Join us at Buxton Books on Sunday, July 28, from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m., to celebrate Marcus Amaker’s recent induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors, the Palmetto State’s literary hall of fame!
Charleston’s first City Poet Laureate, Marcus is one of four SCAA honorees for 2024, along with William P. Baldwin, Harlan Greene, and the late Ann Head. Marcus was unable to attend the hall of fame induction ceremony in Beaufort earlier this spring. We look forward to celebrating him in Charleston, with a special appearance by Jo Angela Edwins, SCAA board member and the Poet Laureate of the Pee Dee.
Marcus Amaker served as the first Poet Laureate of Charleston from 2016 to 2022. In 2019, he was honored with 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 tenth book is Hold What Makes You Whole, from Free Verse Press.
Learn more about the 2024 SCAA inductees at https://www.scacademyofauthors.com/
This is a free, in-store event. No RSVPs are required.
About Marcus Amaker:
Marcus Amaker takes daily naps. He's also a dad, husband, Charleston's first Poet Laureate, an opera writer, and an Academy of American Poets fellow. In 2024, he was inducted into the S.C. Literary Hall of Fame. He's published ten books, released 43 albums of electronic music and three albums with a two-time Grammy Award winner. He's also the graphic designer of the national bluegrass music journal, No Depression. His poetry has been recognized by The Source, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Washington Post, PBS Newshour, NPR, Button Poetry, American Poets Magazine, The Kennedy Center, and more. His re-written version of“My Country Tis of Thee” was used by the Washington National Opera for President Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
About South Carolina Academy of Authors:
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA) was founded at Anderson University in 1986. Its principal purpose is to identify and recognize the state's distinguished writers and to promote their literature's influence on our cultural heritage. The Academy's educational focus serves to publicize works by South Carolina authors, to connect the writers with their audience, to nurture and support South Carolina's literary talent, and to foster the love of reading and writing among the people of South Carolina.
The Board of Governors of the SCAA believes in the extraordinary creativity of the human spirit and the value of multicultural diversity displayed in the work of all South Carolina writers. It is deeply committed to creating and sustaining practices that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion and strives to support these beliefs and holds itself accountable to these intentions.
The Board of Governors selects new inductees biennially whose works have been judged culturally important. Each inductee, whether living or deceased, has added to South Carolina's literary legacy by earning notable scholarly attention or achieving historical prominence.
The Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Fellowships in Short Fiction and Poetry each award $1250 to South Carolina resident writers. Competitions are judged anonymously by established out-of-state authors.
Although not a state agency, the SCAA benefits from close affiliations with the South Carolina State Library, SC Humanities, South Carolina Arts Commission, The South Carolina Writers Association, The Pat Conroy Literary Center, and many of the state's colleges, universities, and corporations.
The SCAA logo was designed by Amanda Tietze Hudson through a partnership with The University of South Carolina Aiken.