The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday, September 12, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is Deirdre Garr Johns, author of the forthcoming children’s picture book Weathering the Storm and the forthcoming poetry chapbook Fallen Love. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres. Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About [...]

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

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

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

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held virtually on Thursday, August 8, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is poet Jessica Goody, author of Phoenix: Transformation Poems. Open Mic will also feature short readings of 3 to 5 minutes each by other writers in many genres. Interested in reading as part of Open Mic? Let us know at contact@patconroyliterarycenter.org. About Our Featured Writer Jessica Goody is the award-winning author of Defense Mechanisms (Phosphene Publishing, 2016) and Phoenix: Transformation [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with retired surgeon turned novelist Martha B. Boone, author of Mother Charity, in conversation with retired FBI Special Agent turned novelist Dana Ridenour, author of the Lexie Montgomery Series, on Thursday, July 25, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited: please reserve in advance to attend this free author event: 843-379-7025. About Mother Charity Evolving from a naive girl to [...]

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

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

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St.) on Thursday, July 11, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is novelist Rebecca Thompson, winner of the Ann Head Literary Prize and author of the duology The Girl of the Tree and Seeking the Truth. 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 [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with McCracken King Poston Jr., author of Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom, on Thursday, June 27, 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 through the Beaufort Bookstore. Please call to reserve your seat in advance: 843-379-7025. About the book and author Like a nonfiction John Grisham thriller with echoes of Rainman, Just [...]

The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center is honored to host a free public drop-in launch event for Donna Keel Armer’s Moringa: Tree of Life ~ Book 2 in the Cat Gabbiano Mystery Series. Join us on Saturday, June 15, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 601 Bladen St., in downtown Beaufort. No advance registration required. Books will be available for sale and signing. Refreshments will be provided. The author will speak briefly at 5:45 p.m. About Moringa: Tree of Life (Book 2 in the Cat [...]

The Pat Conroy Literary Center's monthly Open Mic Night will be held virtually on Thursday, June 13, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Our featured writer is novelist Laura Mahaffey, author of Subject to the Tide. 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 Laura Mahaffey writes romance with a dash of suspense, a hint of folklore, and [...]

In this workshop, we discuss what it’s like as a literary magazine editor moving through the slush pile: sins we’re willing to forgive, and those we’re not. We’ll also explore tools to finding literary magazines that are a best fit for your work, how to rate them, and when to submit to what. Finally, we’ll look at strategies for submitting to contests. If submitting your work is in part a numbers game, then this class is about figuring out your best odds. This virtual workshop [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]