A collective of South Carolina native writers came together in the Coliseum on Thursday to speak to students and faculty about their experiences writing “State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love,” and their careers as writers.
Aïda Rogers, who served as editor, said that she conceived the project and selected the different writers who were involved, including Kendall Bell, Claire DeLune, Sandra Johnson,Dianne Johnson and Vennie Deas Moore.
The book documents the sentiments of the writers regarding their hometowns and where they came from. Published by the University of South Carolina Press, it has been received very well in the community, with a second volume currently in the works.
The authors answered questions from students and faculty concerning their careers and experiences as writers. When asked if writing is purely a science or an art, the authors said that it is a mixture of both, and that in order to be a good writer, you must appeal to the reader; however, a talent for language and adeptness for sentence formulation helps.
“It’s hard to write fluff everyday, it’s easier to write about [a subject] that you are interested in,” Rogers said.
The authors also took time to speak about past endeavors and how they originally became interested in writing.
“I started my career as a scientist, and then became interested in folklore after a tenure at George
Washington University,” said Moore, a folklorist and photographer. Speaking about her experience at the university, where she became interested in writing after visiting the school’s English department, she said she ended her tenure in order to pursue a full-time career as a writer.
The authors also spoke passionately about writing and its future in the information age, with Johnson speaking about her concerns regarding communication trends and younger generations.
“Youth’s connection with the written word is often text messaging, and that’s where it begins and ends.”
Johnson went on to speak about the authors she holds in the highest regard, such as Harper Lee, who she says has an admirable mastery of language and ability to convey a strong message with simple statements.
“I want to make ordinary words powerful,” she added, saying that the most difficult thing to do as a writer is to captivate a reader with subtlety.