Abundance (A Harvest of Life, Literature & Art)

Abundance: a Harvest of Life, Literature & Art was a small free literary magazine published and distributed monthly by Anthony Watkins. It was published from circa 1995-2002 and distributed by St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach Counties in Florida.

The paper included feature interviews with Tim Dorsey, Rick Bragg, Lawrence Block and many others. It also published poetry by Brenda Black White, Doris Thurston, Dr. James Lancaster, as well as poets from around the nation.

The backbone of the staff talent was drawn from the local Night Herons poetry group. In the early 1990s the Night Herons regularly drew up to 100 reading poets at the old Lyric Theatre in downtown Stuart. Sadly, the Lyric board failed to appreciate the extent of which the young and vibrant poets added to the ambience of the art culture in Martin County. By 1998, shortly after Kevin McLaughlin, a co founder of the Night Herons and a board member of the Lyric stepped down as leader of the Night Herons and resigned from the board. The Lyric closed its doors to the poets and they spent the next five years meeting in various bookstores, restaurants and bars, until today, the group only exists in the fond memories of its survivors.

Abundance survived the Night Herons and promoted poetry gatherings in St Lucie County, including the Big Easy Bookstore group. The bookstore and the paper ceased to exist in the summer of 2002. Both the paper and the bookstore were underwritten by Anthony Watkins and his wife Suzanne Robinson, and the money simply ran out. But for a time, there was a paper with nationally recognized writers quoted on its pages and some of America's best poets published there.

Abundance is also remembered for the radio show, hosted by Chuck Chase (Abundance music editor) and John Lang: Sleeping Bear's Live and Local, which featured great local musicians.