The Pat Conroy Literary Center will offer a variety of programs and events in November and December 2021, including the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival on November 4 – 7. This programming was supported with funding from a Growth Grant from South Carolina Humanities. Funding for the Growth Grants has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The Pat Conroy Literary Center opened in 2016; it mission is to nurture a diverse community of writers, readers, teachers, and students by offering educational programs and special events that celebrate the transformative power of story, expanding our impact through collaborations with local and national partners.
The Pat Conroy Literary Festival on November 4 – 7 will offer a wide array of virtual and in-person events, many of which are free. The schedule includes:
November 4, 2021
10:00 am Pat Conroy Festival: Characters Who Grow from Where They’re Planted @ Pat Conroy Literary Center – $45
1:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival: Memoir As Vaccine: Saving Your Life and Memories @ Coastal Discovery Museum – Free
5:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: E. Ethelbert Miller in Conversation with Elizabeth Robin @ Coastal Discovery Museum – Free
November 5, 2021
10:00 am Pat Conroy Festival: The Healing Art @ Online Virtual Event – $45
1:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival: The Lowdown on Elevating Your Memoir @ Online Virtual Event – $45
1:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Wiley Cash & Brian Panowich in Conversation with Ellen Malphrus @ Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce – Free
3:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Remembering Dorothea Benton Frank @ Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce – Free
4:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival: Songwriting with Jennifer Daniels & Jeff Neal @ Pat Conroy Literary Center – $45
6:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival Book Signing: Jennifer Daniels Neal & Estelle Ford-Williamson @ NeverMore Bookstore – Free
November 6, 2021
9:00 am Pat Conroy Festival: Young Writers Reading with Holland Perryman @ Online Virtual Event – Free
10:30 am Pat Conroy Festival: Poetry as Superpower @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – $45
10:30 am Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Jennifer Daniels Neal & Estelle Ford-Williamson @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – Free
12:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Robert Olen Butler in Conversation with Bren McClain @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – Free
12:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival: Sense of Place @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – $45
1:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Author & Photographer Andrew Feiler @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – Free
2:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival: Creating the Discipline @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – $45
3:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Conversation with Ashley M. Jones, Anjali Enjeti, and Cinelle Barnes, in partnership with DAYLO @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – Free
4:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Carrie McCray Nickens Poetry Fellowship Reading @ Technical College of the Lowcountry – Free
5:30 pm Pat Conroy Festival Open Mic Night with Ashley M. Jones @ Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce – Free
November 7, 2021
2:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Rosemary Daniell and Judy Goldman in Conversation with Ellen Malphrus @ Online Virtual Event – Free
4:00 pm Pat Conroy Festival Author Event: Patti Callahan in Conversation with Margaret Evans @ Lowcountry Presbyterian Church – Bluffton, SC – Free
Additional fall programming offered by the Pat Conroy Literary Center includes:
Thursday, November 18, 2021 | 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST
Bestselling YA Novelist Kalynn Bayron in Conversation with Holland Perryman, Millie Bennett, Alisha Arora, and Jonathan Haupt
Part of the Bluffton Book Festival
Free; Registration Required
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 | 6:00 p.m.
Author Visit: Green Grass and High Times by Julie McAlpin Richmond
Friday, December 3, 2021 | 6:00 p.m.
Author Visit: Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonder in a World Beyond Humans by Janisse Ray
In partnership with Nevermore Books and part of Downtown Beaufort’s annual Night on the Town holiday celebration.
Pat Conroy Literary Center Director, Jonathan Haupt, said: “These multi-faceted opportunities for enriching engagement with literature and the creative act of storytelling in diverse and richly experienced voices are vital to sustaining and augmenting the humanities in our lowcountry communities – and beyond.”
For more information about the Pat Conroy Literary Center, visit the website at https://patconroyliterarycenter.org/.
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 21-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.
