WILSON, N.C. – Barton College will welcome Phillip Gardner for the upcoming Victor R. Small Writers Series Lecture on Monday. Nov. 10. The lecture is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in The Sam and Marjorie Ragan Writing Center on campus. This event is free and open to the public, and all are invited to attend.
No stranger to the arts and entertainment, Gardner has enjoyed much success in books and stories, screenplays, and music. The Goldsboro native began his career as a musician, touring the American Southeast playing Top-40 tracks. In the late 1970s, Gardner and his brother, Michael, began collaborating as songwriters for North Carolina-based hard rock band PKM. PKM garnered modest fame and much acclaim, and played to sold-out crowds throughout the 1980s. The brothers parlayed their songwriting skills into new musical ventures during the 1990s, co-founding the band Gardners of Soule early in that decade. They played to countless North Carolinians in some of the state’s top Rock clubs. Today, you can find Gardner on stage as lead singer of the Woodys, an eclectic eight-piece group based in Florence, S.C., that performs hits from many genres, including classic rock, rhythm & blues, and soul.
A lifelong passion for writing helped Gardner achieve literary accomplishments as well. He is the author of three short story collections, “Available Light,” “Somebody Wants Somebody Dead,” and “Someone To Crawl Back To.” A three-time South Carolina Fiction Project winner and Pushcart nominee, he has published widely in literary journals and anthologies. Gardner also adds screenwriter to his list of credits, having penned four works: “Roadwork,” a romantic comedy; “Necessary Evils,” a detective story; “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” a tale of revenge; and a spoof on 80s screwball comedies titled, “Montezuma’s Revenge.”
Gardner earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is an associate professor of English at Francis Marion University, a teaching post he has held since 1986. Prior teaching experience includes appointments at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., and Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. Gardner resides in Darlington, S.C.
The Victor R. Small Writers Series is sponsored by the Department of English and Modern Languages in the School of Humanities at Barton College. For additional information, please contact Dr. Jim Clark, dean of the School of Humanities and Elizabeth H. Jordan Endowed Chair for Southern Literature, at (252) 399-6450 or jclark@barton.edu.
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