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Pat Conroy Festival: Creating the Discipline

Technical College of the Lowcountry 104 Reynolds Street, Bldg 12, Beaufort, SC, United States

So you want to be a professional writer? Join us as we share the tools we use to win the battle we all love so much—getting the stories and poems out of our heads, onto the page, and into publication.

$45

Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Conversation with Ashley M. Jones, Anjali Enjeti, and Cinelle Barnes, in partnership with DAYLO

Technical College of the Lowcountry 104 Reynolds Street, Bldg 12, Beaufort, SC, United States

As part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, Beaufort High School's DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization) will host a conversation with Hub City Press authors Cinelle Barnes (A Measure of Belonging), Anjali Enjeti (The Parted Earth), and Ashley M. Jones (Reparations, Now!). This session will be moderated by DAYLO members Holland Perryman, Alisha Arora, and Millie Bennett.

Free

Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Carrie McCray Nickens Poetry Fellowship Reading

Technical College of the Lowcountry 104 Reynolds Street, Bldg 12, Beaufort, SC, United States

As part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, we will host the Carrie McCray Nickens Poetry Fellowship Reading featuring fellowship winner Elizabeth Robin and finalists Miho Kinnas, Derek Berry, Danielle Verwers, Ann-Chadwell Humphries, and Yvette R. Murray, moderated by Ellen Malphrus, USCB writer in residence.

Free

Pat Conroy Festival Open Mic Night with Ashley M. Jones

Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce 711 Bladen Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

The Pat Conroy Literary Festival's Open Mic Night will be a hybrid event with both in-person and virtual readings, headlined by Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley M. Jones, author of Reparations, Now!, and featuring fellow festival presenting authors.

Free

Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Patti Callahan in Conversation with Margaret Evans

Lowcountry Presbyterian Church - Bluffton, SC 10 Simmonsville Rd., Bluffton, SC, United States

As part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, bestselling author Patti Callahan will discuss her newest book, Once Upon a Wardrobe, in conversation with Lowcountry Weekly publisher Margaret Evans at and in partnership with Lowcountry Presbyterian Church of Bluffton.

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: Personal Growth through Journaling

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

What do we invite into our life? Let's frolic in the creation of a fruitful, customized practice to observe and write in ways that welcome and celebrate opportunities for peace, passion and joy!

$45

Pat Conroy Festival: Make a Scene, Why Don’t You!

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Scenes are the building blocks of stories and novels. Mastering scene-writing is a powerful way to develop characters and to increase tension and suspense. In this workshop, you will gain a deeper understanding of how you can use scenes, alongside summary, to build stories and novels that have dramatic power and emotional impact.

$45

Pat Conroy Festival: Willie Morris Award Winners Panel

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Panel discussion with four winners of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction: Nathan Harris (The Sweetness of Water), De’Shawn Charles Winslow (In West Mills), Bren McClain (One Good Mama Bone), and Mindy Friddle (Secret Keepers).

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: The Water Is Wide Panel

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Honoring the 50th anniversary of Pat Conroy’s 1972 teaching memoir The Water Is Wide, the panel discussion will include Conroy’s Daufuskie Island student turned celebrity chef and cultural historian Sallie Ann Robinson, historian Larry Rowland, and two of Conroy’s teaching colleagues, George Westerfield and Peter Walter, moderated by Ellen Malphrus

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: Conrack Film Screening

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

FILM SCREENING OF CONRACK, also featuring live vocal performances by Marlena Smalls, teacher recognitions, and a new scholarship announcement, at the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: Fiction Can Fix Things

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

This is a generative workshop, so bring your "what really happened" and let's apply some real pressure. Let's put your characters in the driver's seat and see what they're capable of. I'm telling you -- that's the sweet, sweet glory.

$45

Pat Conroy Festival: Memoirist Judy Goldman

Zoom

Judy Goldman, author of the memoir Child, live-streamed on the Conroy Center’s Facebook page and also accessible on Zoom with advance registration.

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: Novelist Thrity Umrigar

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Thrity Umrigar, author of the novel Honor, in conversation with Margaret Evans. Book signing to follow, at the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: Novelist George Dawes Green

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

George Dawes Green, author of the novel The Kingdoms of Savannah, in conversation with Scott Graber. Book signing to follow, at the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts.

Free

Pat Conroy Festival: Kick-Start Your Manuscript

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Thinking of writing a book? Whether you’re contemplating a novel, a memoir, or a collection of stories, embarking on a book-length manuscript of prose can be daunting.

$45

Pat Conroy Festival: An Evening of Storytelling and Music

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

STORYTELLING EVENT: With Moth founder George Dawes Green, featuring MC Jon Goode, Scott Gibbs and the Beaufort Mass Choir, Steve Faulkner of Alibis, Peter Zamuka, and several local storytellers.

$25

Pat Conroy Festival: Hunting Island Trail Walk

Hunting Island State Park 2555 Sea Island Parkway, St Helena Island, SC, United States

Whether it’s your first time in the forest, or you’re an avid nature-lover, learn techniques to deepen your personal ease and heighten your connection with the intuitive guidance within nature.

$100

Pat Conroy Festival: Memories to Memoir

Zoom

Award-winning writer and veteran workshop instructor, Judy Goldman, will tell you everything you need to know to begin writing memoir — or, if you’re already engaged in writing memoir, how to take your work to a deeper level.

$45

Pat Conroy Festival: Children’s Authors Panel

Lowcountry Presbyterian Church - Bluffton, SC 10 Simmonsville Rd., Bluffton, SC, United States

Children’s Authors Rebecca Dwight Bruff (Stars of Wonder) and Susan Montanari (The Halloween Tree) in conversation with Sally Sue Lavigne of the Storybook Shoppe.

Free

WORKSHOP: Say What? A Playful Dialogue Workshop Led by Valerie Sayers

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

We’ll take a good look at dialogue that takes off with examples from the masters, including Raymond Chandler, Flannery O’Connor, Toni Morrison and, of course, Pat Conroy. We’ll question how realistic dialogue can and should be, and we’ll explore how many ways there are to weave speech and action and description together.

$45

BOOK CLUB: My Losing Season

Rhett House Inn 1009 Craven St, Beaufort, SC, United States

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.

$10

WORKSHOP: From Bad to Good to Unputdownable Led by Sean A. Scapellato

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

This workshop will explore that process of taking a story from bad to good to great. We’ll analyze the toughest problems in backstory, dialogue, and description (by “leaving out the parts most readers skip” says Elmore Leonard), the vexing issues of character and plot, and challenges to quality writing time.

$45

AUTHOR EVENT: New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash will discuss his new Korean War-era novel The Caretaker in conversation with USC Beaufort writer in residence Ellen Malphrus.

$10

WORKSHOP: The Gift of Family Led by Freya Manfred

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

I'll explain that talking about "process" is antithetical to how I think and work, or play. My "process" involves remembering as much of what I see and hear as I can and trying to describe it; for me the process of writing means getting lost in watching something or someone, rarely knowing what will happen next, and then writing about it.

$45

AUTHOR EVENT: Leading Ladies in Southern Fiction

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

A Conversation with Bestselling Authors Mary Kay Andrews, Victoria Frank, and Mary Alice Monroe, moderated by Cassandra King, with special guest, fiction editor Carrie Feron.

$10

FILM PANEL: Panel discussion of The Lords of Discipline

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Panel discussion of The Lords of Discipline with screenwriter Thomas Pope, Citadel English professor Sean Hueston, and Pat Conroy's classmate and fellow author John Warley.

$10

FILM DISCUSSION: The Lords of Discipline

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

The Lords of Discipline screenwriter Thomas Pope in conversation with Ron Tucker, executive director of the Beaufort International Film Festival, on the making of the film.

$10

WORKSHOP: Excavating Memory into Poetry Led by Jennifer Bartell Boykin

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

In this workshop, we will excavate memory to build poems that stitch together a new quilt of experience. We will examine ways in which we can structure a memory poem around time and space.

$45

AUTHOR EVENT: Homeira Qaderi, author of Dancing in the Mosque

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Writer and human rights advocate Homeira Qaderi, author of Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son, in conversation with author Valerie Sayers.

$10

POETRY PANEL: Why Poetry Matters

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Why Poetry Matters, panel discussion with poets Ron Rash (Poems: New and Selected), Jennifer Bartell Boykin (Traveling Mercy), Freya Manfred (When I Was Young and Old), and Tim Conroy (No True Route), moderated by Ellen Malphrus.

$10

WORKSHOP: Writing a Great Fiction Query Letter Led by Carrie Feron

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Learn from one of the top editors in New York on how to structure a persuasive introduction to you and your work. What in your biography or experience is likely to get an agent or editor’s attention? How much plot description is enough or too much?

$100

RECEPTION: 2023 Wrap Party

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Wrap Party at the Pat Conroy Literary Center and preview of the Witness Tree Park, with guest MCs Jeanne Meserve and Jeffrey Blount, with a musical performance by the Beaufort Mass Choir.

$35

Canceled POSTPONED TO 2024: WITNESS TREE PARK RIBBON CUTTING

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Featuring public remarks and a musical performance. Free. (across King Street from the Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort)

Free

WORKSHOP: Poetry of Practice, led by Tim Conroy and Susan Madison

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Led by poets Tim Conroy and Susan Madison, this workshop will explore the poetry of practice, unpredictability, surprise, and image. Through daily practice, we suspend judgment and expectation and discover how the poem rises from what we observe—touch, taste, smell, hear, and see.

$45

AUTHOR EVENT: DéLana R.A. Dameron

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

DéLana R.A. Dameron, author of the debut novel Redwood Court (a Reese’s Book Club Pick) in conversation with Ellen Malphrus, USC Beaufort writer in residence. $10/person. Followed by a book signing. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort)

$10

WORKSHOP: How to Submit to Literary Magazine, led by Valerie Sayers

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Join other writers to identify the literary magazines and journals most receptive to your writing. This workshop, for fiction writers, poets, essayists, and reviewers at all levels from beginner to professional, will help you submit a manuscript that gets noticed.

$45

FREEDOM TO READ PANEL: Moderated by Pat R. Scales

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

FREEDOM TO READ PANEL: Moderated by Pat R. Scales (award-winning retired librarian and author of Banned Books for Kids) in conversation with high school librarian Karen Gareis (featured on 60 Minutes), Julia Garnett (American Library Association Banned Books Week Honorary Youth Chair), and current and past student leaders of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization (featured on Nick News and in Banned Together).

Free

TRIBUTE TO LIBRARIANS and FILM SCREENING: Presented by Jonathan Haupt

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

Honoring our festival’s theme of “I Was Born to Be in a Library,” Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt will present a brief tribute to the essential roles of librarians in the context of Pat Conroy’s legacy. Following that, the festival will present a private pre-screening (freely open to all festival attendees with advance registration) of the feature-length documentary film Banned Together.

Free

WORKSHOP: How Not to Get Published, led by John Warley and Sean Scapellato

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Sean and John will share their journeys, from the high hopes that accompany submissions to the frustration of waiting for rejections that inevitably arrive (if at all) on the same day the car won't start or the youngest child needs braces. Such is the writing life, with some laughs along the way.

$45

READ-ALOUD: DAYLO Teddy Bear Picnic

Port Royal Farmers Market 1615 Ribaut Rd., Port Royal,, United States

The student volunteers of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization will host their Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud—a free monthly community literacy program for young readers and their families.

Free

AUTHOR EVENT: Mysterious Women Panel

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

New York Times bestselling writer Cassandra King (Tell Me a Story) in conversation with a trio of Southern mystery authors, Agatha Award-winning and USA Today bestselling novelist Susan M. Boyer (The Liz Talbot Mysteries), Alicia Bessette (The Outer Banks Bookshop Mysteries), and Kristen Ness (At Loggerheads), with a special appearance by Gallery Books vice president and executive editor Carrie Feron.

$15

AUTHOR EVENT: Raj Haldar

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

#1 New York Times bestselling children’s author Raj Haldar (P Is for Pterodactyl and This Book Is Banned), who is also the rapper, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Lushlife, with a special performance of story and songs.

Free

WORKSHOP: Know Your Place: Setting as Character, led by Chad Rhoad

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Led by an award-winning editor, writer and former journalist, Chad Rhoad, this workshop is for writers looking to capture the essence of their setting, for those writers whose setting says as much about their work as the story, and for those who see the attitude, history and personality of a place as vital. Let your setting hold the metaphorical presence that drives your work.

$45

AUTHOR EVENT: Kwame Alexander

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

#1 New York Times bestselling for adults, young adults, and children Kwame Alexander (The Door of No Return and Black Star) in conversation with Cassie Owens Moore, middle school librarian and South Carolina Association of School Librarians Intellectual Freedom Committee chair.

Free

AUTHOR EVENT: Kirsten Miller

USC Beaufort Center for the Arts 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC, United States

New York Times bestselling for adults, young adults, and children Kirsten Miller (Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books and How to Lead a Life of Crime) in conversation with Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt.

$10

CLOSING RECEPTION: Wrap Up Party

Pat Conroy Literary Center 601 Bladen St, Beaufort, SC, United States

Wrap-up party with catering by Debbi Covington and featuring a musical performance by the Beaufort Mass Choir at the Pat Conroy Literary Center and adjacent Witness Tree Park.

$40
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