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State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love
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.
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.
- GenresEssays
223 pages, Hardcover
First published May 10, 2013
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71 people want to read
About the author
Aida Rogers
13 books3 followersAïda Rogers is a writer and editor whose feature journalism has won national and regional awards. Her career has included work in newspapers, television, and magazines.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 1, 2017
This is a book to cherish and savor if you love South Carolina as I do. It has some wonderful contributors who write about the places in SC that they love. Some of the contributors in this book are the late great Pat Conroy who wrote an eloquent forward, Nathalie Dupree a great chef and the epitome of Southern Cooking and poetry by our local poet Marjorie Wentworth. There are some excellent essays by many local authors and photographs and artists who contributed their talents from across the state. There were stories by sports writers, playwrights, and historians who wrote about some of the places now gone and stories about people, places and memories. I enjoyed this book and found it to be a book from the heart.
April 29, 2022
Absolute gem of a book. Wonderful concept of SC writers writing about places and experiences in SC. I have read some works either by the author's or by works cited in the book such as " My Paddle to the Sea" by John Lane, Rachel Carson's " Silent Spring", several by Tom Poland, Ben Robertson's "Red Hills and Cotton:an Upcountry Memory," and of course Pat Conroy. This book goes right along with my reading interests. My favorite entries kept changing. First this one and then no it's this one and on and on. I did love "the Musty Smell of Books" by Robin Asbury Cutler and "Transformation" by Sam Morton. I want to jump in my car and visit Cape Romaine, or Ellicott Rock, or the Dark Corner, or, or, or .... A must for lovers of SC.
June 24, 2013
If you love the state of South Carolina, and I do, and think she is a beautiful being, then you will cherish this book. It's worth it for Pat Conroy's foreward and I am more than aware that Conroy can often overwhelm with words. Here, he is eloquent. As are all the other contributors. It is a book you will check again and again as you visit different parts of the palmetto state. I am even interested in going to North Augusta, for heaven's sake.
January 2, 2014
On the surface, this looks like a quick read. If you love South Carolina as I do, you will want to savor and consider each of these essays. As varied and wonderful as the people and places of our state, the stories included here are individual love letters, each presenting a bit of "behind the curtain" history that should be preserved. These are the stories told from front porches and over Sunday dinners. Read, enjoy and learn more about the personal history of this place we love.
August 27, 2013
Each essay is a visual fest and journey of the heart.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews