Words with Friends
Blur the lines a bit and let it be a scene from a literary salon of long ago: fine Scotch, wine, loose-leaf literary journals, and the whole room abuzz with conversation.
Make the rounds and you’ll hear talk of particle physics, the state of the arts in Charleston, mission trips to faraway lands, and the more regrettable fashion faux pas of men encountered earlier in the day. And that’s just the stuff of cocktail hour.
Welcome to Poets House South, where you are the welcome guest of Brit Washburn and Bryan Penberthy. An intimate evening of creative work and conversation awaits you. The name is a nod to New York’s famed Poets House, founded by the late U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz, and the easy living in the summertime style is 100% Charleston.
The heart of the evening is when everyone gathers together to read from their works-in-progress. Call it a Round-Robin Reading / Listening Party. It’s not all poetry and it doesn’t have to rhyme – it just has to be true to what your own walk through this world has taught you. So go ahead, don’t be shy, slip that scrap of paper out of your pocket, clear your throat and take your turn.
Because that’s what these evenings are all about: a chance for creative minds to mingle. And mingling mixed with fine food and drink on the porch of Brit and Bryan’s Ashley Ave home makes it even better.
Formal poetry workshops as well as a visiting writers program and symposia are all in the works. And the salon soirees – those Bohemian beauties that captured your heart – will be offered on an ongoing basis.
There’s the private home used for living, and then there’s the private home you open to random, creative strangers in the spirit of literary love.
We ask you, which is more poetic?
For your invite and more info, email PoetsHouseSouth@gmail.com
Story and photos by Jason A. Zwiker
