Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.*
Location: Columbia College:  Concert Hall of Spears Music /Art Center
                 
* Reception following the event in the lobby of Breed Leadership Center
        
Columbia College will host a celebration of Charlene Spearen’s new work entitled Without Possessions, an evocative chapbook with many of the poems written in response to artwork displayed at the Columbia Museum of Art. Charlene is the Poet-in-Residence at the Columbia Museum of Art and works closely with the Museum's Frisson Project. “Charlene Spearen writes poetry with the passion of an exuberant risktaker who knows that a poem is worth little if nothing is at stake. She writes, therefore, with the full conviction that the poem, well written, is an act of what she calls ‘supernatural grace.’" - Kwame Dawes
 
The reading will be festive and include several musical pieces performed by pianist Brian Locke. The evening is one that will celebrate a variety of artforms.  Karly Monahan, whose provocative artwork graces the cover of the chapbook, will be present, and the original piece will be available for viewing.  A reception will take place immediately following the reading.  
 
About the Artists:
Charlene Spearen received her MFA degree in Creative Writing in May 2003 from the University of South Carolina, and she is close to completing her doctoral degree in Composition and Rhetoric. She is poet in residence for the Columbia Museum of Art, and has been awarded other residencies throughout the state of South Carolina. She is the program coordinator for the University of South Carolina's Arts Institute and the assistant rirector of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative.  
 
Brian Locke is from Kennesaw, Georgia, and has been playing the piano since l995. He is currently a student at the University of South Carolina working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, with an emphasis in piano.  
 
Karly Monahan grew-up in North Palm Beach County, Florida.  She started exhibiting her talent for drawing in different media at a very young age.  She specializes in large-scale figurative paintings and prosthetic design.  She received her B.F.A. in Fine Arts, May 2006, from the School of Visual Arts, New York.