Hub City Writers Project
Encyclopedia
The Hub City Writers Project is a nonprofit organization in Spartanburg, South Carolina
, dedicated to cultivating readers and nurturing writers through its independent small press, community bookstore, and diverse literary programming. The independent press publishes books of literature and culture with an emphasis on the southern experience by new and established authors. Now in its fifteenth year, Hub City is the winner of four IPPY awards from Independent Publisher magazine; the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for contribution to the arts in South Carolina; and the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Humanities.
In addition to sponsoring creative writing workshops, readings, and contests in its hometown of Spartanburg, Hub City Press publishes five to eight books a year, including the winner of the South Carolina First Novel Prize.
In June 2010 the non-profit organization opened the Hub City Bookshop, an independent bookstore
at 186 West Main Street in Spartanburg SC on the ground floor of the Masonic Temple (built 1928). The store specializes in new releases, regional books, children's books and Hub City Press titles.
Hub City was shepherded in its early days by Wofford College
poet John Lane, journalists Betsy Teter and Gary Henderson, and photographer/graphic designer Mark Olencki; gradually the organization broadened its scope by publishing nearly 250 South Carolina writers, creating a 15-member board of directors, and attracting the financial support of hundreds of South Carolina
residents and businesses.
, Ron Rash
, Peter Cooper, David Carlton, G.C. Waldrep, Meg Barnhouse, John Lane, Kirk H. Neely, Marshall Chapman
, and South Carolina poet laureate Marjory Wentworth. Editors of Hub City anthologies include The Atlantic senior editor C. Michael Curtis, Kwame Dawes
and Janette Turner Hospital
.
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, dedicated to cultivating readers and nurturing writers through its independent small press, community bookstore, and diverse literary programming. The independent press publishes books of literature and culture with an emphasis on the southern experience by new and established authors. Now in its fifteenth year, Hub City is the winner of four IPPY awards from Independent Publisher magazine; the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for contribution to the arts in South Carolina; and the South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Humanities.
In addition to sponsoring creative writing workshops, readings, and contests in its hometown of Spartanburg, Hub City Press publishes five to eight books a year, including the winner of the South Carolina First Novel Prize.
In June 2010 the non-profit organization opened the Hub City Bookshop, an independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
at 186 West Main Street in Spartanburg SC on the ground floor of the Masonic Temple (built 1928). The store specializes in new releases, regional books, children's books and Hub City Press titles.
History
In May 1995 a trio of writers began to talk in a Spartanburg coffeehouse about how they could help preserve a sense of place in their rapidly changing Southern city. What their community needed, they said, was a literary identity. Modeling their organization after the Depression-era Federal Writers Project, they marshaled the talents of writers across South Carolina to create a series of books characterized by a strong sense of place. They chose the name Hub City Writers Project because it both invoked Spartanburg's past as a 19th century railroad center and challenged them to make their hometown a center for literary arts.Hub City was shepherded in its early days by Wofford College
Wofford College
Established in 1854 and related to the United Methodist Church, Wofford College is an independent, Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts college of 1,525 students located in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. The historic campus is recognized as a national arboretum and features “The...
poet John Lane, journalists Betsy Teter and Gary Henderson, and photographer/graphic designer Mark Olencki; gradually the organization broadened its scope by publishing nearly 250 South Carolina writers, creating a 15-member board of directors, and attracting the financial support of hundreds of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
residents and businesses.
Books and Authors
The Hub City publication list includes works by such writers as Rosa Shand, George SingletonGeorge Singleton
George Singleton is a Southern author who has written several collections of short stories and two novels. He was born in Anaheim, California and raised in Greenwood, South Carolina. He graduated from Furman University in 1980 with a degree in Philosophy. He also holds an MFA degree from the...
, Ron Rash
Ron Rash
Ron Rash , an American poet, short story writer and novelist, is the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. Rash was born in Chester, South Carolina, in 1953, grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, and is a graduate of Gardner-Webb...
, Peter Cooper, David Carlton, G.C. Waldrep, Meg Barnhouse, John Lane, Kirk H. Neely, Marshall Chapman
Marshall Chapman
Marshall Chapman is an American singer-songwriter and author.Chapman, the daughter of a cotton mill owner, was taken to an Elvis Presley concert in 1957 and says the experience changed her from a southern debutante to a nascent rock and roller...
, and South Carolina poet laureate Marjory Wentworth. Editors of Hub City anthologies include The Atlantic senior editor C. Michael Curtis, Kwame Dawes
Kwame Dawes
Kwame Senu Neville Dawes is a poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of South Carolina. He currently works as editor-in-chief at the Prairie Schooner. -Life:...
and Janette Turner Hospital
Janette Turner Hospital
Janette Turner Hospital is a novelist and short story writer who has lived for most of her adult life in Canada or the U.S., principally Boston , Kingston and Columbia...
.