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Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 248
Illustrations: 48 b&w halftones, 2 b&w line drawings

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ebook
hardcover
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South Carolina History & Culture
Travelogue & Essays
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State of the Heart, Volume 1

South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love

edited by Aïda Rogers

Paperback
978-1-61117-251-5
Published: Apr 24 2013

$19.99

Hardcover
978-1-61117-250-8
Published: Apr 24 2013

$41.99

Ebook
978-1-61117-252-2
Published: Apr 22 2013

OA Ebook
978-1-61117-252-2
Published: Apr 22 2013

$0.00

The inclusion of this book in the Open Carolina collection is made possible by the generous funding of

In State of the Heart, Aïda Rogers has crafted an artful love letter to our state, with contributions from a host of nationally and regionally recognized writers who've written short essays on the South Carolina places that they cherish. This anthology provides a multifaceted historical and personal view of the Palmetto State.

Thematically organized, this collection offers a geographic and emotional scope that is as diverse as its contributors. Sportswriters describe beloved arenas; historians reflect on church ruins and forts. A playwright recalls the magic of her first theater experience; a food writer revels in a coastal joint that serves fresh oysters. Backyards, front porches, a small library at a children's home, the drama and camaraderie of building the Savannah River Site, and places that are gone except in the memories of the writers who loved them—these are just a few of the locales covered, all showing how South Carolina has changed and inspired people in a variety of ways.

State of the Heart evokes a sense of history and timelessness by bringing together heartfelt responses to South Carolina locales rooted in memory, drawing on reflection, inspiration, and love. The anthology reveals a state that is more than a playground for tourists; it's a state of human hiding places that echo in the hearts of its literary citizens. Though presented as a book about place, the collection is ultimately about our shared connections to one another, to a complex common past, and to ongoing efforts to frame and build a future of promise and possibility.

Includes essays by: William P. Baldwin III, Kendall Bell, Cynthia Boiter, Shane Bradley, Lee Gordon Brockington, Ken Burger, Amanda Capps, John Celly, Robin Asbury Cutler, Billy Deal, Clair DeLune, Nathalie Dupree, Mary Eaddy, Starkey Flythe, Daniel E. Harmon, Steve Hoffius, Celie S. Holmes, Dot Jackson, Dianne "Dinah" Johnson, Sandra E. Johnson, John Lane, J. Drew Lanham, Nick Lindsay, Vennie Deas Moore, John Hammond Moore, Sam Morton, Horace Mungin, Kirk H. Neely, Liz Newall, Tom Poland, Dori Sanders, W. Thomas Smith Jr., Deno Trakas, Ceille Baird Welch, Marjory Wentworth




Aïda Rogers is a writer and editor whose feature journalism has won national and regional awards. She has worked in newpapers, television, and magazines and has coauthored Stop Where the Parking Lot's Full, a guidebook to South Carolina's favorite restaurants with Tim Driggers. She lives in Columbia.

"Southerners—whether they write poetry, fiction, or non-fiction—have a sense of place. In their work, sometimes that place is a literal, physical presence; sometimes it is spiritual. For some a place is a haven, for others it is a muse: a front porch, a garden, a cabin in the woods, a library, or the Carolina Coliseum. In this wonderful book of mini-memoirs you can discover the places that have inspired and continue to inspire a marvelous group of South Carolina writers."—Walter Edgar

"The anthology reveals a state that is more than a playground for tourists; it is a state of human hiding places that echo in the hearts of its literary citizens."—McCormick Messenger

"'State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love' shines new light into places as familiar as a clucking fiddler crab shaking its 'big' claw at the high and mighty. And it helps us explore unknown places, telling how they came to be and why they matter."—David Lauderdale, "The Island Packet," June 2013.

"Rogers has assembled and edited an anthology of reflections on favorite spots, and she has selected a group of writers who can express themselves meaningfully and with descriptions that create wanderlust or nostalgia and, in several cases, set your mouth to watering.—"—Ivy Moore, "The Item," May 2013

"State of the Heart is a rich collection of personal stories, reflections, historical facts and front porch yarns as colorful, timeless and inspiring as the people and landscape of the Palmetto State. This heartfelt book is a must-read for everyone lucky enough to have been born here or who now calls South Carolina home."—Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author, Beach House Memories

"State of the Heart reminds us of what is best about South Carolina and her many gifted writers, the monumental power of this place to shape our memories into stories and then our stories into art."—Pat Conroy, from the foreword

"The anthology reveals a state that is more than a playground for tourists; it is a state of human hiding places that echo in the hearts of its literary citizens.McCormick Messenger"—

"Rogers has assembled and edited an anthology of reflections on favorite spots, and she has selected a group of writers who can express themselves meaningfully and with descriptions that create wanderlust or nostalgia and, in several cases, set your mouth to watering.—"—Ivy Moore, "The Item," May 2013

"'State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love' shines new light into places as familiar as a clucking fiddler crab shaking its 'big' claw at the high and mighty. And it helps us explore unknown places, telling how they came to be and why they matter.—"—David Lauderdale, "The Island Packet," June 2013

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