Coastal Carolina University's Lifelong Learning will host the first in a series of poetry readings and discussions beginning Monday, Jan. 29 at 3 p.m., at CCU's Waccamaw Higher Education Center in Litchfield. Leading the first meeting of the series will be professors Paul Allen and Carol Ann Davis of the College of Charleston. The event is free and open to the public.

These readings and discussions will feature faculty members from local universities, the Poetry Society of South Carolina, as well as local poets. Refreshments will be served at each event, and signed copies of the poets' books will be available for sale.

Paul Allen teaches poetry and writing song lyrics at College of Charleston, where he has taught since 1974. His works have been published in numerous journals and anthologies, and his collection titled "Ground Force" is scheduled to be published in 2008.

Allen also produced a CD titled "The Man with the Hardest Belly," which features a collection of poems and songs. Allen has twice received the South Carolina Arts Commission's Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry.

Carol Ann Davis directs the undergraduate creative writing program at the College of Charleston. In addition to writing, Davis also edits the literary journal "Crazyhorse" and is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the SC Arts Commission.

Davis' first book, "Psalm," was runner up for the 2005 Dorset Prize and will be published in the fall. Her poems have recently appeared in "Agni," the Threepenny Review and the Southern Review.

Subsequent dates for Tea and Poetry are Feb. 12 with Richard Garcia and Susan Meyers; Feb. 26 with Libby Bernardin and Diana Pinckney; Mar. 19 with Linda Annas Ferguson and Dennis Ward Stiles; and April 16 with Lavonne Adams and Malena Morling.

For more information, call 349-4030.