MUSC calling on S.C. poets

Many of you have seen or read about the art on display at the Medical University of South Carolina's Ashley River Tower. It is the largest collection of contemporary South Carolina art on permanent display in the state.

The project is in keeping with an approach used by many of the country's leading hospitals, which incorporate the arts in some way. Under the leadership of MUSC President Raymond Greenberg, the collection was curated by Mark Sloan, director of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston. Now, poets have the opportunity to contribute to this project in a meaningful way. MUSC would like to augment the visual art with poetry written by South Carolina poets.

When art and poetry are incorporated into a hospital setting, they can provide relief from anxiety, distraction from pain and respite from boredom. The power of reading the right poem at the right moment can give hope or a new perspective in ways that cannot be underestimated. Physician/poet Rafael Campo once described poetry as "ampoules of the purest, clearest, drug of all, the essence and distillation of the process of living itself."

Poetry will be used in many public spaces in the Ashley River Tower, as well as patient rooms, examination areas, staff-only areas and the hospital Web site. Accepted poems will be included in a chapbook that will be available to patients and staff. Selected lines, phrases and poems will be displayed in specific areas of the building.

There are three categories for poets to consider:

--Publicly displayed poems:

"South Carolina: A Sense of Place"

Priority will be given to works that embody the extraordinary physical and cultural attributes of the state. Contributors are invited to consider the ways in which the natural world always has offered poets metaphors about the beauty and mystery and cycles of life, as well as the inherent healing quality of landscape.

In general, it is suggested that these poems embody a sense of comfort, hope and the humanistic spirit.

Most, if not all, poets who live and write here already have written poems that celebrate place. Whether it's the Upstate or the Lowcountry, or somewhere between, poets often describe the unique qualities of the South Carolina landscape.

--Poems that respond directly to the space and/or art displayed:

Interested poets can view the art on the Web at http://artwork.musc.edu. There is also a flier available at the Ashley River Tower.

--Poems displayed in staff-only areas:

Poems that will be displayed and available in staff-only areas could deal more directly with the medical profession. Poems dealing with illness, acceptance, healing and compassion all will be appropriate.

Poems that celebrate the higher purpose of those in the medical field and the inherently humanistic quality of that work also would be appropriate; as well as poems that describe the dignity of all patients.

The submission deadline is June 15.

An acquisitions committee will review submitted materials and make recommendations.

The committee comprises professionals and representatives of MUSC.

There is a $200 compensation for accepted poems.

For further details and guidelines for submission, e-mail me at marjwpub@bellsouth.net, see this month's S.C. Arts Commission Literary Arts Bulletin, or visit www.poetrysocietysc.org/statewide or www.lilaconnects.com.

Marjory Wentworth is South Carolina's poet laureate.