Scott Owens

Hickory – Hickory poet, Lenoir Rhyne professor, Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse owner, and founder of Poetry Hickory, Scott Owens will be the featured poet at the June 13 Poetry Hickory at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse in downtown Hickory.

Owens will read from his new collection, “All In: A Novel of Love in Poetry,” a collaboration with Florida poet, Pris Campbell, and a sequel to their earlier collaboration, “Shadows Trail Them Home.” Since the poems are written in the voices of Sara and Norman, male and female protagonists, Owens will be joined in the reading by fellow poet and professor, Morgan DePue, from Winston-Salem State University.

“All In” is Owens’ 19th collection of poetry. He has received awards for his work from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Indie Lit Awards, the NC Writers Network, the NC Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of SC. His poems have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac 8 times, and his articles about writing poetry have been used in Poet’s Market 5 times. He is former editor of “Wild Goose Poetry Review” and former vice president of the NC Poetry Society. Owens’ collaborator, Pris Campbell, is the author of a dozen previous books and has received numerous awards for her work as well.

Matthew Borczon, retured Navy Hospital Corpsman and author of 19 books of poetry, says of “All In,” “As a sailor who deployed in 2020 to Manhattan to work in a make-shift hospital, I found the Covid experience shared here rang true. And as a man married for 27 years, I rooted for Sara and Norman from the start and felt each small beautiful thing that happened to both of them.”

Malaika King Albrecht, the Heart of Pamlico Poet Laureate, writes, “These well-crafted poems exemplify all the hones skill you’d expect from these talented poets, with a call-and-response feel between the two main characters’ poems and a compelling narrative that had me turning pages to see what happened next.”

Jeff Weddle, author of “Driving the Lost Highway,” shares, “This is a book of great power with its deep dive into the territories of love, lust, sickness, loss, and redemption.”

Owens’ and Depue’s reading will be followed by an Open Mic. Poetry Hickory is free and open to the public. To register for the Open Mic, contact Owens at 828-234-4266 or [email protected].