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Aiken County – SC, Public Library
New York Times best-selling writer Pat Conroy (1945–2016) inspired a worldwide legion of devoted fans numbering in the millions, but none are more loyal to him and more committed to sustaining his literary legacy than the many writers he nurtured over the course of his 50-year writing life. In sharing their stories of Conroy, his fellow writers honor his memory and advance our shared understanding of his lasting impact on 20th- and 21st-century literary life in and well beyond the American South.
Moderated by co-editor and Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt, this panel discussion will feature four of the collection’s contributing writers—bookseller and gardening writer William A. Balk Jr., poet Tim Conroy, historian Alexia Jones Helsley, and novelist John Warley—as they discuss the inspirational roles Pat Conroy played in their own writing lives. A book signing will follow their discussion. This event is free an open to the public.
Website: Facebook Event Page
Praise for “OUR PRINCE OF SCRIBES”
“Our Prince of Scribes isn’t just a collection of homages but also a delightful introduction to Conroy’s vast and talented circle of friends.”–Washington Post
“In Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, edited by Nicole Seitz and Jonathan Haupt, a collection of writers navigate the rich and often complicated landscape that was Conroy’s life…. Many of the writers have benefited from Conroy’s nurturing, and through their stories, they seek to honor his memory and continue to advance his unmistakable impact on modern literature.”—Augusta Chronicle
About our Presenters:
William A. Balk Jr., veteran bookseller and master gardener, is a contributing writer to Our Prince of Scribes. Balk also writes for WeeklyHubris.com. He serves on the board of directors of South Carolina Humanities and on the advisory council of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, where he is the volunteer coordinator.
Tim Conroy is a poet and former educator. His work has been published in literary journals, magazines, and compilations, including Fall Lines, Jasper, and Marked by Water. In 2017, Muddy Ford Press published his first book of poetry, Theologies of Terrain, edited by Ed Madden, poet laureate of the City of Columbia. A founding board member of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, established in his brother’s honor, Tim Conroy is a contributing writer to Our Prince of Scribes.
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the founding director of the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press. With novelist and artist Nicole Seitz, he is co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy. Haupt’s articles, book reviews, and author interviews have appeared in the Charleston Post & Courier, Beaufort Lowcountry Weekly, Beaufort Lifestyle magazine, Pink magazine, Shrimp, Collards & Grits magazine, Fall Lines, and the Conroy Center’s Porch Talk blog. He serves as an associate producer and consultant to the SCETV author interview program By the River, on the board of directors of the South Carolina Academy of Authors and the Friends of South Carolina Libraries, on the American Writers Museum affiliates steering committee, and on the South Carolina Humanities advisory committee.
Alexia Jones Helsley is an American archivist and historian who currently serves as senior instructor of history and university archivist at the University of South Carolina Aiken. She is the author of several nonfiction books, including Beaufort, South Carolina: A History; Wicked Beaufort; Hidden History of Greenville County, SC; A Guide to Historic Beaufort; Columbia, South Carolina: History; Wicked Edisto: The Dark Side of Eden; and A History of North Carolina Wine. In addition, she is a contributor to South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times, volume 1, and the South Carolina Encyclopedia. Helsley also chairs the Old Exchange Commission and is a member of the Beaufort High School Hall of Fame on the board of the South Carolina Historical Association. She is the recipient of the 2006 Governor’s Archives Award, USCA’s first part-time teaching award, and the Bobby Gilmer Moss Research Award (SCDAR).
John Warley, a native South Carolinian, is a graduate of The Citadel and the University of Virginia School of Law. Now a full-time writer, he divides his time between Beaufort, South Carolina, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Warley is the author of the novels Bethesda’s Child, The Moralist, The Moralist II, A Southern Girl, and The Home Guard. He is also the author of the nonfiction book Stand Forever, Yielding Never: The Citadel in the 21st Century and “The Citadel at War,” a narrative history of the college etched into the granite walls of The Citadel War Memorial, which opened to the public in October 2017.
