The University of South Carolina Press and the University of South Carolina Beaufort Center for the Arts will present the inaugural Pat Conroy Literary Festival on October 20 – 23, 2016 in Beaufort, SC. The immersive event will include writer panels, book signings, live dramatic performances, film screenings, author lunches, receptions, readings, tours, an art exhibition, and a series of instructional workshops for writers. South Carolina Humanities supported this festival with a Fast Track Literary Grant.
The Pat Conroy Literary Festival will continue the tradition of remarkable conversations and experiences that began at the Pat Conroy at 70 Festival and birthday celebration in October 2015. The festival will honor the writing and life of Pat Conroy (1945 – 2016) and will also expand to include larger discussions of Southern literature and culture. Each year the festival will highlight a different theme from Pat Conroy’s writing, and the 2016 theme is “Place as Character and Muse in Southern Literature.”
Forty authors and presenters are currently scheduled for the wide variety of programs, including many noted Southern authors such as Dorothea Benton Frank, Jill McCorkle, Mary Alice Monroe, and Ron Rash. The author Cassandra King, Pat Conroy’s wife, will also have a prominent role in the festival. Additionally, several authors who were published through the Story River Books imprint of the University of South Carolina Press, edited by Pat Conroy from its inception through his death, will participate. A full list of participating authors and the complete schedule are available on the festival website at www.patconroyfestival.com.
Many festival events are ticketed, and tickets can be purchased at www.uscbcenterforthearts.com.
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 22-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.
Image: Anchorage, Copyright Wendell Minor
