Launching this year’s 5th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, in partnership with Crescendo, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host a free virtual conversation between acclaimed artist and author Mary Whyte and ETV Lowcountry’s Holly Jackson, host of By the River.
In this workshop, we’re going to take a different approach. Each participant will conceptualize and begin a concrete plan for writing a novel that will lead first sentences, first paragraphs, and beyond.
Whether you're writing a novel, a memoir, stories, or narrative nonfiction, the voice you use to tell your story is crucial. We'll look at examples of great storytelling voices, including the inimitable Pat Conroy's, and try out short scenes in different voices.
Brad Taylor, New York Times best-selling author of the Pike Logan thriller series, will discuss his life of writing and service in conversation with Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt.
Dorothy St. James will talk about the experiences and changes she’s made in her publishing career since her first book was released fifteen years ago.
These two sessions will introduce you to the process of writing memoir by focusing on an important person or moment in your life.
Broadway dancer. Undercover FBI agent. Urban planner. U.S. Army Special Forces officer. This group of novelists lived interesting lives before deciding to pursue their dreams of becoming fulltime writers.
This workshop will explore the process of linking stories together in such a way as to make the whole of a collection greater than the sum of its parts.
Join us live on the Pat Conroy Literary Festival Facebook for readings by young writers from our 2020 Camp Conroy summer camp and the inaugural Ann Head Literary Prize at Beaufort High School.
Join us for the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival Poetry Reading, this year featuring poets Emily Davis-Fletcher (a finalist for the 2019 Sublingua Prize for Poetry), Gary Jackson (author of Missing You, Metropolis), Len Lawson (author of Chime and co-editor of Hand in Hand: Poets Respond to Race), and Elizabeth Robin (author of Where Green Meets Blue and Silk Purses and Lemonade), introduced by USCB Writer in Residence Ellen Malphrus.
These two sessions will introduce you to the process of writing memoir by focusing on an important person or moment in your life.
Join us for a virtual reading with fiction writers Pam Durban, Andrew Geyer, and Valerie Sayers--all inductees into the South Carolina Academy of Authors, the Palmetto State's Literary Hall of Fame
Join us for a local(ish) author panel discussion featuring four authors of recently published new small press books: Rebecca Dwight Bruff, author of the historical novel Trouble the Water (moderator); Donna Keel Armer, author of the travel memoir Solo in Salento; Susan Diamond Riley, author of the YA novel The Sea Turtle's Curse; and, from farther off, special guest Joe Palmer, author of the debut novel A Mariner's Tale.
Exploring the work of poets Robert Hayden, Terrance Hayes, Sonia Sanchez, and others, we will find avenues into writing what we work so hard to keep locked away.
Join us on the Pat Conroy Literary Festival's Facebook page for a live-stream of our festival's virtual Open Mic Night, featuring readings by festival presenters--hosted by Vivian Bikulege and presented in partnership with the South Carolina Writers Association.
Join us online on Sunday, November 8, at 10:30 a.m. for a guided tour of our Pat Conroy Literary Center, led by executive director Jonathan Haupt. This virtual tour will be held as part of our fifth annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival.
Join us for a panel discussion of A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South, a newly named New York Times Notable Book--featuring editor Cinelle Barnes and contributing essayists Latria Graham and Gary Jackson--introduced by Ellen Malphrus.
Guided brainstorming will be implemented to build characters for our fiction work; we’ll practice with timed drills to flesh out aspects of their personality and generate possible plot angles. After writing examples of these aspects of character, participants will read some of their work and give each other feedback; Participants will leave with tangible detail of at least one character that will enable them to begin constructing a story or fleshing out a character in a novel or short story.
Led by award-winning poet and memoirist E. Ethelbert Miller, this free writers workshop will examine how writing can help one cope with a crisis.
Join award-winning African American poet, memoirist, teacher, and activist E. Ethelbert Miller for discussion of his newest collection of poetry, When Your Wife Has Tommy John Surgery and Other Baseball Stories. He will read and converse with Elizabeth Robin.
Research has shown that mindful reflection and a daily writing practice can facilitate the immediate processing of our emotions, even during the most turbulent times.
Award-winning writer and veteran workshop instructor Judy Goldman will tell you everything she wishes she’d known when she started writing memoir.
As part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, USC Beaufort writer in residence Ellen Malphrus will interview bestselling novelists Wiley Cash (When Ghosts Come Home) and Brian Panowich (Hard Cash Valley) in person at the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce.
As part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, we will host a panel discussion remembering bestselling and beloved novelist Dorothea Benton Frank and her special friendship with Pat Conroy, featuring contributing writers to Reunion Beach: Cassandra King, Patti Callahan, Marjory Wentworth, and Gervais Hagerty
Join Jennifer Daniels and Jeff Neal for ninety minutes of fast-paced, interactive tips and tricks for songwriting. We'll run exercises that will empower you to pursue your own unique voice with confidence.
Presented by the Pat Conroy Literary Festival as a First Friday special event at NeverMore Books, meet singer/songwriter/novelist Jennifer Daniels Neal, author of The Locke Box, and local novelist Estelle Ford-Williamson, author of Rising Fawn. This is an in-person book signing at NeverMore Books in downtown Beaufort.
Presented as part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, we will host a reading by some of the young writers and artists who participated in our 4th annual Camp Conroy summer camp, reading their work from To Be Free, the 2021 Camp Conroy anthology. They will be joined by the winner of the 2nd annual Ann Head Literary Prize for Short Story at Beaufort High School, Holland Perryman.
Singer/songwriter Jennifer Daniels Neal is the author of the debut novel The Locke Box AND the inspiration for a character in Estelle Ford-Williamson's novel Rising Fawn. Join Jennifer and Estelle for a conversation about their books and the intersections of their writing lives.
Learn how poets slow down time, travel back into the past, reflect the world, and illuminate stories previously invisible. In this workshop, we explore the benefits of poetry for readers, writers, and communities.
Presented as part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, join Robert Olen Butler for a discussion of his new novel, Late City, in conversation with Bren McClain, author of One Good Mama Bone.
In this workshop, we will navigate multi-sensory poems, play with poetic synesthesia, and explore a writer's sensorium to activate your creative writing.
Presented as part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, join photographer and author Andrew Feiler for an in-person presentation on his newest book, A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools That Changed America.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Presented as part of the 6th annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, USC Beaufort writer in residence Ellen Malphrus will host a virtual conversation with award-winning poets and memoirists Rosemary Daniell (Fatal Flowers and Sleeping with Soldiers) and Judy Goldman (Together and Child).
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.
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!
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.
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).
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
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
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.
Judy Goldman, author of the memoir Child, live-streamed on the Conroy Center’s Facebook page and also accessible on Zoom with advance registration.
Thrity Umrigar, author of the novel Honor, in conversation with Margaret Evans. Book signing to follow, at the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts
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.
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.
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.
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.
2024 Festival
The ninth annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival will be held November 1-2, 2024, in beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina. Join us as we honor Pat Conroy’s legacy as student, teacher, and mentor through our 2024 festival.
Presented by the Pat Conroy Literary Center the annual festival will be held as a series of author presentations and panel discussions, writing workshops, exhibits, and virtual tours.
Pat Conroy Literary Center
601 Bladen Street
Beaufort, SC 29902 (Map & Directions)
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