© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

"A" is for Allen, Gilbert Bruce [b. 1951]

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"A" is for Allen, Gilbert Bruce [b. 1951]. Poet, fiction writer, educator. A native New Yorker, Allen moved to South Carolina in 1977—becoming an English professor at Furman. His first collection of poetry, In Everything: poems, 1927-1979 appeared in 1982 and was followed by three other volumes. In 1991, with fellow Furman English professor William E. Rogers, Allen became co-founder and co-editor of Ninety-Six Press. Focusing primarily on the works of South Carolina poets, the press has produced more than a dozen books. His poetry combines contemporary philosophical concerns with a format aligned with earlier poetic styles. As Gilbert Bruce Allen puts it, he "tries to document the experience of living in America during the latter half of the 20th century" combined with "the impulse to believe and the inclination to be skeptical."

Stay Connected
Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.