“I do think writing letters to literature is a great way to connect more with the work and to delve deeper into your own feelings about literature—or even about what kind of reader you are. I discovered so much about my own tastes in books and the gaps in my reading.”

“Perfect for any bibliophile and terrifically funny.” That’s how the esteemed Library Journal, in a starred review, praised Dear Fahrenheit 451, the debut book from librarian Annie […]

The South Carolina Academy of Authors will induct four new writers into the Palmetto State’s literary hall of fame in a weekend featuring an awards dinner, free public conversations, exhibitions, and tours in Beaufort, April 27–29. The SCAA’s 32nd annual induction weekend will honor the literary contributions of James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Nathalie Dupree, New York Times best-selling novelist Mary Alice Monroe, Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer Valerie Sayers, and dramatist and first director of the SC […]

“A genuine dialogue has to happen across cultural boundaries—not just preaching to the choir—and it has to be done quietly where each gets to speak and everyone listens…. [W]e must seek out each other for quiet, likely uncomfortable, but hopefully genuine dialogue.”

Anthony Grooms is a celebrated poet, short story […]

“My fiction illuminates the everyday conditions of characters who, at first glance, may live lives very different than my readers, but with whom, ultimately, my readers will empathize. I look for the connectedness among human beings.”

It’s a good sign when book reviewers favorably compare your debut novel to the work of John Steinbeck. Lowcountry native Michel Stone was on the receiving end of such high praise for her 2012 novel The Iguana Tree. In it, Stone introduced readers […]

“Reading helps me know what to do in my life and in the world. It also increases my capacity for empathy, which is a muscle that needs constant exercise or it atrophies. Reading widely is the best way I know to become more empathetic—when you walk miles in someone else’s shoes you can walk farther and with more purpose in your own.”—Will Schwalbe

Author of the New York Times best sellers The End of Your Life Book Club and Books […]

“Growing up in a small southern town, you get to know who the storytellers are…. It took me a long time to come to the conclusion that, yes, I wanted to be a writer. But I was always a story chaser.”

Novelist J.C. Sasser, author of Gradle Bird, made a return appearance on Porch Talk–following her earlier print interview with Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt–in this Porch Talk Live appearance at the Beaufort County Library’s main branch […]

“Living in the lowcountry has given me a renewed purpose in life, and the festival grew out of that sense of direction…. I’m blessed to be able to offer a platform to help many more writers get to know readers and one another. It’s also a chance for us to give back locally to the Literacy Center and nationally to the publishing industry via the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.”

Rockelle Henderson is the president of Rock Inked, Inc., an […]

 

“My impulse as a writer is to have readers enter a novel the same way you enter a dream.”–Wiley Cash

Porch Talk went to the 29th annual Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN, for a lively conversation with novelist Wiley Cash (The Last Ballad) and musical guest, singer, songwriter, and author Radney Foster (For You to See the Stars), hosted by Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt. This Porch Talk Live session […]

Pat Conroy taught me that there’s something even more transformative than education, and it’s the power of grace.

This Porch Talk originally appeared in The Lowcountry Weekly. 

The second annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival is almost upon us, and this year’s theme is The Transformative Power of Education. In honor of that rich subject, I asked a random handful of festival presenters to ruminate on “one thing” they learned from Pat Conroy, through his writing or his […]

“That’s what it is to be a storyteller. It’s a calling to tell the tales that help us to know who we are.”

Novelist J.C. (Jana) Sasser lives amid the woods and marshes of South Carolina’s Edisto Island, halfway between Beaufort and Charleston and seemingly halfway between the present and the past. Once home to novelist Bren McClain, Sasser’s house is a converted barn that dates at least to the 1930s and is made in part from wood […]