Camp Conroy is now TWO one-week day camps for young writers and artists. Camp#1 for campers ages 9 to 12 will be held on June 9 to 13 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.). Camp#2 for campers ages 13 to 16 will be held on June 23 to 27 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) Hosted by the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, both camps will be held at Robert Smalls Leadership Academy in Beaufort, SC. Registration: https://campconroy2025.eventbrite.com This year's camp [...]

On the first Saturday of every month, you can join the student volunteers of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization for a Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud at the Port Royal Farmers Market (1615 Ribaut Rd.). In collaboration with the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, high school and college student volunteers from the Beaufort-based chapters of DAYLO gather at the gazebo in Naval Heritage Park from 9:30 a.m. to noon to read diverse, inclusive picture books to children and their families, inspiring a love of stories, [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be presented as a virtual event, live-streamed to our Facebook page, on Thursday, July 10, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured presenter is novelist Abagail Summers, author of After the Storm. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres. Interested in reading as part of virtual Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About Our Featured Author: Abagail Summers is a Lowcountry author [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, in partnership with Beaufort Bookstore, will host an evening with novelist Katherine Scott Crawford, author of The Miniaturist's Assistant, on July 17 at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort).Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. ABOUT THE BOOK The Miniaturist's Assistant explores the mystery of time, how our choices ripple throughout history, and what it means to be a fully-realized woman— in any century. [...]

Silent Book Club Beaufort, a unique take on the traditional book club, will hold its next meetup on Saturday, July 19, from 4:30 to 6:30PM at the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.). A relaxed and pressure-free space for readers of all types, this community gathering invites book lovers to enjoy their current reads in a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere. Silent Book Club Beaufort is co-sponsored by the Conroy Center and the student book club DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization). Unlike traditional [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center and the Storybook Shoppe bookstore are honored to host an evening with New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Karen White, author of newly published That Last Carolina Summer. Join us on Wednesday, July 23, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 711 Bladen Street (BCBCC, ground floor). This event will also feature a special welcome by Conroy Center honorary chair and bestselling author Cassandra King. Advance registration required; $40 fee includes an autographed copy of That Last Carolina [...]

POSTPONED - Due to a travel delay beyond his control, author Kiese Laymon is unable to join us as planned this Thursday evening at Robert Smalls Leadership Academy. His author visit—hosted by the Storybook Shoppe in collaboration with DAYLO and the Conroy Center—will be rescheduled. - - - - - MacArthur Genius Grant Honoree and Children’s Book Author Kiese Laymon Visits Beaufort on July 24 The Storybook Shoppe children’s bookstore will host award-winning author Kiese Laymon for an evening of stories on Thursday, July 24, [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center’s annual Lowcountry Children’s Book Fair will be held on Saturday, July 26, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Port Royal Sound Foundation Weezie Educational Pavilion (310 Okatie Hwy). A dozen local and visiting writers will be on hand with books for sales and signing, along with art activities and readings throughout the day. Presented in partnership between the Conroy Center, the Port Royal Sound Foundation, the Storybook Shoppe children’s bookstore, and DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization), [...]

On the first Saturday of every month, you can join the student volunteers of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization for a Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud at the Port Royal Farmers Market (1615 Ribaut Rd.). In collaboration with the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, high school and college student volunteers from the Beaufort-based chapters of DAYLO gather at the gazebo in Naval Heritage Park from 9:30 a.m. to noon to read diverse, inclusive picture books to children and their families, inspiring a love of stories, [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday, August 14, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured novelist will be Michael Spake, author of Life Close to the Bone. Open Mic will also include short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres. Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About Our Featured Authors Michael Spake is the author of Life [...]

Silent Book Club Beaufort, a unique take on the traditional book club, will hold its next meetup on Saturday, August 23, from 4:30 to 6:30PM at the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.). A relaxed and pressure-free space for readers of all types, this community gathering invites book lovers to enjoy their current reads in a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere. Silent Book Club Beaufort is co-sponsored by the Conroy Center and the student book club DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization). Unlike traditional [...]

On Monday, August 25, at 6:00-8:00 p.m., Village Social of Habersham will host Pat Conroy: An Introduction to a Lowcountry Legend, presented by Jonathan Haupt, executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center. This special event is the first in a series of collaborative lectures and author discussions to be held in partnership between Village Social of Habersham and the Conroy Center from August through February. Internationally acclaimed writer Pat Conroy (1945-2016) is best remembered as the author of The Water Is Wide, The [...]

On the first Saturday of every month, you can join the student volunteers of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization for a Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud at the Port Royal Farmers Market (1615 Ribaut Rd.). In collaboration with the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, high school and college student volunteers from the Beaufort-based chapters of DAYLO gather at the gazebo in Naval Heritage Park from 9:30 a.m. to noon to read diverse, inclusive picture books to children and their families, inspiring a love of stories, [...]

“Wholeness. It all comes back. It’s all a circle.”–Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides Pat Conroy’s 1986 masterwork The Prince of Tides is the quintessential lowcountry novel, beloved by millions as their point of entrance into the lush southern geography, lyrical voice, and complex interweaving of fact and fiction which define the author’s literary legacy. Join Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt and USC Beaufort English professor and Writer in Residence Ellen Malphrus for a book club discussion of the novel, its major [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be presented as a virtual event, live-streamed to our Facebook page, on Thursday, September 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured presenter is novelist Laura Leigh Morris, author of The Stone Catchers. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres, with host Melissa Whiteford St. Clair. Interested in reading as part of virtual Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About Our Featured [...]

Silent Book Club Beaufort, a unique take on the traditional book club, will meet on Saturday, September 13, from 4:30 to 6:30PM at the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.). A relaxed and pressure-free space for readers of all types, this community gathering invites book lovers to enjoy their current reads in a welcoming and peaceful atmosphere. Silent Book Club Beaufort is co-sponsored by the Conroy Center and the student book club DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization). Unlike traditional book clubs, Silent [...]

In this two-hour writing workshop led by Tim Conroy, poets will explore approaches to revision, considering the content and sound of each word, line, and stanza of each poem. Do you need to lower expectations to generate your first draft? Do you allow the poem to discover its true beginning? Do the prepositional phrases stall the poem into a nosedive? Do your verbs disappoint your poems? Are the adverbs really necessary? Does the poem need its current chronology? Have you played Jenga with the poem [...]

"A library could show you everything, if you knew where to look."—Pat Conroy, My Reading Life The author of "The Prince of Tides," "The Great Santini" and "The Water Is Wide," Pat Conroy (1945–2016) is synonymous with the literature of the Lowcountry. Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt will discuss Conroy’s lifelong love of books and libraries—focusing on the roles public libraries, school libraries, and Pat's own personal library played in his writing life. Through video and audio clips, photographs, and published and [...]

SOLD OUT! Best-selling writer Pat Conroy (1945–2016) inspired a worldwide legion of devoted fans numbering in the millions, but none are more loyal to him and more committed to sustaining his literary legacy than the many writers he nurtured over the course of his fifty-year writing life. In sharing their stories, his fellow writers honor his memory and advance our shared understanding of his lasting impact on literary life in and well beyond the American South. Winner of 17 book awards, the anthology Our Prince [...]

How to Create Suspense: 5 Unforgettable Cliffhanger-Ending Techniques How do you keep the reader reading when the average adult's attention span is 8.25 seconds? Cliffhangers are a technique used by genre writers (who sometimes get a bad rap) to keep their readers reading. And isn’t that what we all aspire to, above everything? Because cliffhangers are sometimes associated with schlocky writing, that doesn't mean we should ignore their usefulness as a craft tool in all sorts of writing. We'll look at five chapter-ending cliffhanger techniques [...]