUTHOR’S TOOLBOX:
ED MADDEN: “PLEDGES, VOWS, ANTHEMS: POEMS OF COMMUNITY AND BELONGING”
Join us for this Author’s Toolbox with poet Ed Madden at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17, via Zoom. (Link provided upon registration.)
Looking at recent poems and songs about identity and belonging, we'll think about how a poem can be a kind of vow of belonging, a pledge of allegiance to a community – as small as friendship or family, as large as nation. How do we write ourselves into (or out of) communities? How can poems help us heal, realize, understand?
ABOUT ED MADDEN:
Madden served as Columbia’s poet laureate from 2015 to 2023. An English professor and director of the women’s and gender studies program at the University of South Carolina, Madden is the author of four books of poetry: Signals, which won the 2007 SC Poetry Book Prize; Prodigal: Variations; Nest; and Ark. He is An Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow and the recipient of a South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts. A proponent of public art, Madden has placed poems on Columbia’s sidewalks and buses. On April Fool’s Day, he put 2,000 fake parking tickets with poems on people’s cars.
REGISTER FOR AUTHOR’S TOOLBOX: ED MADDEN
Members, free; nonmembers, $25.
UPCOMING AUTHOR’S TOOLBOX SESSIONS
Make plans to attend these other Author’s Toolbox virtual events. All events are held from 7 to 8 p.m. the third Thursday of the month. (Schedule, speakers and topics subject to change.)
SCWA members are free (registration required to receive Zoom link information); nonmembers, $25.
May 15 - Dustin and Sadie Whitehead, What Directors Look for in a Screenplay
June 19 - Baker Rogers, LGBTQ Voices in Literature
July 17 - Renee Fountain, Platform Building for Introverts
VIEW AND REGISTER FOR SCWA EVENTS. Check back frequently for updates.
Membership
RENEW (OR JOIN) NOW!
Current SCWA members recently received membership renewal notices, reminding them to renew by April 1. Note that we offer a 30-day grace period for paying dues, so be sure to renew your membership no later than May 1 so you don’t miss out on any of your valuable membership benefits.
Your $75 annual dues provide access to free events, such as Author’s Toolbox and recordings of those sessions, as well as discounted pricing on other events. Membership gives you the ability to network with other writers and to receive and give feedback on each other’s writing through participation in local and virtual chapters and critique groups.
If you’re not already a member, please consider joining us.
JOIN SCWA MASTERMIND GROUP: LEARN, SHARE, GROW
Are you a self-published author? Do you want learn from others, share your own knowledge and experience, and grow as an author? Don’t miss out on the SCWA Mastermind Group, an exclusive, members-only opportunity designed to help you expand your publishing know-how and connect with fellow authors in a supportive environment where you can swap success strategies, gain fresh insights, and tackle challenges together.
Deadline to Register: April 8
Program Start Date: April 9
Who’s Eligible: Current SCWA Members
This is your chance to learn from peers who share your goals and passion for self-publishing. Secure your spot and take the next step toward achieving your writing goals. Sign up and get ready to learn, share, and grow with the SCWA community!
MASTERMIND GROUP INFORMATION
(You must be logged in as a member to access this link.)
Dakota McElhinny
VP/Membership
membership@myscwa.org
Raegan Teller
Advisor/Membership
NEW CHAPTER LIAISON
Becky Muth, chapter leader for Surfside, is our new Chapter Liaison. That role serves as a liaison between all chapter leaders and the Membership vice president and the board of directors, meeting with chapter leaders to keep them in the loop as well as to hear their ideas for improving SCWA services. We thank Muth for stepping up into this new role!
ABOUT BECKY MUTH
Muth is a coffee addict who gives her readers fun escapes into sweet romance and romantic suspense books. She writes cozy mysteries as R. A. Muth, entertaining readers with quirky characters who solve not-too-scary murders in places she’d like to live in real life. As Rebecca Muth, she writes heartwarming children’s books inspired by raising children of her own.
When she isn't writing, Muth enjoys hanging out at the beach with her family, playing video games, and (of course) reading.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: LISA FINLEY
With a bachelor of arts in communications/journalism from the University of South Carolina, Lisa Finley brings a wealth of experience to the nonprofit world. As a former magazine editor and senior grants specialist for Greenville County Schools — the largest district in South Carolina — she honed her skills in storytelling and securing vital funding. Today, she’s the founder and CEO of Grant Resource Group, where she helps nonprofit organizations unlock their potential through expert grant research and writing. Over the years, Finley has raised millions of dollars to support causes close to her heart, including arts and culture, education, healthcare, youth services, affordable housing, animal welfare, and substance abuse recovery. She’s also a certified grant professional through the Grant Professional Association.
Finley also a passionate creative writer working on several novels. Her works-in-progress include:
A contemporary YA novel about Dinky, a resilient survivor of child abuse and neglect.
A WWII historical novel following two young women contributing to the war effort.
An adult novel-in-progress exploring the heart-wrenching decision a woman faces as her spouse battles substance use disorder.
Finley credits much of her writing growth to her Greenville-based critique group, where she continuously refines her craft with the help of fellow storytellers.
When she’s not busy writing or helping nonprofits thrive, Finley can be found immersed in a good book, experimenting with arts and crafts, or spending quality time with her husband of 27 years and their two dogs, Marley and Radar. She also has a soft spot for theater performances and never misses a chance to dance the night away at Michael Franti & Spearhead concerts — with her 9-year-old niece by her side!
MEMBER ACCOLADES
Congratulations to Barbara E. Magera, MD, PharmD, MMM, a member of the SCWA Board of Directors and longtime SCWA member, on her recent writing recognitions. Magera (Canine Scribbles.com; Caracaleeb Kennels) was awarded 12 finalist nominations for her submissions to the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) 2024 contest. Her work was recognized for writing, poetry and photography.
For top awards, she won the Maxwell Medallion for best humorous article. She won two special awards, the Manette Begin-Loudon Memorial Award and the James S. Colasanti Jr. Poetry Award.
FUNNIES OF THE MONTH
Why did Shakespeare only write in ink?
Pencils posed a problem, 2B or not 2B.
I finished writing my tortilla joke.
That’s a wrap.
I lost my notes I was writing for my book called “1,001 ways to cure an itch.”
Guess I’ll have to start from scratch.
Dakota McElhinny
VP/Membership
The South Carolina Writers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary organization, receives support from the South Carolina Arts Commission and our members, furthering our mission to offer a supportive environment for people to become better writers. SCWA is grateful for this support. Donate to help SCWA to enhance our ability to provide quality programs and services to writers in South Carolina and the region.