Presented by the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the first-ever Lowcountry Book Club Convention is an opportunity for book club members–or anyone interested in joining a book club–to meet, mingle, and exchange ideas about fostering and sustaining a community of readers. Free and open to the public, the Lowcountry Book Club Convention will occur on Friday, December 15, 2017 and is presented in partnership with the Technical College of the Lowcountry and the Friends of Beaufort County Library and supported by the Pulpwood Queens book club. SC Humanities sponsored this program with a Fast Track Literary Grant.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
10:00-11:00 am: Read Like a Critic
Current and former book review professionals will discuss how they approach engaging with books and critiquing them to the benefit of fellow readers. Panelists: Bill Thompson (book reviewer for Kirkus Reviews and former books editor for the Charleston Post & Courier), Adam Parker (current books editor for the Charleston Post & Courier), and Teresa Weaver (former books editor for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Atlanta magazine), moderated by Margaret Evans (the Lowcountry Weekly).
11:00 am-Noon: Will Schwalbe, author of Books for Living and The End of Your Life Book Club, in conversation with Cassandra King Conroy, author of Moonrise. A Pat Conroy Literary Center Visiting Writers Series program, sponsored by the Pulpwood Queens book club.
Noon-1:30 pm: Meet & mingle lunch break; book signing with Will Schwalbe and Cassandra King Conroy.
1:30-2:30 pm: Keeping Your Book Club from Becoming a Wine Club
Hear successful models for book discussion, title selection, and membership recruitment and retention from representative members of lowcountry book clubs and the Charleston, SC, chapter of the Pulpwood Queens. Panelists to be announced, moderated by Marilyn Harcharik (Friends of the Beaufort Library).
3:00-4:30 pm: Book Club Recommended Lowcountry Writers
Meet local writers whose books have been read, discussed, and recommended by lowcountry book clubs. Panelists: Pattie Welek Hall (A Mother’s Dance), J.C. Sasser (Gradle Bird), and others to be announced, moderated by Ellen Malphrus (Untying the Moon).
The program will occur at the Technical College of the Lowcountry, Beaufort Campus, Building 4. Free registration is available here: https://lowcountrybookclubconvention2017.brownpapertickets.com/, and more information can be found on the Facebook event page.
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 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or 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.
