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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Pat Conroy Literary Center
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260402T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260402T183000
DTSTAMP:20260506T124908
CREATED:20260312T144506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T164507Z
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SUMMARY:Author Event With Marissa McFarland and Kristen Ness
DESCRIPTION:Thursday April 2 – 5:30-6:30 PM EDT\nPrice: Free\nRegistration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.\nVenue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St.\, Beaufort \nABOUT THE BOOK- WHEN GOODBYES BEGIN:\nSometimes the life you’re meant to live comes together after everything falls apart. For years\, Anna Capozzi followed the rules. She put family and career before love and dreams and never missed a Sunday dinner with her demanding Italian parents and her brother\, Frank. When she shocks herself by walking off the job and away from her nursing career\, Anna’s life falls apart…which sets the real Anna free to come together\, as she starts her own business and meets the man of her dreams. \nBut before she can celebrate her new life\, her father’s growing forgetfulness leads to a devastating diagnosis. Once again\, Anna’s dreams are put on hold to put the family first\, while Frank faces a turning point in a serious relationship complicated by a hidden past. \nWhen a long-buried family secret comes to light\, Anna and Frank begin to question everything they thought they knew about their parents\, their roots\, and themselves. \nBound by love\, burdened by secrets\, and shaped by tradition\, Anna must find the strength to let go of the life she thought she wanted and embrace the one she’s meant to live. \nWhen Goodbyes Begin is a heartfelt\, multi-generational story about identity\, sacrifice\, and coming home. \nAbout the Author:  \nMARISSA McFARLAND (neé Campanella) is the author of her debut novel\, WHEN GOOBYES BEGIN. Her short story\, New in Town\, was featured in the online magazine\, Pawners Papers. \nBorn and raised in Eastern Pennsylvania in an Italian American household\, she now resides in Clemson\, South Carolina with her husband and two boys.  \nWhen Marissa isn’t writing\, she can be found chauffeuring her sons to soccer practices\, reading audition lines with her youngest son\, an actor\, taste testing her older son’s baked goods for his baking business\, or cheering on her favorite Philly sports teams. \nMarissa began writing her first novel as a form of therapy while her family struggled through her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As the disease progressed\, Marissa knew she could reach other readers who have had similar experiences.  \nShe is currently working on another novel\, one that will bring laughter to her readers\, especially the moms out there.\n—\nKRISTEN NESS- An author herself (At Loggerheads\, 2023)\, Kristen Ness will be in conversation with our featured author Marissa. Kirsten. Writing\, real estate\, politics\, and even publishing run in her blood as the daughter of an English teacher and a land developer\, and the great-granddaughter of the 14th Governor of North Dakota whose family owned and published The Bismarck Tribune. She has a BA in English from Duke University and a JD from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Kristen lives in Charleston\, SC\, with her husband\, their two children\, two guinea pigs\, and a cat.
URL:https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/calendar/author-event-with-marissa-mcfarland-and-kristen-ness/
LOCATION:601 Bladen Street\, Beaufort\, SC\, United States\, South Carolina 29902
CATEGORIES:Other
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260409T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260409T193000
DTSTAMP:20260506T124908
CREATED:20260326T194515Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T164507Z
UID:10001354-1775757600-1775763000@patconroyliterarycenter.org
SUMMARY:Open Mic Night
DESCRIPTION:Yes\,YOU can share your writing at Open Mic Night! Whether you are published or not\, whether you’ve written a novel\, poem\, short story or something else of interest we want to hear YOU!It’s easy\, and great exposure and practice.  \nIf you’re interested in reading as part of Open Mic night? Just email ginger@patconroyliterarycenter.org and you’ll be added to the list. \nThe Pat Conroy Literary Center’s monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday\, April 9 from 6-7:30PM. Open Mic this month will feature Jackie Markham\, and will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres. \nAbout Our Featured Writer\nJacquelyn Markham has loved poetry since wandering through the meadow along a mint-lined brook as a child in rural Michigan. She has written poetry nearly as long\, so as a freshman in college\, she decided to make a career of it. After earning her bachelor’s degree in English\, she earned a master’s and a doctorate in English and Creative Writing from Florida State University. Author of two chapbooks and a personal mythology\, Peering Into the Iris: An Ancestral Journey\, she has published nationally and internationally in literary journals\, magazines\, and anthologies\, including Archive: South Carolina Poetry Since 2005\, Adrienne Rich: A Tribute Anthology\, Anthology of Appalachian Writers\, Lullwater Review\, Hawaii Pacific Review\, The High Window\, Woman and Earth\, among others. Dr. Markham enjoyed a rich academic career from which she retired as a full professor. She now mentors poets and writers\, living and writing near the coast of South Carolina.
URL:https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/calendar/open-mic-night/
LOCATION:601 Bladen Street\, Beaufort\, SC\, United States\, South Carolina 29902
CATEGORIES:Other
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260411T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260411T160000
DTSTAMP:20260506T124908
CREATED:20260313T144507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T164507Z
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SUMMARY:An Afternoon with Joy Corley
DESCRIPTION:The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an outside event with childrens book author Joy Corley\, and featuring the star of the book-Percy!. Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited for this free event; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. \nABOUT THE BOOK:\nPercy Does Yoga… Not!\nPercy is an 80 pound pit bull who knows NOTHING about personal space. His goal on any given day is to lay on you\, beside you and to be as close to you as possible\, regardless of how uncomfortable you may be! This is a true story of Percy coming to understand “me vs we” time and how we can learn to give each other space and grace at the same time. \nABOUT THE AUTHOR:\nJoy Corley\, earned her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of South Carolina. She worked in many different capacities in the field of social work until retiring in 2021\, after 24 years as a Care Coordinator at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.  \nJoy became a lover of children’s books after her son Clay was born in 1982. She always wanted to write a children’s book and was just looking for the right inspiration whenever Percy came into her life.  \nAlways an animal lover\, Percy became the new character in a long list of characters in the household she shares with her husband\, Rick and 5 other rescues. Joy also enjoys reading\, being a volunteer with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Sea Turtle Program and Beaufort County County Animal Services
URL:https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/calendar/an-afternoon-with-joy-corley/
LOCATION:601 Bladen Street\, Beaufort\, SC\, United States\, South Carolina 29902
CATEGORIES:Other
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260417T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260417T110000
DTSTAMP:20260506T124908
CREATED:20260409T134514Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T164507Z
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SUMMARY:SCAA Award Presentation
DESCRIPTION:Founded in 1986\, the South Carolina Academy of Authors serves as the state’s literary hall of fame\, and 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of the academy. Pat Conroy was among the first inductee.\nThe first inductees did not receive any commemoration\, but since then each honoree gets an engraved crystal book. the SCAA board voted to award the Pat Conroy Literary Center the award in appreciation of what would have been Pat’s nearly forty years ago.\nPlease join us\, along with several SCAA Board of Governors\, for this special presentation.
URL:https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/calendar/scaa-award-presentation/
LOCATION:601 Bladen Street\, Beaufort\, SC\, United States\, South Carolina 29902
CATEGORIES:Other
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260423T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260423T183000
DTSTAMP:20260506T124908
CREATED:20260312T194510Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T164507Z
UID:10001349-1776963600-1776969000@patconroyliterarycenter.org
SUMMARY:Author Event with Robert Gwaltney and Bren Mcclain
DESCRIPTION:The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with novelists Robert Gwaltney and Bren McClain\, on Thursday\, April 23\, at 5:00 p.m.\, at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.\, Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited for this free event; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. \nABOUT THE AUTHORS \nROBERT GWALTNEY\nRobert Gwaltney is the author of Sing Down the Moon (Mercer University Press\, 2026) and The Cicada Tree (Moonshine Cove Publishing\, 2022)\, works of Southern literary fiction that explore inheritance\, identity\, and the fragile boundary between the living and the dead. Rooted in the landscapes and histories of the American South\, his writing blends the gothic tradition with elements of magical realism to illuminate the forces that shape who we become. \nRaised in Cairo\, Georgia\, alongside three younger brothers in the rash-inducing subtropical heat of the region\, Gwaltney is a lifelong resident of the South — a circumstance that has left an indelible mark on his voice as a writer. Sense of place remains central to his work\, where memory\, myth\, and longing intertwine. \nBy day\, he serves as Vice President of Easterseals North Georgia\, championing early childhood literacy and strengthening families at critical stages of development. In all the hours between\, he writes. \nHe lives in Atlanta\, Georgia\, with his partner. \nBREN McCLAIN\nI got set for life at the age of three. My two loves – writing and animals – were born. \nMy daddy tells me I can’t possibly remember. But I do. The pickup truck had wooden railings around the back\, and it came around the side of our house. I was standing by our kitchen table\, watching out the window. Inside those railings was our milk cow. I called her Mama Red. And she was leaving. \nI had no idea back then that what I had witnessed and felt that day with that milk cow would shape me as a writer.  \nFast forward through getting a BA in English from Furman University in Greenville\, SC\, and teaching high school English for one year. Writing drew me again\, but this time as a journalist\, writing for my hometown newspaper\, The Anderson Daily Mail; working as a radio reporter\, and as a television reporter and anchor at various stations across the Southeast. But then I switched to corporate America\, where I became desperate to be creative and picked up a legal pad – oh yes\, I remember the date\, September 18\, 1988 – and began writing a short story called “Desperation Dance.” \nI’ll cover a lot of ground fast here: I wrote two failed novels\, got a literary agent\, lost a literary agent. But\, when I returned to what was set in motion in a three-year-old Anderson\, South Carolina\, farm girl – writing and animals – my literary career changed\, and my novel\, One Good Mama Bone\, was born. I even went so far as to write about a mama cow. I named her Mama Red. And I love her. My heart first opened with that milk cow. \n Things I wanted to say but couldn’t get worked in:\n-​2017 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction\n-2019 Patricia Winn Award for Southern Literature\n-Long-listed for the Southern Book Prize\, Southeastern Independent Booksellers Association\n-A 2017 Great Group Reads selection by the Women’s National Book Association\n-Named top book of 2017 by Lit Picks\n-A Southern Independent Booksellers Association Okra Pick\nFinalist for The Crook’s Corner Book Prize for a debut novel set in the American South\n-Named Pulpwood Queen Book of the Year 2017\n-An excerpt from One Good Mama Bone was named a 2012 Finalist for the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Award for a\nNovel-in-Progress.\n-South Carolina Arts Commission awarded me the Fiction Fellowship in 2005. \nI’m a two-time winner of the South Carolina Fiction Project (2003 and 2007). \nI grew up on a seventy-two acre beef cattle and grain farm in Anderson\, South Carolina. \nI have a twin\, and\, to this day\, we’re known as “the McClain twins.” Which is fine by me. \nI’m at work on my next novel\, Took\, which features another farm animal\, chickens. Happy to say it has won the 2016 William Faulkner-William Wisdom prize for Novel-in-Progress.
URL:https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/calendar/author-event-with-robert-gwaltney-and-bren-mcclain/
LOCATION:601 Bladen Street\, Beaufort\, SC\, United States\, South Carolina 29902
CATEGORIES:Other
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260425T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260425T153000
DTSTAMP:20260506T124908
CREATED:20260312T194509Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T164507Z
UID:10001348-1777125600-1777131000@patconroyliterarycenter.org
SUMMARY:An Afternoon with Author Greg Howard
DESCRIPTION:The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an afternoon with Greg Howard\, young adult author of several books including The Whispers\, on Saturday\, April 25\, at 2:00 p.m.\, at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.\, Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited for this free event; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. \nABOUT THE AUTHOR:\nGreg Howard was born and raised in the South Carolina Lowcountry where his love of stories blossomed at a young age. Originally set on becoming a songwriter\, Greg followed that dream to Nashville\, Tennessee\, where he spent years producing the music of others before eventually returning to his childhood passion of writing stories. Greg writes about LGBTQ characters and issues as his focus is writing the kind of books he wishes he’d had access to as a gay kid growing up in the South. He currently resides in Nashville with his three rescued fur babies–Molly\, Toby\, and Riley. \nABOUT THE BOOK:\nA middle grade debut that’s a heartrending coming-of-age tale\, perfect for fans of Bridge to Terabithia and Counting By 7s. \nEleven-year-old Riley believes in the whispers\, magical fairies that will grant you wishes if you leave them tributes. Riley has a lot of wishes. He wishes bullies at school would stop picking on him. He wishes Dylan\, his 8th grade crush\, liked him\, and Riley wishes he would stop wetting the bed. But most of all\, Riley wishes for his mom to come back home. She disappeared a few months ago\, and Riley is determined to crack the case. He even meets with a detective\, Frank\, to go over his witness statement time and time again. \nFrustrated with the lack of progress in the investigation\, Riley decides to take matters into his own hands. So he goes on a camping trip with his friend Gary to find the whispers and ask them to bring his mom back home. But Riley doesn’t realize the trip will shake the foundation of everything that he believes in forever.
URL:https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/calendar/an-afternoon-with-author-greg-howard/
LOCATION:601 Bladen Street\, Beaufort\, SC\, United States\, South Carolina 29902
CATEGORIES:Other
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