Dead Poets Society of South Carolina

Poets Laureate Fill Museum with Passion

An article in the University Daily Kansan reviewed the reading by Ted Kooser and other State Poets Laureate which took place at the Spencer Museum of Art this past Sunday.

"An Alaskan honored the late John Haines and illustrated blue ribbon eels with neon mouths that coughed near Fiji. A western aide revisited a parasite dipping tank in Zaire. A student begged a teacher to taste the syllables of her haiku.

These speakers were three of the ten poet laureates who read for the “Poet Laureati” Sunday at the Spencer Museum of Art. A collection of poet laureates’ works, “An Endless Skyway,” was released at the event."

Historic Grand Tour Report Now Online

The initial report of the historic Dead Poets Grand Tour 2010 is now online.

It chronicles all the places visited and the names of the poets read. From the Report: 

"We started on Shakespeare’s birthday, in Portland, Maine, the 23^rd of April, and we ended with a bang 6,500 miles later at the first Boston Poetry Marathon, May 25th. During those 34 days, and with the cooperation of 13 current and former State Poets Laureate, we held a Dead Poets Bash in 19 different States and visited 43 cemeteries!

The Grand Tour map can be accessed at the top left corner of the Dead Poets Society of America blog:  http://deadpoets.typepad.com/dpsablog/  

The other readings and interviews we held at poets’ graves and houses were really great as well, including the Lorine Niedecker home, the Carl Sandburg home, the E.L. Masters home, the Sidney Lanier house, The Virginia Military Institute, The Poe Museum, the Longfellow House and the Woodberry Poetry Room, at Harvard.

All totaled we visited the graves of 75 American poets, and heard the amazing poetry of over 100 American poets read. Dedgar and the crew kept up a pace of just over 191.18 miles per day and 2 poets’ graves per day!

The initial report of the historic Dead Poets Grand Tour 2010 is now online.

It chronicles all the places visited and the names of the poets read. From the Report: 

"We started on Shakespeare’s birthday, in Portland, Maine, the 23^rd of April, and we ended with a bang 6,500 miles later at the first Boston Poetry Marathon, May 25th. During those 34 days, and with the cooperation of 13 current and former State Poets Laureate, we held a Dead Poets Bash in 19 different States and visited 43 cemeteries!

The Grand Tour map can be accessed at the top left corner of the Dead Poets Society of America blog:  http://deadpoets.typepad.com/dpsablog/  

The other readings and interviews we held at poets’ graves and houses were really great as well, including the Lorine Niedecker home, the Carl Sandburg home, the E.L. Masters home, the Sidney Lanier house, The Virginia Military Institute, The Poe Museum, the Longfellow House and the Woodberry Poetry Room, at Harvard.

All totaled we visited the graves of 75 American poets, and heard the amazing poetry of over 100 American poets read. Dedgar and the crew kept up a pace of just over 191.18 miles per day and 2 poets’ graves per day!

Grand Tour Breaks World Literary Land Speed Record

At 5:30 PM, at the grave of James Russell Lowell, in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, the crew of the USS Starship DEDGAR smashed the world literary land speed record by visiting the graves of 26 poets within 12 hours!

This epic journey, which had a sunrise start at the grave of Stanley Kunitz, in Provincetown, MA, was traveling at an average speed of 52 GPD (Graves Per Day), or, more than 2 GPH (Graves Per Hour).

Along the way we managed to visit two poetry landmarks: the Longfellow House and the Woodberry Poetry Room, both in Cambridge, MA. It was a truly phenomenal way to go out with a BANG on the Great Grand Tour 2010.

7 PM Reading at Timrod Grave & Slavery Memorial

Tonight the Dead Poets Grand Tour will travel to the grave of Henry Timrod and then cross the street to the memorial to South Carolina's African-American citizens.

We'd like someone to read or sing the state song, "Carolina"

We'd like to invite a local bard to come out at 7 PM to read a Timrod poem and then to visit the memorial to the Africans and African-Americans with us. E-mail us at info @ deadpoes dot org  ,or just show up. Dedgar The Poemobile will be there.

Dead Poets Grand Tour Coming to CHARLESTON

Mark you calendars for Thursday, May 13th, when the Dead Poets Grand Tour 2010 comes to Charleston for the first South Carolina Dead Poets Bash!

Your hosts will be the Poetry Society of South Carolina and the S.C. Poet Laureate, Marjory Wentworth. You won't want to miss this historic event, as news of a new literary holiday will be announced at the reading.

Welcome

This is the home of the Dead Poets Society of South Carolina. We are a public, grassroots group of folks who love poetry and enjoy learning about our past poets.

This blog is affiliated with the Dead Poets Society of America, and we especially focus on documenting the gravesites of South Carolina's poets, as well as discussions about their poetry related to cemeteries, elegy, and death. Our map of gravesites is growing thanks to public participation.

You can view and join our public Flickr Collection, where you can post creative pictures of gravesites, and we have a discussion group where you can post links, start discussions, and share experiences.