The 2023 Charleston Literary Festival will take place November 3 – 12, featuring both virtual and in-person programs and a wide variety of noted authors, thinkers, and speakers. SC Humanities supported this program with a Major Grant.
The Charleston Literary Festival was founded in 2017 as a result of an Anglo-American collaboration between the historic Charleston Library Society in the US and the Charleston Trust in the UK – the former rural meeting place of the renowned Bloomsbury Group of writers, artists and intellectuals. The Charleston Literary Festival is now an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)3 enterprise which retains a strong transatlantic dimension. Since its first appearance in 2017, the Festival has established a reputation for presenting exceptional speakers from diverse backgrounds in intimate contexts: Pulitzer, Booker and Nobel prize-winners, regularly cited in books-of-the-year lists.
The 2023 Charleston Literary Festival has a stellar lineup of speakers and programs, including Claire Keegan, Richard Ford, Rebecca Makkai, Lucy Worsley, Margaret Atwood, Andre Aciman, Paul Muldoon, and many others. The full schedule of speakers and events is available on the website: https://www.charlestonliteraryfestival.com.
Additionally, the documentary film, From the Bloomsbury Group to the Lowcountry, Charleston Literary Festival, will premiere at 7:30pm ET on Thursday, November 2 on South Carolina ETV (SCETV). The hour-long film, made possible thanks to Atomic Focus Entertainment, SC Humanities, and the Fiederowicz Family Fund, provides an insider perspective on the standout 2022 Festival and paves the way for the eagerly awaited 2023 festival. The documentary showcases Charleston Literary Festival’s impact, emphasizing the importance of humanities-focused events featuring speakers alongside emerging literary voices while engaging conversations with readers that inspire intergenerational learning and widen the reach of impactful authors and cultural exchanges throughout the community.
For the upcoming festival, SC Humanities is specifically supporting the the 2023 Charleston READS! program, featuring The Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor. Documenting the life of Daniel Murray, a successful black civic leader and assistant librarian at the Library of Congress, the book demonstrates the opportunities offered by Reconstruction for Murray to establish a resilient, influential black community in Washington and the subsequent decline of this community as a result of systemic racism. Dowling Taylor joins Dr. Kim Long, Executive Director of the Lowcountry Rice Project and Board member of the Festival, in conversation. Charleston READS! is a collaboration between the Mayor’s Book Club, Oakwood University and Charleston Literary Festival. The Charleston READS! program will take place on Sunday, November 5, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. at the Circular Congregational Church.
Festival sessions will be recorded for the festival’s digital access initiative and uploaded to their website and YouTube channel to be viewed free of charge after the event.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
