Poetry at McLeod

In this innovative series, African American poets reclaim the plantation landscape by exploring the past, present, future, and the imagined in their own voices. Often representing pain, suffering, survival, and perseverance, these poets confirm that plantations are places of conscience. One poet recalled, "Reading poems where my ancestors were was a return. On their behalf, I was returning with power. It belongs to them. I would be a part of reclaiming it."

  • Poetry at McLeod is free to the first 50 participants, thereafter entry is included with your park admission. No preregistration is required. 
  • Writing workshops the following day are also free but space is limited so preregistration is required.
  • Not able to attend in person? Our Poetry at McLeod series is also broadcasted live via our Facebook page!

This series is made possible by the generous support of The Poetry Society of South Carolina, the SC Humanities Council, the Charleston County Public Library, and the Charleston County Parks Foundation.

  1. Poetry at McLeod: 11/12
  2. Poetry Workshop: 11/13

Poetry at McLeodPhoto of Evie Shockley

Evie Shockley

Saturday, November 12, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, poet Evie Shockley earned a BA at Northwestern University, a JD at the University of Michigan, and a PhD in English literature at Duke University. The author of several collections of poetry including a half-red sea (2006) and the new black (2011), Shockley is also the author of the critical volume Renegade Poetics: Black Aesthetics and Formal Innovation African American Poetry (2011). Her poetry and essays have been featured in several anthologies, including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry (2009), Poets on Teaching: A Sourcebook (2010), A broken Thing: Contemporary Poets on the Line (2011), and Contemporary African American Literature: The living Canon (2013).

Shockley's honors include the Holmes National Poetry Prize and fellowships from Cave Canem, the Millay Colony for the Arts, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Coeditor of the journal jubilat from 2004 to 2007, Shockley is a professor at Rutgers University.