The 2009 SC Book Festival, in partnership with the SC Center for the Book, joins a host of organizations across the country in celebrating the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe during his bicentennial year.
Often called "America's Shakespeare," Poe is connected to the Palmetto State through his tenure as a U.S. Army private stationed at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island's from 1827-28. The island provided the setting for Poe's famous story, "The Gold Bug." During the weekend of the festival, Poe scholar and College of Charleston English Professor, Dr. Scott Peeples, will discuss Poe and the Charleston Renaissance, as well as the "claiming" of Poe by various cities and what it means for Poe to be associated with a particular place (Saturday, February 28, 4:30 p.m.). Additionally, Poe Society members and friends will celebrate the bicentennial all weekend at Booth #314 in the Exhibit Hall.
Dr. Peeples's lecture is sponsored by the South Carolina Center for the Book, the South Carolina Affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book and is a cooperative project of the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science, and the Humanities Council SC. For a complete listing of speakers and presentations at the Book Festival, please visit www.scbookfestival.org.
