Pat Conroy Literary Center

Drop In Book Signing for Nancy E. Merrill, author of Elf Dust
2024-12-14 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
When (DATE CHANGE): Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 2 PM – 4 PM EDT
Price: Free
Where: Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.)
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host a free public drop-in book signing for local children’s author Nancy E. Merrill, author of the holiday picture book Elf Dust. Join us outside (weather permitting) on Saturday, December 14, 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.
Event Facebook Page
About the Book:
Elf Dust is a charming and captivating look into the world of elves, their visits to see children and how they magically evade humans and pets and always leave their magical calling card.
“A new addition to our Christmas library. Children will fall in love with the elves and Elf Dust. The illustrations bring you back to your childhood. Absolutely beautiful. This book will be your go to picture book this holiday season. Can’t wait to use this with my class.”–Heidi Lane, author and educator
About the Author:
Nancy E. Merrill is a mom of two children who were born in Hong Kong where she lived and worked for many years. Living there was an important element in the creation of Elf Dust.
Highrise apartment life meant there were no chimneys and Santa wasn’t going to land on the roof. Something had to be found to ignite imagination and magic for her kids. Elf Dust did not disappoint. Today, Nancy lives in South Carolina after a consulting career around writing, communications, and creativity. She is delighted to offer Elf Dust to all who celebrate Christmas and the magic of imagination.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with Andrew K. Clark, author of Where Dark Things Grow, in conversation with Dana Ridenour
2024-12-13 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Friday, December 13, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with debut novelist Andrew K. Clark, author of Where Dark Things Grow, in conversation with Dana Ridenour, author of the Lexie Montgomery Series, on Friday, December 13, 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 Where Dark Things Grow
Fifteen-year-old Leo is watching the world crumble. His father is missing, and his mother is slipping into madness as she cares for Leo, his sick sister Goldfish, and two useless brothers. Relatives are no help, and the church folk have turned their backs in the middle of the Great Depression.
When he discovers an enchanted wulver from ancient folklore that will do his bidding, he decides to settle old scores. Revenge is sweet, but Leo soon learns he can’t control what he’s unleashed. It takes his spitfire best friend Lilyfax to help Leo overcome his anger and try to escape the wulver’s evil. As they search for his father, Leo, Lilyfax, and friends are pursued by dark forces and pulled into a rescue effort to find and save trafficked girls rumored to have been taken by the mysterious Blue Man.
Featuring elements of horror, folklore, and magical realism, Where Dark Things Grow is a dark bildungsroman set squarely in the place and culture of the 1930s Southern Appalachian Mountains.
“As haunting as all fireside stories should be. Where Dark Things Grow will make you sleep with the lights on.”—Jason Mott, winner of the National Book Award, and author of Hell of a Book
“Andrew K. Clark’s Where Dark Things Grow, is a page-turning epic of gothic adventure, full of wildly imagined creatures and black magic, propulsive, deeply felt, and wonderful. A marvel of a book.”—Tessa Fontaine, author of The Red Grove and The Electric Woman
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew K. Clark is a writer from Alexander, North Carolina, outside of Asheville where he now resides. His first full-length collection of poetry, Jesus in the Trailer, was short-listed for the Able Muse Book Award.
His work has appeared or is forthcoming in UCLA’s Out of Anonymity, Coffin Bell Journal, The Journal of American Poetry, Appalachian Review, Rappahannock Review, fall/lines, The Wrath Bearing Tree and many others. Clark earned his a B.A. in English and M.B.A. from Georgia Southern University, and an M.F.A. from Converse College.
Where Dark Things Grow is his debut novel.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Dana Ridenour is the award-winning author of the Lexie Montgomery FBI Series: Behind the Mask, Beyond the Cabin, and Below the Radar. Ridenour is a retired FBI special agent who spent most of her career as an undercover operative. She now lives and writes in the South Carolina lowcountry.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

December 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-12-12 18:00 - 19:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
The Pat Conroy Literary Center’s monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday, December 12, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured presenters are children’s author Nancy E. Merrill and artist Colleen Sgroi, creators of the new holiday book, Elf Dust. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres.
When: Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
Where: Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.)
Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org
We want to build our community of writers and an appreciation for the art and talent of new, emerging, and long-time writers. Thank you for supporting this partnership!
Event Facebook Page
About our featured presenters:
Nancy E. Merrill is a mom of two children who were born in Hong Kong where she lived and worked for many years. Living there was an important element in the creation of Elf Dust. Highrise apartment life meant there were no chimneys and Santa wasn’t going to land on the roof. Something had to be found to ignite imagination and magic for her kids. Elf Dust did not disappoint. Today, Nancy lives in South Carolina after a consulting career around writing, communications, and creativity. She is delighted to offer Elf Dust to all who celebrate Christmas and the magic of imagination.

Colleen Sgroi dreamed of being an artist since she was a young girl. Her work is available worldwide on puzzles, calendars, prints, and greeting cards, and her art has been included in films by major motion picture companies. Her illustrations in children’s books have earned her a Moonbeam Best Illustrator Award, Feathered Quill Book Award, Mom’s Choice Awards, and IBS International Book Awards. She lives and creates in Massachusetts.

“A new addition to our Christmas library. Children will fall in love with the elves and Elf Dust. The illustrations bring you back to your childhood. Absolutely beautiful. This book will be your go to picture book this holiday season. Can’t wait to use this with my class.”–Heidi Lane, author and educator

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Book Launch & Reading for Jared Madison
2024-12-08 12:00 - 14:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
When: Sunday, December 8, 2024 at noon – 2 PM EDT
Price: Free
Where: Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) | Please call in advance to reserve: (843) 379-7025
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host a book launch for Beaufortonian Jared Madison, author of The 30 Day Guide to Inner Peace, on Sunday, December 8, from noon to 2:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Light refreshments provided. Please call in advance to reserve: (843) 379-7025.
Event Facebook Page
About the Book:
One of three writers of the “Wholly Holistics” column in Lowcountry Weekly and host of the blog, “Magical Minute” (Instagram and TikTok @themagicalminute), Jared Madison has penned a self-help book for people who want more peace in their lives. In The 30 Day Guide to Inner Peace, Madison shares the method that helped him find his own inner peace through an immersion into positive life changes, a day at a time, for 30 days.
Each day offers a message and a practice. For example, the practice for Day 7 suggests that whenever you feel stuck, take a nap. Napping involves letting go, accepting, and getting comfortable with the seeming non-movement you’re experiencing. Purely practical.
Representative chapters include: “Judge Not,” “Radical Acceptance,” “What Do You Fear?” “What No Longer Serves You?” “Peace Through Forgiveness,” and “Making a Loving Commitment to Yourself.”
According to Madison, to attain inner peace, you must look inside yourself with a clear mind, see and accept whatever you observe, change the things you don’t like, and move ahead.
“Life gives us no shortage of experiences that may normally trigger an adverse reaction within us,” says Madison. “However, [in this book] you are given the tools to counteract your reactiveness. Instead, you will find yourself responding.”
About the Author:
Jared Madison is an entrepreneur and business owner, an artist, a writer, a Reiki practitioner, a student of quantum physics, and a passionate traveler who has spent his life being a student of self-development.
Realizing the link between science and spirituality, Madison began studying quantum physics in 2014 by attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s free online quantum physics classes. From there Madison would go on to obtain an associate’s degree in Math & Science, with plans to further his education in the field of Cell Development and Genetics.
In 2015, Madison launched a successful clothing brand company based in Tempe, Arizona, with a focus on meaningful spiritually symbolic design graphics. Today his clothing company has grown into 4 distinct brands with a remolded business blueprint launching in early 2025.
In 2020, Madison returned to Beaufort, after a successful stent in Los Angeles, and began the realization and life changes which have now culminated in The 30 Day Guide To Inner Peace, his third book. Madison is engaged to fiancé Kanani Robinson and is more than proud to call his mother one of his best friends. He has a fur child named Mama Kitty.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Teddy Bear Picnic Read Aloud with Daylo December 2024
2024-12-07 09:30 - 12:00 | Port Royal Farmers Market, 1615 Ribault Rd, Port Royal, SC, 29935, United States
Saturday December 7, 2024 – 9:30 a.m. to noon EDT
Price: Free
Venue: Port Royal Farmers Market | Ribaut Rd & Pinckney Blvd, Port Royal, SC 29935
Website: Facebook Event Page
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, books, reading, and peer-to-peer mentoring.
Cozy blankets, a plethora of stuffed animals, and some snacks help the students make a welcoming environment in this free community literacy program. Several times a year, National Park Service Ranger Katherine Freeman also joins in for Read with a Ranger, a literacy and art project thematically connected to the missions of DAYLO, the Conroy Center, and the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park.
DAYLO is a student-led diversity themed book club and community service group founded at Beaufort High School and now with chapters across South Carolina. Learn more at: https://linktr.ee/DAYLOBFT.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with William “Billy” Douglas, author of Hope Is All I Have
2024-12-04 18:00 - 19:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Wednesday, December 4, 2024 – 6:00-7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with memoirist and cancer survivor William “Billy” Douglas, author of Hope Is All I Have, on Wednesday, December 4, at 6:00 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 Hope Is All I Have
The three most shocking words you will ever encounter in your lifetime are: You Have Cancer! Once you hear those words, your life will be forever changed. For William Douglas, instead of being at the end of his lifetime in dealing with cancer, it was actually the beginning of a new path unlike any he had ever traveled. How did he prevail through a Stage Four cancer diagnosis and come out for the better?
His memoir, Hope Is All I Have, champions the inspiration to live, no matter the circumstances. It is a story of faith, hope, love, friendship, medicine and how to navigate through many unknown challenges while entrenched in the battle of your life. If you, a family member, friend, loved one, or just an acquaintance has ever been faced with cancer, this memoir will give you an insightful story of their enduring battle. An inviting read about a most difficult subject, Hope Is All I Have is an inspirational story of true perseverance and survival.
“Defying all odds after a shocking death experience in surgery, Billy Douglas did more than survive: he lived and he continues to live and to share his inspirational story with other cancer patients, their loved ones, and healthcare professionals. This is a compelling book of faith–in both the spiritual and humanistic senses of that word–in which, as Billy says, PAP: Positive Attitude Prevails. Hope Is All I Have is as engaging as it is empowering.”—Jonathan Haupt, executive director, Pat Conroy Literary Center
“As a Medical Oncologist, I am exposed to the effects of cancer almost every day. Despite the obvious suffering that can accompany a cancer diagnosis, there are also moments of great hope and inspiration. Billy’s story is one of these examples of stealing light from potential darkness. I often feel like my career in cancer medicine allows me to understand to some extent what our patients are going through as they receive and tackle a cancer diagnosis. Stories like this one make me realize that I don’t know the half of it. Billy’s descriptions of the events he experienced help open my eyes to all of the aspects of a cancer journey that I would never even imagine having not walked in the shoes of someone dealing with the struggle first-hand. I hope that his story will serve as inspiration to patients facing cancer themselves, as well as those working to help find better therapies.”–Todd Gourdin, Medical Oncologist, Medical University of South Carolina
About the Author
William “Billy” Douglas had a successful fifty-year career in sales and marketing in the marine industry. As a product of the South, he enjoys writing and any kind of water activity.
He lives on Hilton Head Island with his wife Linda and their standard poodle Gianni. Douglas is the founder of the Terminate Cancer Foundation.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with Nancy Murray, author of No Experience Necessary
2024-11-15 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Friday, November 15, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with memoirist Nancy Murray, author of No Experience Necessary, on Friday, November 15, 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 No Experience Necessary
In No Experience Necessary, Nancy Murray shares the insights, pitfalls, and strategies that she gleaned along her journey toward meaningful employment. Her stories prove that even so-called nowhere jobs can be crucial steps to not only establishing a career, but to discovering ourselves.
Nancy’s workplace tales span a colorful spectrum, from selling speakers from a seedy van to driving a posh limo; from performing as a professional clown to financial advisor. With each job she profited in ways beyond a traditional paycheck.
Some might consider this a cautionary tale, but it’s also a field guide for anyone preparing to fill out their first job application, not to mention a humorous flashback for those who recall the trials and tribulations of the workplace all too well.
“Through the many jobs—both ordinary and extraordinary— in this memoir of working, Nancy Murray shows not only how willing she is to take a chance and fail, but to grow from those failures with her trademark blend of humor and humility. What really stands out, however, is her prose—like a long lunch with a good friend, there is never a dull moment.”—Jen Michalski, author of The Company of Strangers
“No Experience Necessary is an extraordinary account of what it means to work. In vivid and engaging prose, the book illuminates the struggles and triumphs of insisting on a creative life. A tightly-focused and engaging memoir, this is an amazing read!” —Kathy Flann,award-winning author of Smoky Ordinary and Write On: Secrets to Crafting Better Stories
About the Author
Nancy Murray is a poet, playwright, and storyteller. Her first memoir, One Child for Another, was published by 11th Hour Press, and was recognized by Baltimore Magazine as one of the Ten Best Reads in 2015. Her storytelling was showcased by the Women of the World Festival in Baltimore, Maryland.
Nancy’s plays and poetry have been produced and published in various venues and presses including, Ireland’s HCE Review, The Maryland State Poetry and Literary Society, and in multiple anthologies. Her most recent publication, a poetry collection called The Colors of Fear, was published by Cyberwit Press. She teaches compositional writing at the Community College of Baltimore County and hosts a series of poetry workshops at the Arts Lab of South County, Maryland.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

November 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-11-14 18:00 - 19:30 | Online – Facebook Live
The Pat Conroy Literary Center’s monthly Open Mic Night will be held virtually on Thursday, November 14, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Mamie Morgan, author of Everyone I’ve Danced with Is Dead. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres.
When: Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
Where: Facebook Live
Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org
We want to build our community of writers and an appreciation for the art and talent of new, emerging, and long-time writers. Thank you for supporting this partnership!
Event Facebook Page
About our featured writer:
Mamie Morgan received an MFA from UNC Wilmington and a BA in English and Religious Studies from Wofford. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous literary journals, including Washington Square Review, the Oxford American, Fish Barrel Review, Nimrod, Muzzle, Four Way Review, Yemassee, Carolina Quarterly, Inkwell, and the Greensboro Review. She lives in the woods with her husband and their two pit bulls, Henrietta Modine and Wednesday Stewart.

About Everyone I’ve Danced with Is Dead
“Reading these poems is like sitting down with a friend for a conversation-the kind of friend you trust to tell all of the truth, but with mercy. These whip-smart poems don’t flinch, even at the hardest truths about what it means to be human-to love and to lose, to damage and be damaged, to live through moments ‘where the quake originates,’ that make you cling to ‘every word that had ever made me want to stay alive.’ These poems have an electric power, one strong enough to change lives. Morgan faces devastation with such an open grace and generosity that a reader can’t help but feel there’s one truth more real than any other: that even in the moments that shake us to the core, there is always hope.”–Emma Bolden
“The central organ pumping blood through these poems is wonderment. Morgan’s particular brand of wonder knows no hierarchies: love, betrayal, fallings out, quotidian, joy, jail, sex, school, the body, war, race, politics, and that old tricker Death all crowd around the same table. This book pulls you forward and shows you the world as it is–a mess worth celebrating, recoiling from, enduring, and embracing. These poems are built of risk and witness–importantly, they have the language and daring to match. This is one helluva barn burner.”–Michael McGriff

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Teddy Bear Picnic Read Aloud with Daylo November 2024
2024-11-02 09:30 - 12:00 | Port Royal Farmers Market, 1615 Ribault Rd, Port Royal, SC, 29935, United States
Saturday November 2, 2024 – 9:30 a.m. to noon EDT
Price: Free
Venue: Port Royal Farmers Market | Ribaut Rd & Pinckney Blvd, Port Royal, SC 29935
Website: Facebook Event Page
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, books, reading, and peer-to-peer mentoring.
Cozy blankets, a plethora of stuffed animals, and some snacks help the students make a welcoming environment in this free community literacy program. Several times a year, National Park Service Ranger Katherine Freeman also joins in for Read with a Ranger, a literacy and art project thematically connected to the missions of DAYLO, the Conroy Center, and the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park.
DAYLO is a student-led diversity themed book club and community service group founded at Beaufort High School and now with chapters across South Carolina. Learn more at: https://linktr.ee/DAYLOBFT.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

2024 Festival Day Two
2024-11-02
Ninth Annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, November 1-2, 2024
“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 3.
Now in its ninth year, the Conroy Festival is a popular destination event with literary tourists visiting from across the country as well as for local readers, writers, educators, and students of all ages. With a robust schedule of free and ticketed educational and enrichment programs, this year’s festival will include author conversations and readings, panel discussions, writers workshops, book signings, musical performances, guided tours, a film screening, and a read-aloud for children and their families.
Featured presenters include New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander (Black Star), Kirsten Miller (Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books), Raj Haldar (This Book Is Banned), and Cassandra King (Tell Me a Story), as well as Reese’s Book Club author DéLana R.A. Dameron (Redwood Court). A lively panel discussion with Southern women mystery authors will include Agatha Award-winning and USA Today bestselling novelist Susan M. Boyer (The Liz Talbot Mysteries), Alicia Bessette (The Outer Banks Bookshop Mysteries), and Kristen Ness (At Loggerheads), with a special appearance by Gallery Books vice president and executive editor Carrie Feron.
High school and college student volunteers from DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization will host a read-aloud for young readers and their families at the Port Royal Farmers Market. A Freedom to Read panel discussion, moderated by intellectual freedom champion Pat R. Scales, will feature youth advocates and librarian advocates who have been instrumental in local, regional, and national responses to education censorship. The festival will also include a private pre-screening (open to festival attendees with advance registration) of the new feature-length documentary film Banned Together, prefaced by a tribute to librarians and followed by a discussion with producers Tom and Jenn Wiggin. A celebratory musical performance by the famed Beaufort Mass Choir and a reception catered by Debbi Covington at the Conroy Center will conclude this year’s festival.
To the benefit of writers, the Conroy Festival will also host a quartet of workshops on poetry, prose writing, and publication, led by Tim Conroy, Susan Madison, Valerie Sayers, Sean Scapellato, John Warley, and Chad Rhoad.
The ninth annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival is made possible by the generous support and collaboration of the Robert S. Handler Charitable Trust, the South Carolina Arts Commission, Bank of America Private Bank, and others.
November 2 Schedule (click for more information on the Festival website)
9:00 am WORKSHOP: How Not to Get Published, led by John Warley and Sean Scapellato @ Pat Conroy Literary Center – $45
9:30 am READ-ALOUD: DAYLO Teddy Bear Picnic @ Port Royal Farmers Market – Free
11:00 am AUTHOR EVENT: Mysterious Women Panel @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – $15
1:00 pm AUTHOR EVENT: Raj Haldar @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – Free
1:00 pm WORKSHOP: Know Your Place: Setting as Character, led by Chad Rhoad @ Pat Conroy Literary Center – $45
2:30 pm AUTHOR EVENT: Kwame Alexander @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – Free
4:00 pm AUTHOR EVENT: Kirsten Miller @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – $10
6:30 pm CLOSING RECEPTION: Wrap Up Party @ Pat Conroy Literary Center – $40
Festival Website Links:
Events Schedule
Workshops
Festival Facebook Page (where you can watch many author events)
Presenters
The nonprofit Conroy Center is open to the public Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4:00 p.m. at 601 Bladen Street in historic downtown Beaufort.

2024 Festival Day One
2024-11-01
Ninth Annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, November 1-2, 2024
“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 3.
Now in its ninth year, the Conroy Festival is a popular destination event with literary tourists visiting from across the country as well as for local readers, writers, educators, and students of all ages. With a robust schedule of free and ticketed educational and enrichment programs, this year’s festival will include author conversations and readings, panel discussions, writers workshops, book signings, musical performances, guided tours, a film screening, and a read-aloud for children and their families.
Featured presenters include New York Times bestselling authors Kwame Alexander (Black Star), Kirsten Miller (Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books), Raj Haldar (This Book Is Banned), and Cassandra King (Tell Me a Story), as well as Reese’s Book Club author DéLana R.A. Dameron (Redwood Court). A lively panel discussion with Southern women mystery authors will include Agatha Award-winning and USA Today bestselling novelist Susan M. Boyer (The Liz Talbot Mysteries), Alicia Bessette (The Outer Banks Bookshop Mysteries), and Kristen Ness (At Loggerheads), with a special appearance by Gallery Books vice president and executive editor Carrie Feron.
High school and college student volunteers from DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization will host a read-aloud for young readers and their families at the Port Royal Farmers Market. A Freedom to Read panel discussion, moderated by intellectual freedom champion Pat R. Scales, will feature youth advocates and librarian advocates who have been instrumental in local, regional, and national responses to education censorship. The festival will also include a private pre-screening (open to festival attendees with advance registration) of the new feature-length documentary film Banned Together, prefaced by a tribute to librarians and followed by a discussion with producers Tom and Jenn Wiggin. A celebratory musical performance by the famed Beaufort Mass Choir and a reception catered by Debbi Covington at the Conroy Center will conclude this year’s festival.
To the benefit of writers, the Conroy Festival will also host a quartet of workshops on poetry, prose writing, and publication, led by Tim Conroy, Susan Madison, Valerie Sayers, Sean Scapellato, John Warley, and Chad Rhoad.
The ninth annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival is made possible by the generous support and collaboration of the Robert S. Handler Charitable Trust, the South Carolina Arts Commission, Bank of America Private Bank, and others.
November 1 Schedule (click for more information on the Festival website)
9:00 am WORKSHOP: Poetry of Practice, led by Tim Conroy and Susan Madison @ Pat Conroy Literary Center-$45
11:00 am AUTHOR EVENT: DéLana R.A. Dameron @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – $10
12:30 pm WORKSHOP: How to Submit to Literary Magazine, led by Valerie Sayers @ Pat Conroy Literary Center – $45
4:00 pm FREEDOM TO READ PANEL: Moderated by Pat R. Scales @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – Free
6:30 pm TRIBUTE TO LIBRARIANS and FILM SCREENING: Presented by Jonathan Haupt @ USC Beaufort Center for the Arts – Free
Festival Website Links:
Events Schedule
Workshops
Festival Facebook Page (where you can watch many author events)
Presenters
The nonprofit Conroy Center is open to the public Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4:00 p.m. at 601 Bladen Street in historic downtown Beaufort.

Book Launch Drop In: Joy Corley author of Percy Goes Camping... Maybe
2024-10-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Saturday, October 26, 2024 – 2:00-4:00 PM EDT
Price: Free
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 Percy Goes Camping… Maybe
Percy Goes Camping… Maybe is a true story about overcoming your fears. Percy is an 80-pound, fun loving, Red Nose Staffordshire Terrier who is afraid of most anything new, and the teardrop camper Ladybug was no exception!
Always curious, Percy was the first one to bolt out the door when the camper appeared in the driveway and he was the first one to whip around and quickly head back inside, seeking safety from this strange contraption. Being ever-so-nosy, he eventually and very cautiously began to get acquainted with Ladybug, but only after running away and hiding in the bushes multiple times before deciding this camping business might not be so scary after all.
“In this clever, relatable, and heartwarming story, Percy the dog shows us how overcoming our fears can open up a world of fun! I recommend this beautifully illustrated story to little ones ages 4 to 8 as well as their big people.”—Susan Sullivan, author of Bob Tales, Land of the Woody Warbles
“PERCY! Where have you been all my life, sweet boy? You make me want to go camping with you and try new things! | hope every child gets to read your story and be inspired to try something new. Go Percy GOOOOO!”—Bren McClain, author of One Good Mama Bone
About the Author
Joy 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.
Joy 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. Always an animal lover, Percy became the new character in a long list of characters in the household she shares with her husband, Rick and five other rescues. Joy also enjoys reading, being a volunteer with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Sea Turtle Program and Beaufort County Animal Services.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with photographer and writer Pete Candler, author of A Deeper South
2024-10-24 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
UPDATE: This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled for early 2025.
Thursday, October 24, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 A Deeper South
In A Deeper South: The Beauty, Mystery, and Sorrow of the Southern Road, Pete Candler offers a travel narrative drawn from twenty-five years of road-tripping through the backroads of the American South. Featuring Candler’s own photography, the book taps into the public imagination and the process of both remembering and forgetting that define our collective memory of place. Candler, who belongs to one of Georgia’s most recognizable families, confronts the uncomfortable truths of his own ancestors’ roles in the South’s legacy of white supremacy with a masterful mix of authority and a humbling sense that his own journey of unforgetting and recovering has only just begun.
“A beautifully crafted journey through the past and current South that will interest Southerners and readers curious about the region and its history.”―Library Journal
“A righteous plumbing of suppressed family histories, a vigorous exorcism of the myths and willful ignorance that trouble the land of his birth, A Deeper South blazes a path through the nostalgia thicket for readers who want to make sense of their inheritances. Candler writes with indignation and empathy, showing us a better way to see the South so that we can better love any place we call home.”―John T. Edge, author of The Potlikker Papers and host of TrueSouth
“Part history, part memoir, and part self-discovery, Candler calls on us to face the demons of our past so that we can truly appreciate the region we call home.”―Karen L. Cox, author of Dreaming of Dixie: How the South Was Created in American Popular Culture
About the Author
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Pete Candler is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker whose work has appeared in Los Angeles Review of Books, Bitter Southerner, Washington Post, and elsewhere. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Workshop: Writing Family Stories, Led by Estelle Ford-Williamson
2024-10-17 17:00 - 19:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Thursday, October 17, 2024 · 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST
Cost: $45
Limited to 15 participants
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St Beaufort, SC 29902
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 award-winning memoirist and novelist, Estelle Ford-Williamson, this workshop is for those who want to put in writing their cache of family legends or happenings, for the memoir writer, and for those who want to assist their parents or relatives or friends in doing just that. It’s a great time to start your stories for holiday giving!
This interactive writers workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort) on Thursday, October 17, 5:00-7:00 p.m. Limited to 15 participants. $45/person. Advance registration required.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Estelle Ford-Williamson is a former UPI reporter whose most recent book is Rising Fawn, a novel set in Atlanta and Lookout Mountain, GA. Previously she published Abbeville Farewell, a Novel of Early Atlanta and North Georgia, and co-wrote a memoir, Seed of South Sudan: Memoir of a ‘Lost Boy’ Refugee with Majok Marier.
For four years, she led “Writing Your Story” workshops at a senior center in the Atlanta area; a dozen students went on to publish full memoirs. She has received awards for her novels and short fiction, and offers writing workshops through the Pat Conroy Literary Center and the South Carolina Writers Association. Estelle lives on nearby St. Helena Island.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

October 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-10-10 18:00 - 19:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
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.
When: Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
Where: Conroy Center (601 Bladen St. Beaufort, SC)
Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org
We want to build our community of writers and an appreciation for the art and talent of new, emerging, and long-time writers. Thank you for supporting this partnership!
Event Facebook Page
About our featured writer:
Poet Laureate of Columbia, South Carolina, and a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, Jennifer Bartell Boykin is the author of the poetry collections Traveling Mercy and Only Believe. Her poetry has also appeared in Obsidian, Callaloo, the Raleigh Review, kinfolks: a journal of black expression, the museum of americana: a literary review, and Scalawag.
Bartell Boykin is the recipient of fellowships from Callaloo and The Watering Hole. A school librarian at Muller Road Middle School in Blythewood, SC, she previously taught creative writing and English at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, SC, where she was also named the 2019–20 Teacher of the Year. She has been recognized as an American Library Association Spectrum Scholar and an Augusta Baker Scholar at the University of South Carolina’s School of Information Science, where she earned her master of library and information science degree. Bartell Boykin was born and raised in Bluefield, a Black community in Johnsonville, South Carolina.
About Only Believe
“Bartell’s Only Believe carefully treads through remembering childhood assault confounded with good memories that some would struggle to keep, including memories that elders lose if we’re not quick enough to catch them. These poems are part oral history and part affirmation, but this collection complicates faith and walks readers closer to truth, healing, and forgiveness and standing tall in a grandmother’s house.”–Tara Betts, author of Refuse to Disappear and Break the Habit
“There are two stories in Only Believe–the story of a girl who doesn’t know how or when to tell what happened to her, and the story of her grandma, whose house is a place of both refuge and danger, whose decline into Alzheimer’s is a counterpoint to the speaker’s own struggles with memory. Memory, as Jennifer Bartell reminds us, is neither window nor mirror nor veil, but all at the same time. Religion promises answers—’My Black Jesus can do anything’–but tricks her into blame and shame instead. Something happened to that girl and she knows that ‘it’s time to speak / it’s time to heal.’ The only way to do that is by telling both stories, that of the girl struggling to speak, and that of the grandmother, whose life reminds her that ‘God is a woman / on a big black Singer / sewing machine, whose quilts became her tablets, whose needle becomes her pen.’–Ed Madden, author of A Pooka in Arkansas and Ark

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Teddy Bear Picnic Read Aloud with Daylo October 2024
2024-10-05 09:30 - 12:00 | Port Royal Farmers Market, 1615 Ribault Rd, Port Royal, SC, 29935, United States
Saturday October 5, 2024 – 9:30 a.m. to noon EDT
Price: Free
Venue: Port Royal Farmers Market | Ribaut Rd & Pinckney Blvd, Port Royal, SC 29935
Website: Facebook Event Page
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, books, reading, and peer-to-peer mentoring.
Cozy blankets, a plethora of stuffed animals, and some snacks help the students make a welcoming environment in this free community literacy program. Several times a year, National Park Service Ranger Katherine Freeman also joins in for Read with a Ranger, a literacy and art project thematically connected to the missions of DAYLO, the Conroy Center, and the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park.
DAYLO is a student-led diversity themed book club and community service group founded at Beaufort High School and now with chapters across South Carolina. Learn more at: https://linktr.ee/DAYLOBFT.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

The Eighth Annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention
2024-09-28 10:00 - 15:00 | Culinary Institute of the South, 1 Venture Dr, Bluffton, SC, 29910, United States
When: Friday September 27, 2024 5:00-7:00 pm EDT and Saturday, September 28, 2024 10:00 am – 3:00 pm EDT
Where:Friday: Technical College of the Lowcountry, Bldg 12, 104 Reynolds St., Beaufort | Saturday: Culinary Institute of the South | 1 Venture Dr, Bluffton, SC 29910
Registration: Eventbrite
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 the support of the Pulpwood Queens Books Club.
The Lowcountry Book Club Convention will begin on Friday evening with a panel discussion among four authors: novelist Virginia Hall-Apicella (Even a Sparrow), journalist Michael DeWitt (The Fall of the House of Murdaugh), novelist Pete Masalin (Military Brat), and novelist Kim Poovey (Shadows of the War). Moderated by Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt, this opening session will be followed by a book signing and reception, catered by Debbi Covington. This is a ticketed event, held in bldg 12 of Beaufort’s TCL campus (104 Reynolds St., Beaufort).
The Convention continues on Saturday at the Culinary Institute of the South in Bluffton (1 Venture Dr.), with three author keynote conversations and gourmet box lunches catered by Debbi Covington. This year’s keynote authors are award-winning novelist Kimberly Brock (The Fabled Earth), award-winning public school librarian Amanda Jones (That Librarian), and award-winning novelist Rhonda McKnight (The Thing About Home). Each author discussion will be followed by a book signing. This is a ticketed event.
Registration: Eventbrite
Website: Facebook Event Page
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, September 27 — TCL bldg 12, Beaufort
5:00-6:00 p.m. Local author panel discussion, featuring novelist Virginia Hall-Apicella (Even a Sparrow), journalist Michael DeWitt (The Fall of the House of Murdaugh), novelist Pete Masalin (Military Brat), and novelist Kim Poovey (Shadows of the War)
6:00-7:00 p.m. Book signing and reception, catered by Debbi Covington
Saturday, September 28 — Culinary Institute of the South, Bluffton
9:30-10:00 a.m. Check-in Begins
10:00-11:00 a.m. Keynote conversation with award-winning novelist Kimberly Brock, author of The Fabled Earth
11:00-11:30 a.m. Book signing break
11:30-12:30 p.m. Keynote conversation with award-winning public school librarian Amanda Jones, author of That Librarian
12:30-1:30 p.m. Book signing break & lunch: gourmet box lunches, catering by Debbi Covington. (Register by September 22 for lunch)
1:30-2:30 p.m. Keynote conversation with award-winning novelist Rhonda McKnight, author of The Thing About Home
2:30-3:00 p.m. Final book signing break
About the Featured Authors
Kimberly Brock is the bestselling author of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare, which was shortlisted for the prestigious Townsend Prize for Fiction, and The River Witch, recipient of the Georgia Author of the Year Award. Brock is the founder of Tinderbox Writers Workshop and has served as a guest lecturer for many regional and national writing workshops including at the Pat Conroy Literary Center. A native of North Georgia, she now lives near Atlanta. Her latest novel, The Fabled Earth, will be published on October 1:
“The Fabled Earth is a brilliantly layered, unforgettable story of memory, myth, and found family. Off the coast of Georgia, on Cumberland Island, three separate women search for belonging in the wake of incomprehensible loss. Weaving a stunning Southern landscape, Gilded Age glamour, and the societal turmoil of the late 1950s, Brock takes readers on an epic journey that conjures the longing of forgotten youth while simultaneously reminding us of its dangers. I have never read a novel where the author’s love of storytelling shines more brightly than this one.”–Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Matchmaker’s Gift
Amanda Jones has been an educator for 23 years, at the same middle school she attended as a child. She has served as president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians and won numerous awards for her work in school libraries, including School Library Journal Librarian of the Year. A sought-after keynote speaker, Amanda is a frequent volunteer for state and national library associations, as well as a co-founder of the Livingston Parish Library Alliance and founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship. She lives in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
That Librarian is her first book: “[Jones] is frank, open, emotionally raw, and unwavering. What she endured is every librarian’s worst nightmare, yet she perseveres, offering tips and playbooks for how readers can defend books about LGBTQIA+ topics of interest, sexual health, and more in their own public libraries. A must-read in order to understand the deep and lasting impact of online smear campaigns and enduring need to stand up for books. Jones is an inspiration to everyone combating book bans and her memoir/guidebook should be available to all to help us defend our right to read.” –Booklist (Starred Review)
Rhonda McKnight is the author of several bestselling novels, including An Inconvenient Friend and What Kind of Fool. She is the winner of the 2015 Emma Award for Inspirational Romance of the Year. She loves reading and writing books that touch the heart of women through complex plots and interesting characters in crisis. Themes of faith, forgiveness, and hope are central to her stories. Originally from a small coastal town in New Jersey, Rhonda writes from the comfort of her South Carolina home.
The Thing About Home is her most recent novel: “In this zippy outing from McKnight, a humiliated social media influencer rediscovers her roots . . . McKnight lays out some vivid lowcountry history, and her fully realized characters ring true.”–Publishers Weekly
FEATURED LOCAL AUTHORS
Virginia Hall-Apicella
Michael Dewitt
Pete Masalin
Kim Poovey

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

The Eighth Annual Lowcountry Book Club Convention
2024-09-27 17:00 - 19:00 | Technical College of the Lowcountry – Building 12 Auditorium, 104 Reynolds Street, Bldg 12, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States

Workshop: Grammar for Writers, Led by Katherine Tandy Brown & Carol Lucas
2024-09-24 18:00 - 20:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 · 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST
Cost: $45
Limited to 15 participants
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St Beaufort, SC 29902
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 to 15 participants. $45/person. Advance registration required.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructors:
Katherine Tandy Brown – Freelance travel writer, workshop leader and writing coach for 30+ years; writing a memoir, Anne, Queen of the Wingchair, and a novel, Karma: An Equine Thriller; columnist for Lowcountry Weekly and The Lane Report.

Carol Lucas – High school English teacher for 32 years; coordinator of Service Learning Program for 10 years; author of A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey through Widowhood; weekly columnist for The Island News.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with novelist Roger Jones, author of The Final Victory
2024-09-19 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday, September 19, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 Final Victory
In a novel that fuses the riveting action of The Boys in the Boat with the emotional heft of The Fault in Our Stars, twenty men and women with cancer-ridden bodies compete in a grueling race only to discover that real victory is achieved within.
After he is diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer, Tripp Avery feels like all is lost. He finds himself coaching a team of twelve men and eight women with cancer diagnoses of their own, hoping to qualify for the Mixed Masters Dragon Boat national championship and defy their prognoses. If they win, they will represent the United States at the International Dragon Boat races in Hong Kong.
But things soon get complicated, as four of his teammates struggle against their physical limitations and the psychological weight of their conditions. In the summer heat of Chattanooga, their resolve grows thin—along with Tripp’s patience. After a devastating loss to the defending national champions, Tripp can only see the finish line, and he pushes the team even harder. Soon, the team starts to fall apart.
As members of the team collapse under the pressure and one is hospitalized, he must confront his own failings and find a way to move forward. He begins to question his motives, wondering if the win is worth the trauma and what that says about him. Despite the odds, he resolves to rally the team toward a comeback that seems impossible, if only for one final victory.
“What is courage? In this notable debut, Roger Jones explores the strength, resilience, compassion, and willpower of a band of athletes who define courage and triumph over unspeakable odds. These twenty men and women overcome cancer to not merely win a national championship but to survive. I laughed. I cried. I was inspired. The Final Victory is an uplifting novel we all need to read.”—Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author
“An inspiring and stirring tale of courage, The Final Victory is inspired by the true story of a group of athletes who face life-threatening illnesses and are bonded together by their indomitable will to win. Jones gives us a novel that is equal parts laugh out loud funny, moving, and uplifting. You will love it!”—Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author
“The Final Victory brilliantly demonstrates that women recovering from breast cancer can lead full and active lives — paddle for sure, but also pick up and hug their grandchildren. Dragon boating challenges the limits of human performance, especially for those with more than their share of hurdles to clear. That’s the magic that Roger Jones captures, and that’s why The Final Victory is a great book.”—Dr. Don McKenzie, Founder of the original Breast Cancer Dragon Boat team
About the Author
Roger Jones, businessman, philanthropist, humanitarian and avid athlete has founded numerous business and community organizations. In 1996, he started Companion Associates, Inc., one of South Carolina’s largest privately held real estate development firms. Companion Associates was distinguished as one of South Carolina’s fastest growing companies by The South Carolina State Chamber of Commerce in 2006. Jones has helped establish and launch a number of non-profit organizations including Reading Partners of South Carolina, Charleston Social Venture Partners, and The Charleston Paddle Club.
During a 2012 trip to East Germany to receive a newly developed intensive radiation treatment for Neuroendocrine Cancer, Jones decided to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a writer. The Final Victory is his first novel. He has had articles and short stories published in several local publications as well as The Writers Digest. Married for forty-seven years, he is the proud father of three children and grandfather of three grandchildren. His life’s greatest lesson is quoted by The Final Victory’s protagonist Tripp Avery, “Forgiveness is the foundation of every miracle.”

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Hilton Head Poetry Trail presented by poet Elizabeth Robin
2024-09-14 14:00 - 16:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Saturday, September 14, 2024 – 2:00-4:00 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 Island: through the eyes of the poets who live there. Grabbing extra copies of Local Life Magazine? Scan the sign placed inside the front door and read a Pop-up Poets collaboration. Contemplating the landscape as you rest on Toni Morrison’s bench at Mitchelville Freedom Park? Read James Mallory’s poem “The Beautiful Couple.” Confused, asking “What is it?” as you stare at Caracol in Shelter Cove Park? Scan the trail sign and Jacque Markham gives you one interpretation.
It’s the kind of collaboration that makes the arts an experience. A unique approach to a public arts project, this trail brings poetry into public spaces in a permanent-yet-flexible medium. Because it uses QR codes, the trail can track its visits and regularly switch out trail content to include more poets and poems at each site. Monthly visits have averaged over 300 readings from 20-plus states and 4 or more foreign countries in its first year. Some poems have been read over 1,000 times!
The project is a partnership between the town of Hilton Head Island’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Island Writers Network. The technology guru and idea man on the project is Bill Schmitt, who developed the logo, the sign design and Facebook page. Natalie Harvey, the Director of Cultural Affairs, oversees the sculptures approved for the project and the affixing of signs near the public art and park installations. Poet Elizabeth Robin recruited the poets and the businesses that are participating, and pairs poems to locations.
About the Presenter
Elizabeth Robin, retired teacher and award-winning poet, is the author of three collections of poems published by Finishing Line Press: To My Dreamcatcher (2022), Where Green Meets Blue (2018) and Silk Purses and Lemonade (2017).
She partnered with the Office of Cultural Affairs to establish the Hilton Head Poetry Trail, a 25-station route of local poets. A Piccolo Spoleto Sundown Poet (2023), she won the 2021 Carrie McCray Nickens Fellowship, was an Island Writers Network open mic emcee for eight years, and creates literary programs on Hilton Head Island. Recent work appears in Tall Women, The Jasper Project: Poetry of the People, Poetry Society (SC) Yearbook, Catfish Stew, Ukweli, Drunk Monkeys and others.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

September 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-09-12 18:00 - 19:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
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.
When: Thursday, September 12, 2024 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
Where: Conroy Center (601 Bladen St. Beaufort, SC)
Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org
We want to build our community of writers and an appreciation for the art and talent of new, emerging, and long-time writers. Thank you for supporting this partnership!
Event Facebook Page
About our featured writer:
Deirdre Garr Johns writes poetry, nonfiction, and children’s fiction. Her work is often inspired by the beauty of nature and the memories of people and places. Deirdre hopes to inspire others and create a sense of connectedness to the world around us. Deirdre’s poetry has appeared in Sylvia Magazine, South Carolina Bards Poetry Anthology, Eunoia Magazine, Nymeria Magazine, Silver Birch Press, Stone Poetry Quarterly, Pink Magazine, and more. Her nonfiction has appeared in Sasee Magazine.
Fallen Love (Finishing Line Press), her first chapbook collection, will be available for pre-sales this fall and published in January 2025. Her children’s book, Weathering the Storm, will be published later this fall. She currently resides in South Carolina with her family, but Pennsylvania will always be home. She enjoyed a teaching career for eighteen years. Learn more at www.amuseofonesown.com

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with lowcountry legend Ron Daise
2024-09-10 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Tuesday, September 10, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 Raptors in the Ricelands
In the twenty-first century fictional community of Georgetown, South Carolina, a story unfolds revealing family secrets and conflicts that challenge cultural beliefs. With bighearted intention, newlyweds Florence and Chadwick Wineglass attempt to promote economic legacy, but their unconscious motives often ensnare those they assist. The Wineglasses become raptor-like in their generosity at a moment when other community members’ intentions also prove to be menacing.
Conveyed in four acts and with chapter names that follow the production stages of Carolina Gold Rice, Raptors in the Ricelands spans the future, the present, and the past, and fosters a message of connection with African diasporic communities around the globe.
Historical accounts include the Orangeburg Massacre; Black church life, particularly in Oconee County as begun during slavery; the launch of White supremacy in Fort Mill; the Reconstruction Era; and the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
“Ron Daise is an American griot. In this novel, Daise welcomes us into his village and, with his words, feeds our imagination and spirit. His voice connects our past with the present and helps us to get a glimpse of what our future might look like. This modern-day Gullah tale reflects the experiences of many Americas; in fact, it creates a bridge from the Lowcountry of South Carolina to the world.”–Alison Mc Letchie, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, South Carolina State University
“The many characters in this fictional story seem familiar and fully realized as Daise expertly shows the reader the connectivity between their lives, their Gullah culture, and the valuable “Carolina Gold” rice. Equally important in this book are the teachings of Marcus Garvey Jr., and the reminder that all that humanity can only move forward when we unselfishly commit to helping those most in need.’–Eric Crawford, author of Gullah Spirituals: The Sound of Freedom and Protest in the South Carolina Sea Islands
About the Author
Ron Daise, a son of St. Helena Island, SC, is an author, performer, educator, and cultural interpreter. His books, productions, and recordings have documented and shaped Gullah Geechee heritage since 1986.
Co-star of “Gullah Gullah Island,” Nick Jr. TV’s award-winning children’s program of the 1990s, Ron also is a former chairman of the federal Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, and is featured in exhibits at the International African American Museum, Charleston, SC; the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC; and Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC.
When not writing and performing, Ron is a baker and owner of Mr. Ron’s Gullahlicious Pound Cakes. A graduate of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), Ron and his wife Natalie reside in Georgetown, SC, and are parents of two adult children.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with novelist Zackary Vernon, author of Our Bodies Electric
2024-08-23 17:30 - 19:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Friday, August 23, 2024 – 5:30-7:00 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 Our Bodies Electric
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 conform to their puritanical standards. As he embarks upon his high school years, Josh meets a supportive cast of eccentric small-town characters, falls in love with his classmate, becomes obsessed with David Bowie, and fumbles in his attempts to make his own thongs. But it’s when his elderly neighbor gives him a copy of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” that he begins to understand his own sexuality. Our Bodies Electric is a coming-of-age story that celebrates the exuberance of youth, the individual quest for sexual identity, and the joy of finding connections in the most unexpected of places.
“In this spirited coming-of-age novel, Zack Vernon vividly renders Josh and his fellow middle-school misfits as they seek understanding and acceptance in a world that wishes only to trap them into a stifling conformity. Our Bodies Electric is poignant and comic, and Vernon’s linking Walt Whitman’s celebration of indi-viduality to the characters adds to the novel’s pleasures.”—Ron Rash, author of The Caretaker, Serena, and In the Valley
“I haven’t heard music so sweet and heartfelt since I first read Lewis Nordan. Imagine a novel that sings like a love-drunk cross between The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Breakfast Club. Now imagine it set in the sweltering heat of lowcountry South Carolina. Now imagine it told in the spirit of Walt Whitman. Now imagine that book in your hands.”—Mark Powell, Hurricane Season and The Late Rebellion
About the Author
Zackary Vernon is a writer and scholar based in Boone, North Carolina. His work has appeared in a range of magazines and journals, including The Bitter Southerner, Carolina Quarterly, and Southern Cultures, and he received the Alex Albright Creative Nonfiction Prize from the North Carolina Literary Review.
He is currently an Associate Professor of English at Appalachian State University.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Workshop: Photographic Prompts Led by Amber Wheeler Bacon
2024-08-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Online – ZOOM
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Wednesday August 14, 2024 · 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT
Cost: $45
Limited to 15 participants (A minimum of five participants is needed for this workshop.)
Venue: Zoom
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, Expose & Compose: Photographic Prompts led by Amber Wheeler Bacon, 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, including composition and the objects within them to inspire us.
The workshop will include 4 prompts, so come to this class ready to write. What creative possibilities are lying in wait in these photographs? Sign up and find out! All genres welcome!
This virtual workshop will be held via Zoom on August 14, 6:00-8:00 p.m., limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of 5 needed to hold the class.) $45/person.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Amber Wheeler Bacon is a writer and teacher whose work has appeared in Crazyhorse, Ecotone, Epiphany, Five Points, Prairie Schooner and Witness. You can find her writing online at Ploughshares and CRAFT. She’s the recipient of the 2018 Breakout Writers Prize sponsored by The Author’s Guild and a 2021 Bread Loaf scholarship. She received the 2022 Lit/South Award for flash fiction, a 2023 Prairie Schooner Award and was a finalist for the 2023 Chautauqua Janus Prize, nominated by Ecotone Magazine.
Amber has an MFA from Bennington College and teaches English at Coastal Carolina University. She’s been a fiction editor at Four Way Review, Managing Editor for South Carolina Writers Association publications and a daily editor at the Southern Review of Books. She lives by the beach in South Carolina and is represented by Amy Bishop-Wycisk at Trellis Literary Management.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

August 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-08-08 18:00 - 19:30 | Online – Facebook Live
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.
When: Thursday, August 8, 2024 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
Where: Facebook Live
Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org
We want to build our community of writers and an appreciation for the art and talent of new, emerging, and long-time writers. Thank you for supporting this partnership!
Event Facebook Page
About our featured writer:
Jessica Goody is the award-winning author of Defense Mechanisms (Phosphene Publishing, 2016) and Phoenix: Transformation Poems (CW Books, 2019). Her writing has appeared in over one hundred publications, including The Wallace Stevens Journal, Reader’s Digest, Phantom Drift, The High Window, Bird’s Thumb, The Centrifugal Eye, Really System, Along Southern Roads, Event Horizon, The Dime Show Review, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Seventh Wave, Third Wednesday, The MacGuffin, Harbinger Asylum, and The Maine Review.
Defense Mechanisms was chosen as a “Power Read” by Hilton Head Monthly, a Book of the Month by The Creativity Webzine, and received an Honorable Mention for the 2020 North Street Book Prize. Jessica facilitated poetry slams and taught writing courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USCB. She contributed poetry to the stage productions Womanhood and A Voyage of Poetic Discovery for the Sun City Community Theatre and CoronaVox: Stories from the Front for the Phamaly Theatre Company.
A freelance journalist, she has been a contributing writer for Hilton Head Monthly, The Bluffton Sun, SunSations, Local Life and Bluffton Today. Jessica is the winner of the 2016 Magnets and Ladders Poetry Prize. Her poem “Beachcombing” was recently added to the Hilton Head Poetry Trail.
“Phoenix: Transformation Poems is a rich triumph and marks its author, once again, as an artist whose work should be followed closely by those interested in the forces shaping the future of American poetry.”–Harvey Trabb, author of September 19
“This is strong poetic work.”—Bill Newby, author of Passing Through
“Jessica Goody excels in description, pulling in readers with her use of words to capture the senses.”–Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Children's Book Fair 2024
2024-07-27 10:00 | Port Royal Sound Foundation Weezie Educational Pavilion, 310 Okatie Hwy, Okatie, 29909
Saturday, July 27, 2024 – 10 am – 2 pm EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 4 hrs
Location: Port Royal Sound Foundation Weezie Educational Pavilion | 130 Okatie Hwy, Okatie, SC 29909
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 free and open to the public.
Student volunteers from DAYLO will be hosting picture book read-alouds and bookmark art projects throughout the day. Featured middle-grade mysteries author Susan Diamond Riley will read from her newest Delta & Jax Mystery, The Sea Devil’s Demise, at 11:00 a.m. Featured bestselling children’s picture book author Antwan Eady will read from his newest book, The Last Stand, at 1:00 p.m.
Other participating authors and artists include Patricia Bee, author of Try’umsee’s Wings; Rebecca Chamberlain, author and artist of Maralee & the Turtles of the Sea; Mary T. Jacobs, author of the Big Daddy Series; Kellie Langan author of the Tinkie and Bobo series; Susan Montanari, author of My Dog’s a Chicken; Katherine Robinson, author of The Crabs on Calhoun; and Laurie Suber, author of Hunting Island Adventures: A South Carolina State Park Adventure with Levi and Skylin.
The Storybook Shoppe will have additional local books available for sale. All participating authors will be available to sign copies of their books. And a food truck will be available for lunch purchases.
About the Featured Authors:
Author of the Delta & Jax Mysteries, award-winning writer and editor Susan Diamond Riley has worked in the fields of publishing, journalism, and education for more than thirty years and has taught and tutored writing at the middle school, high school, and college levels.
She holds a master of arts degree in children’s literature and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, the South Carolina Writers Association, and the Island Writers Network. She currently lives on Hilton Head Island.
Antwan Eady is the author of the award-winning picture book Nigel and the Moon (illustrated by Gracey Zhang) and the recently released The Last Stand (illustrated by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey).
Down the dirt roads of South Carolina’s lowcountry is where Antwan’s understanding of—and appreciation for—family, community, and land unfolded. Now he shares those stories with the world. When he isn’t writing, he’s visiting schools, libraries, and colleges throughout the country. A graduate of Clemson University, Antwan lives in Savannah, Georgia.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with novelist Martha B. Boone, author of Mother Charity
2024-07-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday, July 25, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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 a competent female surgeon, Elizabeth has survived the first round of surgery training. What happens next will change her or the hospital forever. After barely surviving her first six months as a trauma intern at Charity Hospital, Dr. Elizabeth Roberts is exhausted from the long hours, senseless violence, and breakneck pace. Despite the tough experience, she has grown to love New Orleans-its food, culture, music, and people. But now she must endure the hardest rotation in the hospital, led by her nemesis… who doesn’t think Elizabeth even belongs in the world of surgery.
Navigating the brutal and exhilarating world of trauma surgery, she wants to do her duty, but has bitten off more than she can chew. It’s great training for a surgeon, but the emotional toll on a previously sweet, young southern lady may be too much to bear. Once the young doctor discovers what she has to give up to overcome her challenges, the question arises: will she continue to pursue her dream? If so, at what cost?
This sequel to Martha Boone’s novel The Big Free continues the gripping story of an intern in surgery and all the trials and tribulations that come with it, from devastating horror to ribald dark humor.
About the Author
Martha B. Boone, M.D. was a surgery resident and urology resident at Tulane and trained at Charity Hospital in New Orleans from 1985- 1991. She is one of the first one hundred women board certified in Urology in the United States. Boone retired from the practice of urology after 35 years to travel and write.
She was challenged by her mentor Dr. Norman McSwain to memorialize the great Charity Hospital in her novels. Mother Charity is her third book and the sequel to The Big Free. She is also the author of the nonfiction book, The Unfettered Urologist.

About the Interviewer
Dana Ridenour is the award-winning author of the Lexie Montgomery FBI Series: Behind the Mask, Beyond the Cabin, and Below the Radar. Ridenour is a retired FBI special agent who spent most of her career as an undercover operative. She now lives and writes in the South Carolina lowcountry.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

An Evening with Jo Angela Edwins, Poet Laureate of the Pee Dee
2024-07-13 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Saturday, July 13, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
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.
About A Dangerous Heaven
A Dangerous Heaven creates personal and political conversations that resound through both the sacred and the secular worlds. Jo Angela Edwins has spent the past many years excavating those personal relationships which shape and haunt us. She turns the same observant eye on events happening around the word. From “The Last Wild Elephant Alive” to “Death, A Rock Icon, and Sewage Pipes” Edwins is able to draw the reader into seeing events from her own unique perspective.
“In A Dangerous Heaven, Jo Angela Edwins walks us through a multi-layered grief process for accumulated wrongs and losses: historical, biblical, global, national, and personal. “It is your responsibility to grieve,” one poem says, and this is not a command, but an acknowledgement. These poems don’t look away from wounds, especially those of women, and they don’t turn elsewhere for comfort, yet they leave me feeling seen and comforted. Everyone needs to read this book.”–Katie Manning, author of Tasty Other
“An intimate volume with cosmic reach, witty and compassionate, A Dangerous Heaven transports us through a wide range of emotions, carries us to lofty and surprising places which might be dangerous if we didn’t have Jo Angela Edwins’s sure hand to catch us, to place our feet firmly on home soil. Crafted to honor insight and emotion, these daring poems will keep us company over time, like trusted friends.”–Marilyn Kallet, author of Even When We Sleep
About the Author
Jo Angela Edwins has published poems in over 100 journals and anthologies, including Calyx, descant, The Hollins Critic, and New South. She is the author of the collection A Dangerous Heaven (Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 2023) and the chapbooks Bitten (forthcoming from dancing girl press, 2024) and Play (Finishing Line Press, 2016).
She has received awards from Winning Writers, Poetry Super Highway, and the SC Academy of Authors and is a Pushcart Prize, Forward Prize, Best of the Net, and Bettering American Poetry nominee. A native of North Augusta, she now lives in Florence, where she teaches at Francis Marion University and serves as the first poet laureate of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.

Workshop: Mystifying the Familiar Led by Jo Angela Edwins
2024-07-13 14:00 - 16:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Saturday, July 13, 2024 · 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST
Cost: $40
Limited to 15 participants (A minimum of five participants is needed for this workshop.)
Venue: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St Beaufort, SC 29902
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 needed for this workshop.) $40/person.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Jo Angela Edwins has published poems in over 100 journals and anthologies, including Calyx, descant, The Hollins Critic, and New South. She is the author of the collection A Dangerous Heaven (Gnashing Teeth Publishing, 2023) and the chapbooks Bitten (forthcoming from dancing girl press, 2024) and Play (Finishing Line Press, 2016).
She has received awards from Winning Writers, Poetry Super Highway, and the SC Academy of Authors and is a Pushcart Prize, Forward Prize, Best of the Net, and Bettering American Poetry nominee. A native of North Augusta, she now lives in Florence, where she teaches at Francis Marion University and serves as the first poet laureate of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina.

This program and others like this would not be possible without your financial help for which, as always, Pat Conroy Literary Center gratefully thanks you.
