In this workshop, we’ll discuss how imaginative unions in poems can lead to insight. We’ll look at poems like Billy Collins’ “Hippos on Holiday” or Heid E. Erdrich’s “Indigenous Elvis at the Airport” to see the effect of the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the unexpected. As a generative exercise, we’ll also do a writing activity to inspire the beginnings of such a poem. Saturday, July 13, 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. Limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of five participants is [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with Jo Angela Edwins, Poet Laureate of the Pee Dee and author of A Dangerous Heaven, on Saturday, July 13, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Please call to reserve your seat in advance: 843-379-7025. Edwins will also lead a poetry writing workshop earlier that afternoon, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Details and registration: https://mystifyingthefamiliar.eventbrite.com About the book [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with retired surgeon turned novelist Martha B. Boone, author of Mother Charity, in conversation with retired FBI Special Agent turned novelist Dana Ridenour, author of the Lexie Montgomery Series, on Thursday, July 25, 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 reserve in advance to attend this free author event: 843-379-7025. About Mother Charity Evolving from a naive girl to [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center’s annual Lowcountry Children’s Book Fair will be held on Saturday, July 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Port Royal Sound Foundation Weezie Educational Pavilion (310 Okatie Hwy, Okatie). The Maritime Center will also be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and admission is free. Presented in partnership between the nonprofit Conroy Center, the Port Royal Sound Foundation, the Storybook Shoppe children’s bookstore, and DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, this special event is [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held virtually on Thursday, August 8, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Jessica Goody, author of Phoenix: Transformation Poems. 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 Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About Our Featured Writer Jessica Goody is the award-winning author of Defense Mechanisms (Phosphene Publishing, 2016) and Phoenix: Transformation [...]

Author Donna Baier Stein said that writers can use photography to "expand... meaning—not in terms of enlarging [an] original work, but in terms of offering more possibilities." In this workshop, we use a combination of professional and amateur photography, including our own family photos, in conversation with poems and short prose to generate creative new work. We'll use the unconscious subtexts of these photos, the befores and afters, and the memories they evoke. We'll also take a look at the objective properties of the photographs, [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with novelist Zackary Vernon, author of Our Bodies Electric, on Friday, August 23, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. About the Book and Author: Tormented by his religious family and the broader conservative community of Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, fourteen-year-old Josh struggles with the pressure to [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with lowcountry legend Ron Daise, author of the newly published novel Raptors in the Ricelands, on Tuesday, September 10, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. About the Book and Author: In the twenty-first century fictional community of Georgetown, South Carolina, a story unfolds revealing family secrets [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday, September 12, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is Deirdre Garr Johns, author of the forthcoming children’s picture book Weathering the Storm and the forthcoming poetry chapbook Fallen Love. 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 Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About [...]

Let's talk about the Hilton Head Poetry Trail Have you heard? Hilton Head Island has a poetry trail! Want to visit but can’t get there now? Know what’s in store before you go? Learn how to create a trail in your own town? Join us for a special presentation by award-winning poet Elizabeth Robin, all about the Hilton Head Poetry Trail. A marriage of technology, creative writing, public art, and arts-minded businesses, the Hilton Head Poetry Trail offers a new way to see Hilton Head [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with novelist Roger Jones, author of The Final Victory, on Thursday, September 19, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025. About the Book: In a novel that fuses the riveting action of The Boys in the Boat with the emotional heft of The Fault in Our Stars, [...]

Now that you’re writing a lot, have you been wondering where that grammar you learned in school has gone? Have daily slang and colloquialisms wrecked your stories and articles? This practical workshop will take you back to Conjunction Junction and fill in all those “memory gaps.” You’ll be writing the king’s English in no time, and your editors will be grateful! This interactive writers workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort) on Tuesday, September 24, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Limited [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host the 8th annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention on Friday, September 27, at the Technical College of the Lowcountry in Beaufort, and Saturday, September 28, at the Culinary Institute of the South at the Technical College of the Lowcountry in Bluffton. Ideal for book club members, those interested in joining a book club, or anyone who simply loves the joy of reading, the Lowcountry Book Club Convention is made possible in part by the support of the Pulpwood [...]

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, October 10, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is Columbia City Poet Laureate Jennifer Bartell Boykin, author of Only Believe, selected for the 2023 Hilary Tham Capital Collection. 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 Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About Our [...]

If, according to Pat Conroy, the most powerful words in the English language are “Tell Me a Story,” then the most regretful ones are: “I never got Mama’s (or Daddy’s) stories.” Or you may have a fantastic personal story that begs to be told and you’re afraid it won’t happen. This workshop helps you avoid that regret! We’ll cover: Tips for Starting and Re-Starting Stories Finding Structure in Your Many Tales Several Writing Prompts, Reading, and Feedback Opportunities. Discussion of Publication Options Led by an [...]

UPDATE: This event has been postponed and will be reschedule for early 2025. - - - - The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with photographer and writer Pete Candler, author of A Deeper South, on Thursday, October 24, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Please call in advance to reserve a seat for this free event: 843-379-7025. About the Book and Author: [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host a free public drop-in launch event for local author Joy Corley’s debut children’s book, Percy Goes Camping…Maybe. Join us outside on Saturday, October 26, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) in downtown Beaufort. No advance registration required. Books will be available for sale and signing. Light refreshments will be provided. About the Book and Author: Percy Goes Camping...Maybe is a true story about overcoming your fears. Percy is an 80-pound, fun [...]

“I was born to be in a library,” wrote beloved and bestselling author Pat Conroy (1945-2016) in his book My Reading Life. Hosted by the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, this year’s Pat Conroy Literary Festival will pay special tribute to the vital work of librarians in championing the welcoming world of books, stories, and storytellers. The Conroy Festival will be held in Beaufort on November 1 and 2, with the Conroy Center also open to the public for tours on October 31 and November [...]

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, [...]