Buxton Books is proud to be the booksellers for the Charleston Library Society for the latest Speaker Series with Marcus Amaker for his latest collection Hold What Makes You Whole.
About Marcus Amaker:
Marcus Amaker (he/him) is a husband, a dad, a son, a music nerd, and a Star Wars obsessive. He served as the first Poet Laureate of Charleston, South Carolina, from 2016—22.
In 2021, he became an Academy of American Poets fellow. He’s also a prolific performer, the award-winning graphic designer of a national music journal (No Depression), a musician, an opera librettist, the creator of a poetry festival, a teaching artist, and an advocate for youth poets.
His poetry has been recognized by The Washington Post, The Kennedy Center, American Poets Magazine, The Washington National Opera, The Portland Opera, Button Poetry, NPR, The Chicago Tribune, Edutopia, Departures Magazine, People’s World, PBS Newshour, SC Public Radio, Charleston Magazine, Charleston City Paper, North Dakota Quarterly, Post and Courier, Charleston Scene and several other publications.
In 2019, he won a Governor’s Arts award in South Carolina, and was named the artist-in-residence of the Gaillard Center, a world-renowned performance and education venue.
His poetry was used by the Washington National Opera for its Presidential Inauguration Day Concert in 2021, and has been studied in classrooms around the country. One of his poems is on two Grammy-nominated albums, and Marcus has recorded three albums with Grammy Award winning drummer and producer Quentin E. Baxter.
He is currently writing an opera with Gillian Rae Perry as part of Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative.
June 3, 2021, was named “Marcus Amaker Day” by John Tecklenburg, mayor of Charleston, SC. He lives in North Charleston, SC, with his wife, their daughter, and a cat named after Wu-Tang Clan.
About Hold What Makes You Whole:
Rest like the sun does:
Schedule some time
to stay out of sight
when too many people
praise warm energy ...
Poet Laureate Marcus Amaker's (he/him) tenth book, Hold What Makes You Whole, is a pocket-sized full-color collection of new and selected works from an award-winning opera librettist, musician, and graphic designer.
Hold What Makes You Whole is a 200-page compilation of jazz, Blackness, self care, fatherhood, Star Wars, social justice, music, and memory. Along with the audiobook and e-book, the Hold project also features short films, two full-length albums, and an interactive website.
On the cover of the book is Amaker's great-great aunt Ruth Robinson, a poet and community leader who published her first book at the age of 65. Robinson passed in 2020 when she was 94 years old.
"It's an honor to introduce you to her Spirit," Amaker said.