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The Pat Conroy Literary Center, in partnership with the Beaufort County Library, presents WOMEN OF CAROLINA, a ten-week, five-book discussion series supported by a grant from South Carolina Humanities. Each free, public discussion will be led by a visiting literary scholar. Copies of all five books featured in this series are available for circulation through Beaufort County Library, thanks in part to the South Carolina State Library.

On April 27th, Ellen Malphrus will discuss Dorothy Allison’s National Book Award nominated novel Bastard Out of Carolina. “Set in the rural South, this tale centers around the Boatwright family, a proud and closeknit clan known for their drinking, fighting, and womanizing. Nicknamed Bone by her Uncle Earle, Ruth Anne is the bastard child of Anney Boatwright, who has fought tirelessly to legitimize her child. When she marries Glen, a man from a good family, it appears that her prayers have been answered. However, Anney suffers a miscarriage and Glen begins drifting. He develops a contentious relationship with Bone and then begins taking sexual liberties with her. Embarrassed and unwilling to report these unwanted advances, Bone bottles them up and acts out her confusion and shame…. Eventually, a violent encounter wrests Bone away from her stepfather.

In this first novel, Allison creates a rich sense of family and portrays the psychology of a sexually abused child with sensitivity and insight.”—Library Journal

“Dorothy Allison received mainstream recognition with her first novel, Bastard Out of Carolina (1992), which in 1996 was adapted to a film directed by Anjelica Huston. The semi-autobiographical narrative, which takes place in Allison’s hometown, explores themes of poverty and choice through the eyes of Bone Boatwright, who draws strength from family stories and, despite beatings and sexual abuse, finds her own voice and identity.”—Clara Juncker, South Carolina Encyclopedia

About Our Presenter:

Ellen MalphrusA student of James Dickey, Ellen Malphrus teaches creative writing and Southern literature at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in Southern Literary Journal, Review of Contemporary Fiction, William and Mary Review, Georgia Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Malphrus’s first novel Untying the Moon was published  by Pat Conroy’s Story River Books.
She serves as deputy director of the Pat Conroy Literary Festival.
 
Sponsor: South Carolina Humanities
Website: Facebook Event Page

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