The annual Conroy Festival began as Pat Conroy’s 70th birthday celebration in October 2015 and now continues as an annual signature event of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center. The festival is made possible each year by a generous gift from the Robert S. Handler Trust and through collaborations with a pantheon of community partners, this year including the Crescendo Festival of Hilton Head Island, the Coastal Discovery Museum, Island Writers Network, Technical College of the Lowcountry, Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce, Beaufort Bookstore, NeverMore Books, Lowcountry Presbyterian Church, the University of South Carolina Beaufort, Beaufort High School’s DAYLO (Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization), and the Friends of the Beaufort Library. Grant support is provided by South Carolina Humanities, a nonprofit organization inspiring, engaging and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture and heritage.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (subject to change)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26
Noon -4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)
2:00-4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP: Say What? A Playful Dialogue Workshop, Led by Valerie Sayers. Ticketed, $45. (Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) https://saywhatdialogueworkshop.eventbrite.com
6:30-7:30 p.m. BOOK CLUB: My Losing Season book club discussion led by Charlene Spearen and Jonathan Haupt, part of the monthly Pat Conroy Book Club at the Rhett House Inn. Ticketed, $10. (1009 Craven St., Beaufort) https://patconroybookclubatrhetthouseinn.eventbrite.com
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27
9:00-10:30 a.m. WORKSHOP: From Bad to Good to Unputdownable: Workshop Led by Sean A. Scapellato. Ticketed, $45. (Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) https://frombadtogoodtounputdownable.eventbrite.com
11:00 a.m.-Noon AUTHOR EVENT: New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash will discuss his new Korean War-era novel The Caretaker in conversation with USC Beaufort writer in residence Ellen Malphrus. Ticketed, $10. Book signing afterwards. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
Noon-4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)
12:30-2:00 p.m. WORKSHOP: The Gift of Family: Sharing Memories in Poetry, Prose, or Memoir, Workshop Led by Freya Manfred. Ticketed, $45. (Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) https://thegiftoffamilyworkshop.eventbrite.com
2:00-3:15 p.m. AUTHOR EVENT: Leading Ladies in Southern Fiction: A Conversation with Bestselling Authors Mary Kay Andrews, Victoria Frank, and Mary Alice Monroe, moderated by Cassandra King, with special guest, fiction editor Carrie Feron. Ticketed, $10. Book signing afterwards. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
4:00-5:00 p.m. FILM PANEL: Panel discussion of The Lords of Discipline with screenwriter Thomas Pope, Citadel English professor Sean Heuston, and Pat Conroy’s classmate and fellow author John Warley. Ticketed, $10. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
5:00-6:00 p.m. Intermission with refreshments.
6:00-8:00 p.m. FILM SCREENING: The Lords of Discipline. Ticketed, $10. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28
10:00-11:00 a.m. FILM DISCUSSION: The Lords of Discipline screenwriter Thomas Pope in conversation with Ron Tucker, executive director of the Beaufort International Film Festival, on the making of the film. Ticketed, $10. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
10:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m. WORKSHOP: Excavating Memory into Poetry, Led by Jennifer Bartell Boykin. Ticketed, $45. (Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) https://excavatingmemoryintopoetry.eventbrite.com
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. AUTHOR EVENT: The Secret Gate: A True Story of Courage and Sacrifice During the Collapse of Afghanistan by New York Times bestselling author Mitchell Zuckoff, with former U.S. State Department Special Agent and diplomat Sam Aronson, in conversation with Landon K. Thorne . Ticketed, $10. Book signing afterwards. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
Noon -4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)
2:00-3:00 p.m. AUTHOR EVENT: Writer and human rights advocate Homeira Qaderi, author of Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother’s Letter to Her Son, in conversation with author Valerie Sayers. Ticketed, $10. Book signing afterwards. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
3:30-4:30 p.m. POETRY PANEL: Why Poetry Matters, panel discussion with poets Ron Rash (Poems: New and Selected), Jennifer Bartell Boykin (Traveling Mercy), Freya Manfred (When I Was Young and Old), and Tim Conroy (No True Route), moderated by Ellen Malphrus. Ticketed, $10. Book signing afterwards. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
3:30-5:00 p.m. WORKSHOP: Writing a Great Fiction Query Letter, Workshop Led by Carrie Feron. Ticketed, $100. (Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) https://writingagreatfictionqueryletter.eventbrite.com
7:00-9:00 p.m. RECEPTION: Wrap Party at the Pat Conroy Literary Center and preview of the Witness Tree Park, with guest MCs Jeanne Meserve and Jeffrey Blount, with a musical performance by the Beaufort Mass Choir. Refreshments. Ticketed, $35. (Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) https://patconroyliteraryfestival2023.eventbrite.com
SUNDAY, 0CT0BER 29
Noon -4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)
3:00-5:00 p.m. WITNESS TREE PARK RIBBON CUTTING: Featuring public remarks and a musical performance. Free. (across King Street from the Pat Conroy Literary Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort)
