Pat Conroy Literary Center

An Evening with Award-Winning Novelist Mindy Friddle, Author of Her Best Self
2024-05-23 17:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
In partnership with NeverMore Books, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with award-winning novelist Mindy Friddle, author of Her Best Self, in conversation with Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt, on Thursday, May 23, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing through NeverMore Books. Seating is limited: please reserve in advance to attend this free author event: 843-379-7025.
About Her Best Self
Janelle Wolf longs to be the woman she once was—an adored wife, a loving mother, a career woman, a force in her community—before a mysterious car accident stole her memories, ruined her reputation, and upended her life. These days, her troubled family needs that capable woman from the past, the one she calls “Janelle Before.” Enter Lana, an alluring and magnetic psychic healer who meets secretly with Janelle. Lana coaxes Janelle to remember the circumstances of her accident in order to recover Janelle’ s “best self.” Instead, Janelle uncovers the ugly truth behind that night. The revelations unravel Janelle’ s marriage, disrupt her family, and turn her small southern town upside down. Written with wry humor, this diabolically entertaining tale of deception, temptation, and love is filled with dark twists, exploring what happens when the transgressions of the past come back with a vengeance.
“Fast paced, clever, and wickedly compelling.”—Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree
About the Author
Mindy Friddle’s novel, Secret Keepers, won the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. The Garden Angel, her first novel and SIBA bestseller, was selected for Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers. The South Carolina Arts Commission awarded Mindy a prose fellowship, and she has twice won the state’ s Fiction Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals. She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson and lives on Edisto Island, South Carolina.
About the Interviewer
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the past director of the University of South Carolina Press, and co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, winner of 17 book awards. He is a frequent guest book reviewer for the Charleston Post and Courier and vice president of the board of directors of the statewide Friends of South Carolina Libraries.

An Evening with Mindy Friddle, author of Her Best Self
2024-05-23 17:00 - 18:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday, May 23, 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
In partnership with NeverMore Books, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with award-winning novelist Mindy Friddle, author of Her Best Self, in conversation with Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt, on Thursday, May 23, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing through NeverMore Books. Seating is limited: please reserve in advance to attend this free author event: 843-379-7025.
About Her Best Self
Janelle Wolf longs to be the woman she once was—an adored wife, a loving mother, a career woman, a force in her community—before a mysterious car accident stole her memories, ruined her reputation, and upended her life. These days, her troubled family needs that capable woman from the past, the one she calls “Janelle Before.”
Enter Lana, an alluring and magnetic psychic healer who meets secretly with Janelle. Lana coaxes Janelle to remember the circumstances of her accident in order to recover Janelle’ s “best self.” Instead, Janelle uncovers the ugly truth behind that night. The revelations unravel Janelle’ s marriage, disrupt her family, and turn her small southern town upside down. Written with wry humor, this diabolically entertaining tale of deception, temptation, and love is filled with dark twists, exploring what happens when the transgressions of the past come back with a vengeance.
“Fast paced, clever, and wickedly compelling.”—Michel Stone, author of The Iguana Tree
About the Author
Mindy Friddle’s novel, Secret Keepers, won the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. The Garden Angel, her first novel and SIBA bestseller, was selected for Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers.
The South Carolina Arts Commission awarded Mindy a prose fellowship, and she has twice won the state’ s Fiction Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals. She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson and lives on Edisto Island, South Carolina.

About the Interviewer
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the past director of the University of South Carolina Press, and co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, winner of 17 book awards. He is a frequent guest book reviewer for the Charleston Post and Courier and vice president of the board of directors of the statewide Friends of South Carolina Libraries.

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 Afternoon with Novelist Caroline Cleveland, Author of When Cicadas Cry
2024-05-11 14:00 - 15:30 | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an afternoon with debut novelist Caroline Cleveland, author of When Cicadas Cry, on Saturday, May 11, at 2:00 p.m., at Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Cleveland will be joined in conversation by Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt. Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing through NeverMore Books. Please call to reserve your seat in advance: 843-379-7025.
About When Cicadas Cry
In this stunning debut by a South Carolina attorney, Zach Stander, a lawyer with a past, and Addie Stone, his indomitable detective and lover, find themselves entangled in secrets, lies, and murder in a small Southern town.
A high-profile murder case—A white woman has been bludgeoned to death with an altar cross in a rural church on Cicada Road in Walterboro, South Carolina. Sam Jenkins, a Black man, is found covered in blood, kneeling over the body. In a state already roiling with racial tension, this is not only a murder case, but a powder keg.
A haunting cold case—Two young women are murdered on quiet Edisto Beach, an hour southeast of Walterboro, and the killer disappears without a trace. Thirty-four years later the mystery remains unsolved. Could there be a connection to Stander’s case?
A killer who’s watching—Stander takes on Jenkins’s defense, but he’s up against a formidable solicitor with powerful allies. Worse, his client is hiding a bombshell secret. When Addie Stone reopens the cold case, she discovers more long-buried secrets in this small town. Would someone kill again to keep them?
“John Grisham meets Harper Lee in this immersive and thought-provoking Southern legal thriller. Caroline Cleveland’s talented storytelling propels this realistic tale of secrets and history, combined with the power of contemporary passion and prejudice. The setting is authentic, the characters relatable, and the story propulsive and engaging. Standing ovation for this brilliant debut!”—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of One Wrong Word
“A twisty narrative of secrets and lies, I flew through When Cicadas Cry in a day. A haunting case from the past. A racially tinged murder in the present. And a small South Carolina town about to erupt like a powder keg. Equal parts courtroom thriller and gripping mystery.” —John McMahon, author of The Good Detective
About the Author
Caroline Cleveland is a labor and employment lawyer based in Charleston. A native South Carolinian, Caroline grew up in the Lowcountry and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1991. When Cicadas Cry is her first novel.
About the Interviewer
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the past director of the University of South Carolina Press, and co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, winner of 17 book awards. He is a frequent guest book reviewer for the Charleston Post and Courier and vice president of the board of directors of the statewide Friends of South Carolina Libraries.

An Afternoon with novelist Caroline Cleveland
2024-05-11 14:00 - 15:30 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Saturday, May 11, 2024 – 2:00-3:30 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 afternoon with debut novelist Caroline Cleveland, author of When Cicadas Cry, on Saturday, May 11, at 2:00 p.m., at Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Cleveland will be joined in conversation by Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt. Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing through NeverMore Books. Please call to reserve your seat in advance: 843-379-7025.
About When Cicadas Cry
In this stunning debut by a South Carolina attorney, Zach Stander, a lawyer with a past, and Addie Stone, his indomitable detective and lover, find themselves entangled in secrets, lies, and murder in a small Southern town.
A high-profile murder case—A white woman has been bludgeoned to death with an altar cross in a rural church on Cicada Road in Walterboro, South Carolina. Sam Jenkins, a Black man, is found covered in blood, kneeling over the body. In a state already roiling with racial tension, this is not only a murder case, but a powder keg.
A haunting cold case—Two young women are murdered on quiet Edisto Beach, an hour southeast of Walterboro, and the killer disappears without a trace. Thirty-four years later the mystery remains unsolved. Could there be a connection to Stander’s case?
A killer who’s watching—Stander takes on Jenkins’s defense, but he’s up against a formidable solicitor with powerful allies. Worse, his client is hiding a bombshell secret. When Addie Stone reopens the cold case, she discovers more long-buried secrets in this small town. Would someone kill again to keep them?
“John Grisham meets Harper Lee in this immersive and thought-provoking Southern legal thriller. Caroline Cleveland’s talented storytelling propels this realistic tale of secrets and history, combined with the power of contemporary passion and prejudice. The setting is authentic, the characters relatable, and the story propulsive and engaging. Standing ovation for this brilliant debut!”—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of One Wrong Word
“A twisty narrative of secrets and lies, I flew through When Cicadas Cry in a day. A haunting case from the past. A racially tinged murder in the present. And a small South Carolina town about to erupt like a powder keg. Equal parts courtroom thriller and gripping mystery.” —John McMahon, author of The Good Detective
About the Author
Caroline Cleveland is a labor and employment lawyer based in Charleston. A native South Carolinian, Caroline grew up in the Lowcountry and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1991. When Cicadas Cry is her first novel.

About the Interviewer
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the past director of the University of South Carolina Press, and co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, winner of 17 book awards. He is a frequent guest book reviewer for the Charleston Post and Courier and vice president of the board of directors of the statewide Friends of South Carolina Libraries.

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.

Open Mic Night, Featuring Elizabeth Leverton
2024-05-09 18:00 - 19:30 | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
The Pat Conroy Literary Center’s monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday, May 9, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Elizabeth Leverton, author Peace, Rhododendron. 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
Elizabeth Leverton earned a BA in English Lit and a master’s degree in English with a concentration in writing and editing at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She began writing poetry thirty years ago. A recent graduate of the Commercial Graphics program at Midlands Technical College, Elizabeth is a graphic designer/typesetter who also enjoys songwriting and playing guitar, singing karaoke, dancing, swimming, tennis, sewing functional art, and acrylic painting. She lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her Labrador Retriever, Molly, and part-Siamese sister cats, Silo and Weaver. Peace, Rhododendron is her first book.

May 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-05-09 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, May 9, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Elizabeth Leverton, author Peace, Rhododendron. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres.
When: Thursday, May 9, 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 writer:
Elizabeth Leverton earned a BA in English Lit and a master’s degree in English with a concentration in writing and editing at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She began writing poetry thirty years ago. A recent graduate of the Commercial Graphics program at Midlands Technical College, Elizabeth is a graphic designer/typesetter who also enjoys songwriting and playing guitar, singing karaoke, dancing, swimming, tennis, sewing functional art, and acrylic painting.
She lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her Labrador Retriever, Molly, and part-Siamese sister cats, Silo and Weaver. Peace, Rhododendron is her first book.

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.

South Carolina Academy of Authors 2024 Induction - SCAA Fellowship Winners
2024-05-05 13:00 - 14:00 | The Rhett House Inn, 1009 Craven St., Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
When: Sunday May 5, 2024 | 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT
Where: Rhett House Inn Garden (1009 Craven St., Beaufort)
Advance Registration Required: Eventbrite | Free
SCAA Fellowship Winners reading at the Rhett House Inn Garden (1009 Craven St., Beaufort). Winners not yet announced. Free, advance registration required.
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort this May 3-5.

South Carolina Academy of Authors 2024 Induction - Main Event
2024-05-04 17:30 - 20:00 | Beaufort Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Center, 2225 Boundary St., Beaufort, 29902, United States
When: Saturday May 4, 2024 | 5:30 – 8:00 pm EDT
Where (UPDATED VENUE): Beaufort Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Center (2225 Boundary St., Beaufort)
Advance Registration Required: Eventbrite | $55
South Carolina Literary Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Dinner at the Beaufort Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Center (2225 Boundary St., Beaufort). Honorees William P. Baldwin and Harlan Greene will be recognized in person. Marcus Amaker is unable to attend, but will appear in a pre-recorded video acceptance. Ann Head will be represented by her daughters, Nancy Thode and Stacey Ahner. Buffet dinner, cash bar. $55/person. Books available for sale and signing.
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort this May 3-5.
About Marcus Amaker
Marcus Amaker served as the first Poet Laureate of Charleston from 2016 to 2022. In 2019, he was honored with a Governor’s Arts award in South Carolina and was named the artist-in-residence of the Gaillard Center, a world-renowned performance and education venue. His tenth book is Hold What Makes You Whole, from Free Verse Press.

South Carolina Academy of Authors 2024 Induction - William P. Baldwin
2024-05-04 12:30 - 13:30 | Beaufort County Library Main Branch, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
When: Saturday May 4, 2024 | 12:30 – 1:30 pm EDT
Where: Beaufort County Library Main Branch (311 Scott St., Beaufort)
Advance Registration Required: Eventbrite | Free
William P. Baldwin author presentation at Beaufort County Library Main Branch (311 Scott St., Beaufort), followed by a book signing. Free, advance registration required.
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort this May 3-5.
About William P. Baldwin
Lowcountry native William P. Baldwin is being recognized for his work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. His best-known novel, The Hard to Catch Mercy, was awarded the Lillian Smith Book Award. Most recently, he has published The Unpainted South: Carolina’s Vanishing World, a collection of songs, photographs, and poems, as well as the novel Charles Town.

South Carolina Academy of Authors 2024 Induction - Harlan Greene
2024-05-03 17:00 - 19:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
When: Friday May 3, 2024 | 5:00 – 7:00 pm EDT
Where: Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)
Advance Registration Required: Eventbrite | Free
Harlan Greene author presentation at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort), followed by a book signing and reception. Presented in partnership with Lowcountry Pride. Free, advance registration required. Catering by Debbi Covington. (Weather permitting, this event will be held outside at the Conroy Center.)
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort this May 3-5.
About Harlan Greene
Harlan Greene has written both fiction and nonfiction, with a focus on Charleston. As an archivist and historian, he has worked to save and interpret the literary heritage of the state. His most recent work, The Real Rainbow Row: Explorations in Charleston’s LGBTQ History was published in 2022.

South Carolina Academy of Authors 2024 Induction - Ann Head
2024-05-03 12:30 - 13:30 | Beaufort County Library Main Branch, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
When: Friday May 3, 2024 | 12:30 – 1:30 pm EDT
Where: Beaufort County Library Main Branch (311 Scott St., Beaufort)
Advance Registration Required: Eventbrite | Free
Ann Head author presentation by her daughters Nancy Thode and Stacey Ahner at Beaufort County Library Main Branch (311 Scott St., Beaufort), presented in partnership with the Beaufort District Collection. This special event will also include recognition of the 2024 winner of the Ann Head Literary Prize at Beaufort High School. Free, advance registration required.
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort this May 3-5.
About Ann Head
The SCAA recognizes authors both living and deceased, and, this year, will be posthumously celebrating fiction writer Ann Head (1915-1968). She published several novels as well as over 50 short stories and novelettes in major magazines both here and abroad. Her most famous, Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, was made into a TV movie and stayed in print for four decades. Head was also the first creative writing mentor to Pat Conroy (1945-2016), who was himself inducted into the literary hall of fame in 1988.

South Carolina Academy of Authors Induction Weekend
2024-05-03 12:00 - 2024-05-05 16:00 | Beaufort, South Carolina, Beaufort, SC, US
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort this May 3-5.
The SCAA selects new inductees whose works have been judged culturally important. Each inductee, whether living or deceased, has added to South Carolina’s literary legacy by earning notable scholarly attention or achieving historical prominence. Including this year’s induction, the SCAA, founded in 1986, will have officially inducted more than 100 authors into its literary hall of fame. This year’s honorees are Marcus Amaker, William P. Baldwin, Harlan Greene, and the late Ann Head.
In addition to hosting this literary hall of fame, the SCAA also sponsors annual fellowships and student prizes in poetry and prose through support from the Penelope Coker Hall/Eliza Wilson Ingle Fund of Central Carolina Community Foundation.
The 2024 SCAA induction weekend is funded in part by a grant from South Carolina Humanities, a not-for-profit organization inspiring, engaging, and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture, and heritage.
ABOUT THE HONOREES
Marcus Amaker served as the first Poet Laureate of Charleston from 2016 to 2022. In 2019, he was honored with a Governor’s Arts award in South Carolina and was named the artist-in-residence of the Gaillard Center, a world-renowned performance and education venue. His tenth book is Hold What Makes You Whole, from Free Verse Press.
Lowcountry native William P. Baldwin is being recognized for his work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. His best-known novel, The Hard to Catch Mercy, was awarded the Lillian Smith Book Award. Most recently, he has published The Unpainted South: Carolina’s Vanishing World, a collection of songs, photographs, and poems, as well as the novel Charles Town.
Harlan Greene has written both fiction and nonfiction, with a focus on Charleston. As an archivist and historian, he has worked to save and interpret the literary heritage of the state. His most recent work, The Real Rainbow Row: Explorations in Charleston’s LGBTQ History was published in 2022.
The SCAA recognizes authors both living and deceased, and, this year, will be posthumously celebrating fiction writer Ann Head (1915-1968). She published several novels as well as over 50 short stories and novelettes in major magazines both here and abroad. Her most famous, Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, was made into a TV movie and stayed in print for four decades. Head was also the first creative writing mentor to Pat Conroy (1945-2016), who was himself inducted into the literary hall of fame in 1988.
REGISTER IN ADVANCE
https://scaa2024inductionweekend.eventbrite.com
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
~ FRIDAY, MAY 3 ~
Noon to 4:00 p.m.: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public (601 Bladen St.). Free, no registration required.
12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Ann Head author presentation by her daughters Nancy Thode and Stacey Ahner at Beaufort County Library Main Branch (311 Scott St.), presented in partnership with the Beaufort District Collection. This special event will also include recognition of the 2024 winner of the Ann Head Literary Prize at Beaufort High School. Free, advance registration required.
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.: Pat Conroy’s Beaufort golf cart tour via Beaufort Tours. $40/person; register in advance at www.beauforttoursllc.com.
5:00 to 7:00 p.m.: Harlan Greene author presentation at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.), followed by a book signing and reception. Presented in partnership with Lowcountry Pride. Free, advance registration required. Catering by Debbi Covington. (Weather permitting, this event will be held outside at the Conroy Center.)
~ SATURDAY, MAY 4 ~
9:30 a.m. to noon: Teddy Bear Picnic Children’s Read-Aloud, hosted by DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization at the Port Royal Farmers Market (1615 Ribault Rd., Port Royal). Free, no registration required.
Noon to 4:00 p.m.: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public (601 Bladen St.). Free, no registration required.
12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: William P. Baldwin author presentation at Beaufort County Library Main Branch (311 Scott St.), followed by a book signing. Free, advance registration required.
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.: Pat Conroy’s Beaufort golf cart tour via Beaufort Tours. $40/person; register in advance at www.beauforttoursllc.com.
5:30 to 8:00 p.m.: MAIN EVENT: South Carolina Literary Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Dinner at the Beaufort Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Center (2225 Boundary St., Beaufort). Honorees William P. Baldwin and Harlan Greene will be recognized in person. Marcus Amaker will appear in a pre-recorded video acceptance. Ann Head will be represented by her daughters, Nancy Thode and Stacey Ahner. Buffet dinner, cash bar. $55/person. Books available for sale and signing.
~ SUNDAY, MAY 5 ~
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Optional brunch at the Rhett House Inn (1009 Craven St.). Contact the Inn at 772-485-0100 or mimi@rhetthouseinn.com to reserve brunch seating.
Noon to 4:00 p.m.: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public (601 Bladen St.). Free, no registration required.
1:00 to 2:00 p.m.: SCAA Fellowship Winners reading at the Rhett House Inn Garden (1009 Craven St.). Winners not yet announced. Free, advance registration required.
ABOUT THE SOUTH CAROLINA ACADEMY OF AUTHORS
The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA) seeks to identify and recognize the state’s distinguished writers and to promote their literature’s influence on our cultural heritage. The Academy’s educational focus serves to publicize works by South Carolina authors, to connect the writers with their audience, to nurture and support South Carolina’s literary talent, and to foster the love of reading and writing among the people of South Carolina. Learn more and donate at www.scacademyofauthors.com.
VISITING FROM OUT OF TOWN?
For lodging and dining options in Beaufort, please visit www.beaufortsc.org.

An Evening with Mark Larson, Author of Working in the 21st Century
2024-04-29 17:00 - 18:30 | The Beaufort Bookstore
The Beaufort Bookstore and the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with Mark Larson, award-winning educator and author of Working in the 21st Century: An Oral History of American Work in a Time of Social and Economic Transformation, on Monday, April 29, at 5:00 p.m., at the Beaufort Bookstore (2127 Boundary St, #15, Beaufort). Larson will be in conversation with two of the interview subjects of his book, Dr. N’kia J. Campbell, officer of academic initiatives for the Beaufort County School District, and Bradley Tarrance, principal of Robert Smalls Leadership Academy. Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Please call to reserve your seat in advance: 843-525-1066.
About the book and author
Esquire magazine has named Working in the 21st Century as One of the Best Books of 2024 (so far).
From nurses and teachers to wildland firefighters and funeral directors—this oral history offers an intimate, honest, and illuminating collection of interviews that reveal what it’s like to work in America at this historic and volatile moment in time.
Author Mark Larson sits down with more than one hundred workers from across the socioeconomic spectrum as they share their experiences with work and what it has meant in their lives—the good, the bad, the mundane, and the profound. Doulas, firefighters, chefs, hairstylists, executives, actors, stay-at-home parents, and so many more talk about what they do all day and how it aligns (or doesn’t) with what they want to be doing with their lives. The pandemic, the ensuing “Great Resignation,” and the current reckonings with racial justice are among the forces that are now upending and reshaping our longstanding relationships with work. Larson’s interviews display how these forces collide in the lives of average Americans as they tell their own stories with passion, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.
Working in the 21st Century asks why we show up—or don’t—to the jobs we’ve chosen, and how the upheaval of the past few years has changed how we perceive the work we do. It will be released to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Studs Terkel’s 1974 classic Working.
“Mark Larson’s superb and robust oral storytelling brings new light to the life of work. His book explores the intricacies of people working in these 21st-century times and shows that while work has been transformed, it is also becoming more relevant and powerful than ever.”—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune contributing columnist and ABC7 Chicago political analyst
“Mark Larson appeared in one of Studs Terkel’s books and is clearly an admirer of America’s 20th-century storyteller. While Working in the 21st Century celebrates the 50th anniversary of Studs’s Working, the book, through its diversity and clarity, portrays both the similarities and differences of work 50 years later. Larson is a wonderful oral historian and the stories he tells depict the realities of work at the present time. His interviews and writing bring alive the breadth and depth of what it means to live in 2024.”—Alan Wieder, author of Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, but Mostly Conversation
Mark Larson is a Chicago-based writer and educator who holds a doctorate in educational leadership. Larson has worked at Evanston Township High School, the Field Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, and National Louis University. He is the author of two books on education and Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater, for which he conducted over 300 interviews with Chicago theater artists, past and present. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Mary. They have twin daughters and twin grandsons.

An Evening with Mark Larson, Award-winning Educator and Author
2024-04-29 17:00 - 18:30 | Beaufort Bookstore, 2127 Boundary St, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Monday, April 29, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-525-1066.
Venue: Beaufort Bookstore (2127 Boundary St, #15, Beaufort)
Website: Facebook Event Page
The Beaufort Bookstore and the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with Mark Larson, award-winning educator and author of Working in the 21st Century: An Oral History of American Work in a Time of Social and Economic Transformation, on Monday, April 29, at 5:00 p.m., at the Beaufort Bookstore (2127 Boundary St, #15, Beaufort).
Larson will be in conversation with two of the interview subjects of his book, Dr. N’kia J. Campbell, officer of academic initiatives for the Beaufort County School District, and Bradley Tarrance, principal of Robert Smalls Leadership Academy.
Free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signing. Please call to reserve your seat in advance: 843-525-1066.
About the Book
Esquire magazine has named Working in the 21st Century as One of the Best Books of 2024 (so far).
From nurses and teachers to wildland firefighters and funeral directors—this oral history offers an intimate, honest, and illuminating collection of interviews that reveal what it’s like to work in America at this historic and volatile moment in time.
Author Mark Larson sits down with more than one hundred workers from across the socioeconomic spectrum as they share their experiences with work and what it has meant in their lives—the good, the bad, the mundane, and the profound. Doulas, firefighters, chefs, hairstylists, executives, actors, stay-at-home parents, and so many more talk about what they do all day and how it aligns (or doesn’t) with what they want to be doing with their lives. The pandemic, the ensuing “Great Resignation,” and the current reckonings with racial justice are among the forces that are now upending and reshaping our longstanding relationships with work. Larson’s interviews display how these forces collide in the lives of average Americans as they tell their own stories with passion, heartbreak, and, ultimately, hope.
Working in the 21st Century asks why we show up—or don’t—to the jobs we’ve chosen, and how the upheaval of the past few years has changed how we perceive the work we do. It will be released to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Studs Terkel’s 1974 classic Working.
“Mark Larson’s superb and robust oral storytelling brings new light to the life of work. His book explores the intricacies of people working in these 21st-century times and shows that while work has been transformed, it is also becoming more relevant and powerful than ever.”—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune contributing columnist and ABC7 Chicago political analyst
“Mark Larson appeared in one of Studs Terkel’s books and is clearly an admirer of America’s 20th-century storyteller. While Working in the 21st Century celebrates the 50th anniversary of Studs’s Working, the book, through its diversity and clarity, portrays both the similarities and differences of work 50 years later. Larson is a wonderful oral historian and the stories he tells depict the realities of work at the present time. His interviews and writing bring alive the breadth and depth of what it means to live in 2024.”—Alan Wieder, author of Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, but Mostly Conversation
About the Author
Mark Larson is a Chicago-based writer and educator who holds a doctorate in educational leadership. Larson has worked at Evanston Township High School, the Field Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, and National Louis University.
He is the author of two books on education and Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater, for which he conducted over 300 interviews with Chicago theater artists, past and present. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Mary. They have twin daughters and twin grandsons.

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.

A Lowcountry Heart -- Pat Conroy Book Club
2024-04-25 18:30 - 19:30 | The Rhett House Inn
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center and the award-winning Rhett House Inn will host a monthly book club discussion of Pat Conroy’s dozen books in order of publication, moderated by Charlene Spearen and Jonathan Haupt. Book discussions will be held monthly beginning at 6:30 p.m. Limited to 20 participants each month. $10/person. Advance registration required. Participants are expected to read the books and to come prepared to discuss them.
January 25: South of Broad
February 21: My Reading Life(rescheduled from February 22)
March 28: The Death of Santini
April 25: A Lowcountry Heart
Learn more and register at: https://patconroybookclubatrhetthouseinn.eventbrite.com
A﻿bout Our Discussion Leaders
Dr. Charlene Monahan Spearen received her MFA degree in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of South Carolina. She is currently serving as the Public Relations and Special Projects Coordinator for Penn Center after a successful career in academia at Allen University. She served as the Program Coordinator for the University of South Carolina’s Arts Institute and was the Assistant Director for the South Carolina Poetry Initiative. In addition to her work throughout the Carolinas, Spearen has been a featured reader and Creative Writing instructor and scholar in County Monaghan and County Mayo, Ireland. She has published a full-length collection of poems titled A Book of Exquisite Disasters. Her poems have appeared in journals and publications throughout the United States.
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Conroy Center and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, where he created the Story River Books fiction imprint with Pat Conroy, named by Garden & Gun magazine as one of “the top ten things to love about the South.” Haupt’s book reviews and author interviews have appeared in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, Beaufort Lifestyle, Savannah Morning News’ Beacon magazine, Southern Review of Books, and Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T blog. He is co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, the recipient of seventeen book awards. He serves on the boards of the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and the South Carolina Academy of Authors. In 2020, Haupt was recognized with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award presented by the Pulpwood Queens, the largest book club in the U.S.

Pat Conroy Book Club: A Lowcountry Heart
2024-04-25 18:30 - 19:30 | The Rhett House Inn, 1009 Craven St., Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday April 25, 2024 – 6:30-7:30 PM EDT
Price: $10
Registration: Register at Eventbrite | Limited to 20 participants
Venue: The Rhett House Inn | 1009 Craven St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center and the award-winning Rhett House Inn will host a monthly book club discussion of Pat Conroy’s dozen books in order of publication, moderated by Charlene Spearen and Jonathan Haupt. Book discussions will be held on fourth Thursdays beginning at 6:30 p.m. Limited to 20 participants each month. $10/person. Advance registration required. Participants are expected to read the books and to come prepared to discuss them.
Discussions will be held at The Rhett House Inn (1009 Craven St., Beaufort)
Register at Eventbrite
January 25: South of Broad
February 21: My Reading Life
March 28: The Death of Santini
April 25: A Lowcountry Heart
ABOUT OUR DISCUSSION LEADERS
Dr. Charlene Monahan Spearen received her MFA degree in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of South Carolina. She is currently serving as the Public Relations and Special Projects Coordinator for Penn Center after a successful career in academia at Allen University. She served as the Program Coordinator for the University of South Carolina’s Arts Institute and was the Assistant Director for the South Carolina Poetry Initiative. In addition to her work throughout the Carolinas, Spearen has been a featured reader and Creative Writing instructor and scholar in County Monaghan and County Mayo, Ireland. She has published a full-length collection of poems titled A Book of Exquisite Disasters. Her poems have appeared in journals and publications throughout the United States.
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Conroy Center and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, where he created the Story River Books fiction imprint with Pat Conroy, named by Garden & Gun magazine as one of “the top ten things to love about the South.” Haupt’s book reviews and author interviews have appeared in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, Beaufort Lifestyle, Savannah Morning News’ Beacon magazine, Southern Review of Books, and Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T blog. He is co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, the recipient of seventeen book awards. He serves on the boards of the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and the South Carolina Academy of Authors. In 2020, Haupt was recognized with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award presented by the Pulpwood Queens, the largest book club in the U.S.

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 Poet Ray McManus, Author of The Last Saturday in America
2024-04-25 17:00 - 18:00 | The Rhett House Inn
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with award-winning poet Ray McManus, author of The Last Saturday in America, on Thursday, April 25, at 5:00 p.m., at the Rhett House Inn’s garden (1009 Craven St., Beaufort). This is an outdoor event. 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.
About the book and author
“These are poems about boys listening to men who were once boys who listened to men, the blind leading the blind leading the blind through the dark. Some boys grow up. Some men never do. Ray McManus has chipped away at the pageantry and performance, the stupidity of the lie, the outright futility of it all…. The Last Saturday In America is, ‘a song that pays homage / to a history of work we should’ve done better.’ Here’s hoping one day we do.” —David Joy, author of Those We Thought We Knew, from the introduction
For fans of Americana music and a beer after mowing the lawn, The Last Saturday in America confronts the long shadow of Southern masculinity.
The Last Saturday in America is set in a nation on the precipice of great change. Through examinations of suburban neighbors, bullies, gun violence, and vasectomy appointments, Ray McManus draws a portrait of American masculinity in the face of political division, pandemic, and cultural warfare. McManus’s speaker is caught between the way he was raised and the future he wants to see for who he is raising. He can no longer rely on what he thought he knew, nor does he know what to do about it. The man rendered in these pages is a father, a son, a Southerner. And he is willing to burn it all down and start something new, only to see that the new start he is looking for has been with him the whole time.
Ray McManus is the author of four books of poetry: Punch. (winner of the 2015 Independent Publishers Book Award for Best Book of Poetry in North America), Red Dirt Jesus (selected by Alicia Ostriker for the Marick Press Poetry Prize 2011), and Driving through the country before you are born (winner of the South Carolina Book Prize in 2006), and a chapbook called Left Behind. He is the co-editor for the anthology Found Anew with notable contributors with South Carolina ties. His poems have been published in numerous journals such as Crazyhorse, Prairie Schooner, and POETRY magazine. He lives in South Carolina where he teaches for USC Sumter and serves as the Writer in Residence for the Columbia Museum of Art.

An Evening with poet Ray McManus
2024-04-25 17:00 - 18:30 | The Rhett House Inn, 1009 Craven St., Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 5:00-6:30 PM EDT
Price: Free
Registration: Seating is limited; please call to reserve your spot: 843-379-7025.
Venue (UPDATED): Rhett House Inn’s garden (1009 Craven St., Beaufort)
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with award-winning poet Ray McManus, author of The Last Saturday in America, on Thursday, April 25, at 5:00 p.m., at the Rhett House Inn’s garden (1009 Craven St., Beaufort). This is an outdoor event. 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.
About The Last Saturday in America
“These are poems about boys listening to men who were once boys who listened to men, the blind leading the blind leading the blind through the dark. Some boys grow up. Some men never do. Ray McManus has chipped away at the pageantry and performance, the stupidity of the lie, the outright futility of it all…. The Last Saturday In America is, ‘a song that pays homage / to a history of work we should’ve done better.’ Here’s hoping one day we do.” —David Joy, author of Those We Thought We Knew, from the introduction
For fans of Americana music and a beer after mowing the lawn, The Last Saturday in America confronts the long shadow of Southern masculinity.
The Last Saturday in America is set in a nation on the precipice of great change. Through examinations of suburban neighbors, bullies, gun violence, and vasectomy appointments, Ray McManus draws a portrait of American masculinity in the face of political division, pandemic, and cultural warfare. McManus’s speaker is caught between the way he was raised and the future he wants to see for who he is raising. He can no longer rely on what he thought he knew, nor does he know what to do about it. The man rendered in these pages is a father, a son, a Southerner. And he is willing to burn it all down and start something new, only to see that the new start he is looking for has been with him the whole time.
About Ray McManus
Ray McManus is the author of four books of poetry: Punch. (winner of the 2015 Independent Publishers Book Award for Best Book of Poetry in North America), Red Dirt Jesus (selected by Alicia Ostriker for the Marick Press Poetry Prize 2011), and Driving through the country before you are born (winner of the South Carolina Book Prize in 2006), and a chapbook called Left Behind. He is the co-editor for the anthology Found Anew with notable contributors with South Carolina ties. His poems have been published in numerous journals such as Crazyhorse, Prairie Schooner, and POETRY magazine.
He lives in South Carolina where he teaches for USC Sumter and serves as the Writer in Residence for the Columbia Museum of Art.

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.

Grants Make Cents | Grant Writing Workshop Led by Penny Federspill
2024-04-20 14:00 - 16:00 | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
Need alone is not enough to win grants. Led by Penny Federspill, Grants Make Cents will provide the basic skills needed to learn the essential elements of successful grant writing. These elements include methods of finding an appropriate grant funder, from your own backyard to paid research data firms. The presentation will be comprised of all the parts of a grant narrative, accompanied by examples, with special attention directed to needs assessment, objectives, evaluation, and budgeting. This will include hands-on exercises. Time will be allotted to participants to begin to write a grant proposal, with individual assistance as needed. A template will be used to guide the writer; it will be a roadmap to achieving a standard format that can be used and reused. Attendees will also leave with a Tip Sheet and glossary to help in future endeavors.
This in-person workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.), limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of 5 needed to hold the class.) $25/person.
Register in Advance: https://grantsmakecents.eventbrite.com
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Penny Federspill has been able to merge her love of learning with helping others to gain access to “free money.” She has 40 years of experience in public school environments in Ohio and South Carolina as an instructor, educator, and administrator. Ms. Federspill has researched, developed, and organized her business, Grants Make Cents, resulting in dozens of funded grants, grant writing workshops, and contracts as a grant consultant. As a city Grant Administrator, she gained successful experience with community education and environmental grants and a $225,000 Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). As a part-time school district Grant Administrator she wrote community education grants, grants for drug-free programs, and Effective Schools grants. She holds education degrees and has earned recognition from several grant educational institutions. Locally, she found a grant for a sweetgrass basket designer and wrote a grant for the first after school program for a Beaufort County high school.

Workshop: Grants Make Cents Led by Penny Federspill
2024-04-20 14:00 - 16:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Saturday, April 20, 2024 · 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST
Cost: $25
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
Need alone is not enough to win grants. Led by Penny Federspill, Grants Make Cents will provide the basic skills needed to learn the essential elements of successful grant writing. These elements include methods of finding an appropriate grant funder, from your own backyard to paid research data firms.
The presentation will be comprised of all the parts of a grant narrative, accompanied by examples, with special attention directed to needs assessment, objectives, evaluation, and budgeting. This will include hands-on exercises. Time will be allotted to participants to begin to write a grant proposal, with individual assistance as needed. A template will be used to guide the writer; it will be a roadmap to achieving a standard format that can be used and reused. Attendees will also leave with a Tip Sheet and glossary to help in future endeavors.
This in-person workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.), limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of 5 needed to hold the class.) $25/person.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Penny Federspill has been able to merge her love of learning with helping others to gain access to “free money.” She has 40 years of experience in public school environments in Ohio and South Carolina as an instructor, educator, and administrator. Ms. Federspill has researched, developed, and organized her business, Grants Make Cents, resulting in dozens of funded grants, grant writing workshops, and contracts as a grant consultant.
As a city Grant Administrator, she gained successful experience with community education and environmental grants and a $225,000 Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). As a part-time school district Grant Administrator she wrote community education grants, grants for drug-free programs, and Effective Schools grants. She holds education degrees and has earned recognition from several grant educational institutions. Locally, she found a grant for a sweetgrass basket designer and wrote a grant for the first after school program for a Beaufort County high school.

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 Carolyn P. Hartley, author of the Buried Sunshine Series
2024-04-18 17:00 - 19:00 | The Rhett House Inn
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, in collaboration with the award-winning Rhett House Inn, will host an evening with historical novelist Carolyn P. Hartley, author of the Buried Sunshine Series, on Thursday, April 18, at 5:00-7:00 p.m., at the Rhett House Inn (1009 Craven St., Beaufort). $15 registration fee includes a glass of wine and refreshments by Mimi Rodrigues. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Seating is limited. Advance registration required to attend.
https://aneveningwithcarolynphartley.eventbrite.com
“The Buried Sunshine Series is a courageous family saga, a sizzling coming of age story, as heroine, Adele Dawson discovers her roots in this action-adventure series.”—Millie West, award-winning author and screenwriter awards
About Book One: Redemption
Greed is invisible until you see the damage it inflicts on innocent children. Redemption exposes raw families caught between social lines when federal funds, intended to trickle down from corporate landowners never makes it into the hands of tenant farmers.
When agriculture was the bedrock of the American economy, families, suddenly penniless lost nearly everything in historic floods, bank failures, political and social annihilation. But at their core, one family would not let catastrophes defeat them. Adele Christina Dawson, the oldest stepchild of an imbittered farmer, is suddenly thrust into adulthood when her mother dies giving birth to a tenth child.
“Adele Dawson is intelligent, feisty, and strong, and she emits a beam that carries this story forward, that lifts it up from the rushing current of thick Mississippi Mud.”—Main Street Rag
About Book Two: Reconciliation
Adele Dawson, finally back with her West Virginia birth family, is driven to learn why her father died so young and why her mother remarried despicable August Beck, a con artist, then gave birth to eight of his children. When her half-sisters also come to live with her, they get wise to a secret museum of treasures in Adele’s once-lavish stone mansion. She unlocks secrets inside a locked trunk about her mother’s coerced life in corruption, greed, and extortion, secrets that now threaten to extinguish the entire family.
Her paternal grandmother’s final wish is that Adele rebuild the family’s coal mine, nearly bankrupt from the Depression, and restore the river stone mansion to its original beauty. The more involved she becomes in the mining business, the more she discovers her mother’s enemies have concealed themselves within the family business. On the verge of gaining trust from superstitious coal miners, her saboteur stepfather creates mine blasts that injure workers, forcing the reconstruction to miss critical deadlines.
“This thrilling novel series leaves the reader spellbound with a story that captures everything a reader could wish for. Once you start reading you won’t stop. A must read.”—William A Petty, historian, curator, and author
About the Author:
Carolyn P. Hartley is an award-winning author, most recently for the Buried Sunshine novel series: Redemption (2019), Reconciliation (2022), and Rebellion (forthcoming 2024). Reconciliation achieved #1 bestseller rank in seven Amazon categories, including American History Romance. She is lead author of The Caregiver’s Toolbox (CTB), an Amazon #1 hot new release for nine consecutive weeks in two healthcare categories. After six years, CTB is still a popular backlist title.
In prior careers, Carolyn was a book packager for Prentice Hall, McGraw-Hill, Universal Press Syndicate, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and VP of marketing and communications for Fleishman Hillard International, where she placed clients on The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, among others. Carolyn publishes her creative non-fiction, essays, and short stories in literary and consumer magazines, including North American Literary Review, Child, Whispering Prairie Press, Family Circle, and Working Women’s Magazine, and, for six years she was a columnist for Woman’s World. She developed public service announcements for Al Franken, Miss America, and the Points of Light Foundation. She also is founder of JMerrillPress, LLC, an independent woman-owned publisher that focuses on women of courage.

Evening with novelist Carolyn P. Hartley, author of the Buried Sunshine Series
2024-04-18 17:00 - 19:00 | The Rhett House Inn, 1009 Craven St., Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 5-7:00 PM EDT
Price: $15 (includes a glass of wine and refreshments by Mimi Rodrigues)
Registration: Register at Eventbrite
Venue: The Rhett House Inn | 1009 Craven St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, in collaboration with the award-winning Rhett House Inn, will host an evening with historical novelist Carolyn P. Hartley, author of the Buried Sunshine Series, on Thursday, April 18, at 5:00-7:00 p.m., at the Rhett House Inn (1009 Craven St., Beaufort). $15 registration fee includes a glass of wine and refreshments by Mimi Rodrigues. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Register at Eventbrite
“The Buried Sunshine Series is a courageous family saga, a sizzling coming of age story, as heroine, Adele Dawson discovers her roots in this action-adventure series.”—Millie West, award-winning author and screenwriter awards
About Book One: Redemption
Greed is invisible until you see the damage it inflicts on innocent children. Redemption exposes raw families caught between social lines when federal funds, intended to trickle down from corporate landowners never makes it into the hands of tenant farmers.
When agriculture was the bedrock of the American economy, families, suddenly penniless lost nearly everything in historic floods, bank failures, political and social annihilation. But at their core, one family would not let catastrophes defeat them. Adele Christina Dawson, the oldest stepchild of an imbittered farmer, is suddenly thrust into adulthood when her mother dies giving birth to a tenth child.
“Adele Dawson is intelligent, feisty, and strong, and she emits a beam that carries this story forward, that lifts it up from the rushing current of thick Mississippi Mud.”—Main Street Rag
About Book Two: Reconciliation
Adele Dawson, finally back with her West Virginia birth family, is driven to learn why her father died so young and why her mother remarried despicable August Beck, a con artist, then gave birth to eight of his children. When her half-sisters also come to live with her, they get wise to a secret museum of treasures in Adele’s once-lavish stone mansion. She unlocks secrets inside a locked trunk about her mother’s coerced life in corruption, greed, and extortion, secrets that now threaten to extinguish the entire family.
Her paternal grandmother’s final wish is that Adele rebuild the family’s coal mine, nearly bankrupt from the Depression, and restore the river stone mansion to its original beauty. The more involved she becomes in the mining business, the more she discovers her mother’s enemies have concealed themselves within the family business. On the verge of gaining trust from superstitious coal miners, her saboteur stepfather creates mine blasts that injure workers, forcing the reconstruction to miss critical deadlines.
“This thrilling novel series leaves the reader spellbound with a story that captures everything a reader could wish for. Once you start reading you won’t stop. A must read.”—William A Petty, historian, curator, and author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carolyn P. Hartley is an award-winning author, most recently for the Buried Sunshine novel series: Redemption (2019), Reconciliation (2022), and Rebellion (forthcoming 2024).
Reconciliation achieved #1 bestseller rank in seven Amazon categories, including American History Romance. She is lead author of The Caregiver’s Toolbox (CTB), an Amazon #1 hot new release for nine consecutive weeks in two healthcare categories. After six years, CTB is still a popular backlist title.
In prior careers, Carolyn was a book packager for Prentice Hall, McGraw-Hill, Universal Press Syndicate, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and VP of marketing and communications for Fleishman Hillard International, where she placed clients on The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, among others. Carolyn publishes her creative non-fiction, essays, and short stories in literary and consumer magazines, including North American Literary Review, Child, Whispering Prairie Press, Family Circle, and Working Women’s Magazine, and, for six years she was a columnist for Woman’s World. She developed public service announcements for Al Franken, Miss America, and the Points of Light Foundation. She also is founder of JMerrillPress, LLC, an independent woman-owned publisher that focuses on women of courage.

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.

Virtual Open Mic Night, Featuring Heather Corbally Bryant, Author of The Coffin Makers
2024-04-11 18:00 - 19:30 | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
The Pat Conroy Literary Center’s monthly Open Mic Night will be held virtually on Thursday, April 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Heather Corbally Bryant, author of The Coffin Makers. 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
Heather Corbally Bryant is a Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program at Wellesley College. She has also taught at Harvard, the University of Michigan and the Pennsylvania State University where she has won awards for her teaching. She has written eleven books of poetry, a prize-winning academic book, How Will the Heart Endure: Elizabeth Bowen and the Landscape of War, and a work of creative nonfiction, You Can’t Wrap Fire in Paper. Her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, the Massachusetts Book Award, and have won Honorable Mention in the Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition.
“Heather Corbally Bryant’s eleventh collection of poetry shows her deepening grasp of language, and follows her grappling with the exigencies of a global pandemic in both intricate and plainspoken poetry.”–Laura Munson, bestselling author and founder of Haven Writing Retreats
“In The Coffin Makers, Heather Corbally Bryant offers us poetic witness to a world turned upside down by catastrophic fear, in clear, beautiful poems, marking out our moments of grief, isolation and hope, step by step. These poems will remain with us as graceful testament to our moment of crisis.”–Eibhear Walshe, Director of Creative Writing, University College Cork

April 2024 Open Mic Night
2024-04-11 18:00 - 19:30 | Online – Facebook Live
The Pat Conroy Literary Center’s monthly Open Mic Night will be held virtually on Thursday, April 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Heather Corbally Bryant, author of The Coffin Makers. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres.
When: Thursday, April 11, 2024 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 1 hr 30 min
Where: Virtual
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 The Coffin Makers
“Heather Corbally Bryant’s eleventh collection of poetry shows her deepening grasp of language, and follows her grappling with the exigencies of a global pandemic in both intricate and plainspoken poetry.”–Laura Munson, bestselling author and founder of Haven Writing Retreats
“In The Coffin Makers, Heather Corbally Bryant offers us poetic witness to a world turned upside down by catastrophic fear, in clear, beautiful poems, marking out our moments of grief, isolation and hope, step by step. These poems will remain with us as graceful testament to our moment of crisis.”–Eibhear Walshe, Director of Creative Writing, University College Cork
About our featured writer:
Heather Corbally Bryant is a Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program at Wellesley College. She has also taught at Harvard, the University of Michigan and the Pennsylvania State University where she has won awards for her teaching. She has written eleven books of poetry, a prize-winning academic book, How Will the Heart Endure: Elizabeth Bowen and the Landscape of War, and a work of creative nonfiction, You Can’t Wrap Fire in Paper. Her poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, the Massachusetts Book Award, and have won Honorable Mention in the Finishing Line Press Open Chapbook Competition.

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.

Beaufort Human Library, Fourth Edition
2024-04-07 12:30 - 16:00 | Technical College of the Lowcountry – Building 12 Auditorium, 104 Reynolds Street, Bldg 12, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Sunday, April 7, 2024 – 12:30-4:00 PM EDT
Price: Free · Duration: 3 1/2 hrs
Location: Technical College of the Lowcountry’s MacLean Hall (104 Reynolds St, bldg 12, Beaufort, SC)
Check Out the Fourth Edition of the Beaufort Human Library, April 7
“Where oral history meets speed dating.” The Beaufort Human Library project seeks to foster empathy and understanding across communities by offering the public opportunities to “check out” more than a dozen Human Books who will be sharing their personal stories of facing challenges and striving for acceptance. These engaging conversations will cover topics including occupations, education, healthcare, gender, race, faith, immigration, addiction, abuse, and law enforcement, among others. Ultimately the dialogues will focus on building bridges of understanding, person to person, through storytelling.
The fourth edition of the Beaufort Human Library will be held on opening day of National Library Week: Sunday, April 7, from 12:30 to 4:00 p.m. in MacLean Hall, building 12 of the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL), at 104 Reynolds Street in Beaufort. Free and open to the public, the event is hosted by TCL; the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center; DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization; and volunteer community organizers.
Following a featured Book presentation in the TCL auditorium from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m., all of the volunteer Human Books will be available throughout MacLean Hall to be checked out for 30-minute small group conversations from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. No advance registration is needed. Volunteer Librarians and student Bookmarks from DAYLO will be on hand to help guests navigate their Beaufort Human Library experience.
Website: Facebook Event Page

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 Death of Santini -- Pat Conroy Book Club
2024-03-28 18:30 - 19:30 | The Rhett House Inn

Pat Conroy Book Club: The Death of Santini
2024-03-28 18:30 - 19:30 | The Rhett House Inn, 1009 Craven St., Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Thursday March 28, 2024 – 6:30-7:30 PM EDT
Price: $10
Registration: Register at Eventbrite | Limited to 20 participants
Venue: The Rhett House Inn | 1009 Craven St., Beaufort
Website: Facebook Event Page
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center and the award-winning Rhett House Inn will host a monthly book club discussion of Pat Conroy’s dozen books in order of publication, moderated by Charlene Spearen and Jonathan Haupt. Book discussions will be held on fourth Thursdays beginning at 6:30 p.m. Limited to 20 participants each month. $10/person. Advance registration required. Participants are expected to read the books and to come prepared to discuss them.
Discussions will be held at The Rhett House Inn (1009 Craven St., Beaufort)
Register at Eventbrite
January 25: South of Broad
February 21: My Reading Life
March 28: The Death of Santini
April 25: A Lowcountry Heart
ABOUT OUR DISCUSSION LEADERS
Dr. Charlene Monahan Spearen received her MFA degree in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of South Carolina. She is currently serving as the Public Relations and Special Projects Coordinator for Penn Center after a successful career in academia at Allen University. She served as the Program Coordinator for the University of South Carolina’s Arts Institute and was the Assistant Director for the South Carolina Poetry Initiative. In addition to her work throughout the Carolinas, Spearen has been a featured reader and Creative Writing instructor and scholar in County Monaghan and County Mayo, Ireland. She has published a full-length collection of poems titled A Book of Exquisite Disasters. Her poems have appeared in journals and publications throughout the United States.
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Conroy Center and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, where he created the Story River Books fiction imprint with Pat Conroy, named by Garden & Gun magazine as one of “the top ten things to love about the South.” Haupt’s book reviews and author interviews have appeared in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, Beaufort Lifestyle, Savannah Morning News’ Beacon magazine, Southern Review of Books, and Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T blog. He is co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, the recipient of seventeen book awards. He serves on the boards of the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and the South Carolina Academy of Authors. In 2020, Haupt was recognized with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award presented by the Pulpwood Queens, the largest book club in the U.S.

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.

Publishing Pursuits: Writers Workshop Led by Kim Poovey
2024-03-27 18:00 - 20:00 | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
Publishing Pursuits: Traditional or Indie? Workshop Led by Kim Poovey
You’ve finished your manuscript and are ready to share it with the world! The question is whether to go with a traditional publisher or try your hand at independent (Indie) publishing. There are pros and cons to both. Learn the differences between traditional, hybrid, and Indie publishing and how to decide which is the best option for your manuscript.
This workshop will cover:
*Aspects of traditional publishing with large and small presses, hybrid publishing, and Indie publishing
*The pros and cons of traditional and Indie publishing
*Questions you need to ask when considering traditional or hybrid publishing
*The ins and outs of Indie publishing
What this workshop does not cover:
*How to write a query letter
*How to pitch to agents
This in-person workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.), limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of 5 needed to hold the class.) $40/person. Register in advance at https://publishingpursuitsworkshop.eventbrite.com.
ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTOR:
Kim Poovey is an author of historical fiction and hauntings. She began her writing career with a traditional publishing house for her first two novels, Truer Words and Through Button Eyes: Memoirs of an Edwardian Teddy Bear. In 2017, she switched to Indie publishing and hasn’t looked back. Under her imprint, Dickens Ghost Publishing, LLC, Kim has produced five books; a collection of short stories, the first three novels in her Dreamist series about a woman who can communicate with the dead in her dreams, and Shadows of the Moss, book one in a historical fiction trilogy. Kim has presented for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) through USCB as well as presenting at Camp Conroy for the past two summers. In addition, Kim has written for several magazines, including Beaufort Lifestyle, Bluffton Breeze, Citizen’s Companion, and the Civil War Times. When not writing, Kim is a school psychologist who lives with her husband and fur babies in a haunted 1890s cottage in the Lowcountry.

Workshop: Publishing Pursuits: Traditional or Indie? Led by Kim Poovey
2024-03-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, 29902, United States
Register: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 · 6:00 pm – 8:00 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
You’ve finished your manuscript and are ready to share it with the world! The question is whether to go with a traditional publisher or try your hand at independent (Indie) publishing. There are pros and cons to both. Learn the differences between traditional, hybrid, and Indie publishing and how to decide which is the best option for your manuscript.
This workshop will cover:
*Aspects of traditional publishing with large and small presses, hybrid publishing, and Indie publishing
*The pros and cons of traditional and Indie publishing
*Questions you need to ask when considering traditional or hybrid publishing
*The ins and outs of Indie publishing
What this workshop does not cover:
*How to write a query letter
*How to pitch to agents
This in-person workshop will be held at the Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St.), limited to 15 participants. (A minimum of 5 needed to hold the class.) $40/person.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Kim Poovey is an author of historical fiction and hauntings. She began her writing career with a traditional publishing house for her first two novels, Truer Words and Through Button Eyes: Memoirs of an Edwardian Teddy Bear. In 2017, she switched to Indie publishing and hasn’t looked back. Under her imprint, Dickens Ghost Publishing, LLC, Kim has produced five books; a collection of short stories, the first three novels in her Dreamist series about a woman who can communicate with the dead in her dreams, and Shadows of the Moss, book one in a historical fiction trilogy.
Kim has presented for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) through USCB as well as presenting at Camp Conroy for the past two summers. In addition, Kim has written for several magazines, including Beaufort Lifestyle, Bluffton Breeze, Citizen’s Companion, and the Civil War Times. When not writing, Kim is a school psychologist who lives with her husband and fur babies in a haunted 1890s cottage in the 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 Jennifer Bartell Boykin, Author of Traveling Mercy
2024-03-23 17:00 - 18:30 | 601 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States, South Carolina 29902
The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with Columbia City Poet Laureate Jennifer Bartell Boykin, author of the debut poetry collection Travelling Mercy, on Saturday, March 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 to reserve in advance: 843-379-7025.
Boykin will also be teaching a poetry writing workshop earlier that same afternoon, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. To learn more and register for the workshop, please visit https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Traveling Mercy navigates the journeys of a Black woman from rural South Carolina. Her travels transcend time as she encounters history, nature, and grief. She sits with the eldest residents before her birth, with the first ancestor who came to these shores, with her parents through their marriage, and through her own loneliness in the wake of their deaths. Planting as she harvests, this book is a lament and a love story to survival.
“After reading a single magnificent poem in Traveling Mercy, “the sapling in your chest floods with too much water and light.” Read a handful of poems, and find yourself on the poet’s ferry crossing the river “between thens and tomorrows.” Every magical, existential line is an iteration of Jennifer Bartell’s dexterous poetics. This accomplished debut elegizes human loss while celebrating the resilience that persists through witness and language. Traveling Mercy is a dazzling first book.”–National Book Award-Winning Poet Terrance Hayes
“Bartell’s Traveling Mercy is such an intimate history of a Black girl raised by Black women, raised by church fans and magnolia memories, dream-hymns of Black people pushing through mud and disease and held together by traditions. This rich collection of poems, by a Black girl who knows how and why to style okra seeds in her hair, spills with fat oysters and a community’s petrified pounded grace. Bartell assures she will never give us one chance to hold our breath, as we jump into this never-ending deep end of blazing life, therefore, prepare to be drenched.”– National Book Award-Winning Poet Nikky Finney
Poet Laureate of Columbia, South Carolina, and a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, Jennifer Bartell Boykin is the author of Traveling Mercy (from Finishing Line Press). Her poetry has 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. She teaches creative writing and English dual-enrollment courses at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, where she was named the 2019–20 Teacher of the Year. She is also an American Library Association Spectrum Scholar and an Augusta Baker Scholar at the University of South Carolina’s School of Information Science, where she is pursuing her master of library and information science degree. Bartell Boykin was born and raised in Bluefield, a Black community in Johnsonville, South Carolina.
