Tenth Annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival

“I’ve come home to the place I was always writing about. I’ve tried to make Beaufort, South Carolina my own.”—Pat Conroy, The Death of Santini

Hosted by the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, this year’s Tenth Annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival will celebrate Pat Conroy's 80th birthday with a weekend of special events featuring author panels, book signings, workshops, readings, tours, exhibits, and gatherings.

FEATURING BESTSELLING AUTHORS: Adriana Trigiani (The View from Lake Como), Mary Alice Monroe (Where the Rivers Merge), Patti Callahan Henry (The Story She Left Behind), National Book Award Winner Jason Mott (People Like Us), Chris Pavone (The Doorman), Chris Whitaker (All the Colors of the Dark), John Hart (The Unwilling) and more

CELEBRATE PAT CONROY AT 80 with Conroy’s family, friends, and fellow lowcountry authors: Cassandra King, Tim Conroy, Valerie Sayers, John Warley, Cliff Graubart, Bernie Schein, Ellen Malphrus, and Lynn & Cele Seldon -- plus special festival guest, Academy Award-nominated actor Michael O'Keefe (scheduled to appear)

The Pat Conroy Literary Festival is made possible by the generous support and collaboration of the Robert S. Handler Charitable Trust; the South Carolina Arts Commission; Publix Super Markets Charities; Bank of America Private Bank; Oyster Cay Collection; Rebecca Dwight Bruff, Author; Bay Street Jewelers; Lynn & Wheeler, CPAs, PA; Carolina Air, Inc.; Alphagraphics; Lowcountry Weekly; SpringHill Suites by Marriott of Beaufort; the Rhett Gallery; the Beaufort Bookstore; and NeverMore Books.

~ FESTIVAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS ~

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23

Noon to 4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)

5:30-8:00 p.m. Private fundraiser event at Tidalholm, benefiting the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center -- with catering by Debbi Covington and appearances by festival authors and friends.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24

10:00 to 11:30 a.m. WORKSHOP: Firing the Clay poetry workshop with Tim Conroy and Susan Madison. $60/person (Conroy Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) Register: https://firingtheclayworkshop2.eventbrite.com

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. TOUR & TASTINGS: Taste of the Lowcountry Crawl walking tour led by Lynn and Cele Seldon. $75/person (Meet at McIntosh Book Shoppe, Beaufort) Register: https://tasteofthelowcountrycrawl.eventbrite.com

Noon to 4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)

12:30 to 2:00 p.m. WORKSHOP: Thriller Writers Playbook led by John Hart with Sean A. Scapellato. $75/person (Conroy Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) Register: https://thethrillerwritersplaybook.eventbrite.com

2:00 to 3:00 p.m. POETRY IN THE PARK: Tim Conroy, Susan Madison, Jacquelyn Markham, Jason Mott, and more. Free. (Witness Tree Park, across King Street from the Conroy Center, 601 Bladen St.) Followed by a book signing.

5:00 to 6:30 p.m. AUTHOR EVENT: National Book Award winner Jason Mott (People Like Us) in conversation with DAYLO and Students Demand Action leader Brea Parker and Conroy Center executive director Jonathan Haupt. $10/person. (Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce, 711 Bladen St., Beaufort) Followed by a book signing.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25

10:00 to 11:00 a.m. AUTHOR EVENT: Pat Conroy at 80 panel, moderated by USC Beaufort Writer in Residence Ellen Malphrus, in conversation with authors Stephanie Austine Edwards, Cliff Graubart, Valerie Sayers, Bernie Schein, and John Warley. $25/person. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) Followed by a book signing.

11:30 to 12:30 p.m. AUTHOR EVENT: Writing for the Thrill of It All panel, moderated by Conroy Center board chair Sean A. Scapellato, in conversation with bestselling writers John Hart (The Unwilling), Chris Whitaker (All the Colors of the Dark), and Chris Pavone (The Doorman). $25/person. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) Followed by a book signing.

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. FOOD TRUCK. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort)

Noon to 4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)

12:30 to 2:00 p.m. WORKSHOP: Walking and Writing, led by with Valerie Sayers $50/person (Conroy Center, 601 Bladen St., Beaufort) Register: https://walkingandwriting.eventbrite.com

2:00 to 3:00 p.m. AUTHOR EVENT: Lowcountry Literary Ladies panel, moderated by Conroy Center honorary chair Cassandra King, in conversation with fellow bestselling authors Patti Callahan Henry (The Story She Left Behind) and Mary Alice Monroe (Where the Rivers Merge). $25/person (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) Followed by a book signing.

3:30 to 4:30 p.m. PUBLISHING EVENT: Join New York Times bestselling author Chris Pavone (The Doorman) in conversation with literary agent Marly Rusoff and publishing executive Sara Nelson, (senior VP and executive editor of Harper Collins) as they engage in a wide-ranging discussion of the art, the craft, and the business of writing and publishing today. $25/person. (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret St., Beaufort) Followed by a book signing.

5:00 to 7:00 p.m. RECEPTION: Join us at the Pat Conroy Literary Center after hours to meet and mingle with festival authors and friends. Wine and refreshments. $40/person. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. AUTHOR BRUNCH featuring Adriana Trigiani and the Beaufort Mass Choir. Join us for a gospel brunch featuring a performance by the Beaufort Mass Choir and a discussion with bestselling author Adriana Trigiani (The View from Lake Como), with catering by Her Table -- and an 80th birthday cake for Pat Conroy. Registration fee also includes a copy of The View from Lake Como and a donation in support of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center's annual Camp Conroy and annual Storybuilders program at Lady's Island Elementary School. $125/person. (Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce, 711 Bladen St., Beaufort) Followed by a book signing.

Noon to 4:00 p.m. TOURS: Pat Conroy Literary Center open to the public for guided tours. Free. (601 Bladen St., Beaufort)

~ FRIDAY & SATURDAY FESTIVAL PASS: $125 (a $25 savings), includes all author presentation events on Friday (Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce) & Saturday (USC Beaufort Center for the Arts) + Saturday evening reception (Pat Conroy Literary Center). Does not include any Thursday or Sunday events, any writers workshops, or the Taste of the Lowcountry Crawl, all of which can be reserved separately.

~STUDENTS: All events at the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts on Saturday, 10/25, are free to high school and college students with student IDs.

The Beaufort Mass Choir was formed in 2008 and is made up of members from the Fellowship Concert Choir, which consists of various churches and religious affiliations in Beaufort and St. Helena Island, South Carolina, the St. Paul Baptist Church Adult Choir, the Gullah Kinfolk, and members of the Unity Diversity Choir. The Beaufort Mass Choir has performed at many annual community and historical events. They are under the direction of Scott Allen Gibbs.

Author of the collections Theologies of Terrain and No True Route, Tim Conroy is a poet and former educator. His work has appeared in Fall Lines, Jasper Magazine, Marked by the Water, Sheltered, Twelve Mile Review, Poetry on the Comet, The Post and Courier, Ukweli: Searching for Healing Truth, and Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy. In 2022, he received the Broad River Prize for prose from Fall Lines, Volume IX. A founding board member of the Pat Conroy Literary Center established in his brother’s honor, Tim lives in Beaufort with his wife Terrye.

Cliff Graubart was born and raised in New York City. He attended the University of Toledo and is a graduate of Georgia State University. He boxed in the Golden Gloves, sold furs in Manhattan in his father's store, and once parachuted out of a perfectly good airplane in celebration of his fortieth birthday—all material for his short stories, which have appeared in the Atlanta Journal magazine, GOODlife magazine, Atlanta magazine, and the Atlanta Gazette. Graubart is owner of the Old New York Book Shop in Atlanta, where he lives with his wife, Cynthia. A contributing writer to Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, he is the author of The Curious Vision of Sammy Levitt and Other Stories, for which he was honored as a Georgia Author of the Year.

John Hart is the New York Times bestselling author of The King of Lies, Down River, The Last Child, Iron House, Redemption Road, The Hush, and The Unwilling. The only author in history to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel consecutively, John has also won the Barry Award, the Southern Independent Bookseller’s Award for Fiction, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, and the North Carolina Award for Literature. His novels have been translated into thirty languages and can be found in more than seventy countries.

Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the past director of the University of South Carolina Press, and co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, winner of 17 book awards. He is a frequent guest book reviewer for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Post and Courier. He has been honored with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award, and the South Carolina Association of School Librarians President’s Award. Under Jonathan's leadership, the Conroy Center has been recognized as an American Library Association Literary Landmark, an affiliate of the American Writers Museum, and winner of the Civitas Award for Tourism Leadership.

Patti Callahan Henry is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of several novels, including Surviving Savannah, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, and–most recently–The Story She Left Behind. She is the recipient of the Christy Award, the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year Award, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year. She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online live web show and podcast Friends and Fiction. She lives in Alabama and South Carolina with her family.

Cassandra King is a New York Times bestselling author of five novels and two nonfiction books in addition to numerous short stories, essays, and magazine articles. Her latest book, Tell Me A Story, a memoir about life with her late husband, Pat Conroy, received SIBA’s 2020 Nonfiction Book of the Year award. Winner of the Harper Lee Award, Cassandra lives in Beaufort, South Carolina, where she is honorary chair of the Pat Conroy Literary Center and currently at work on a cookbook.

Susan River Madison is an essayist and poetic advocate whose themes explore the pilgrimage of the people of the African Diaspora and the collective feminine soul, and whose work promotes a free and just standard of living for all. Susan’s work has been published in Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, the anthology UKWELI Searching for Healing Truths, Low Country Weekly and various other publications. The author of two chapbooks, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Antioch University. Originally from Chicago, Madison lives on St. Helena Island. She is currently working on a collection of poetry.

Ellen Malphrus is a professor of English and the Writer in Residence at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where she was honored as the 2022 Professor of the Year. Malphrus is the author of the novel Untying the Moon, a contributing writer to Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, and the author of poetry, creative prose, and scholarly work published in Poetry South, Haight Ashbury Review, Natural Bridge, James Dickey Review, Southern Literary Journal, William & Mary Review, Blue Mountain Review, Fall Lines, Review of Contemporary Fiction, Weber—the Contemporary West, and Literature: Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies.

Author of the poetry collection Rainbow Warrior, Jacquelyn Markham earned a master's and a doctorate in English and Creative Writing from Florida State University. Author of two chapbooks and a personal mythology, Peering Into the Iris: An Ancestral Journey, she has published nationally and internationally in literary journals, magazines, and anthologies, including Archive: South Carolina Poetry Since 2005, Adrienne Rich: A Tribute Anthology, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Lullwater Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, The High Window, Woman and Earth, among others. Dr. Markham enjoyed a rich academic career from which she retired as a full professor. She now mentors poets and writers, living and writing near the coast of South Carolina.

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 books for adults and children–most recently Where the Rivers Merge. She has earned numerous accolades and awards including induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame, the Southwest Florida Author of Distinction Award, South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence, RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Monroe is a co-founder of Friends and Fiction and serves on the South Carolina Aquarium Board Emeritus, The Leatherback Trust, The Pat Conroy Literary Center Honorary Board, and Casting Carolinas Advisory Board. She resides in South Carolina and North Carolina with her family.

Bestselling author, National Book Award Winner, Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction Winner, National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, Pushcart Prize nominee, NAACP Image Award nominee, and Carnegie Medals for Excellence Longlist nominee, Jason Mott has a BFA in Fiction and an MFA in Poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His poetry and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. He is the author of two poetry collections: We Call This Thing Between Us Love and “…hide behind me…” He is the author of five novels: The Returned, The Wonder of All Things, The Crossing, Hell of a Book, and the newly published People Like Us--named a Selection of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club, one of USA Today's 15 Books You Should Read, one of People's Most Anticipated Summer Books, and one of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Hot New Summer Reads.

Sara Nelson, senior vice president and executive editor at HarperCollins Publishers, has acquired a varied list of bestselling commercial, literary, and historical fiction, as well as memoir, biography, and history. Before joining HarperCollins, Nelson served as editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, the book editor at O, the Oprah Magazine, and served as the editorial director for books and Kindle at Amazon.com.

Scheduled to appear as a special guest of the festival, Michael O’Keefe was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for his portrayal of Ben Meechum in the film adaptation of Pat Conroy's The Great Santini. An actor, writer, director, and producer, O'Keefe has appeared in the films Michael Clayton, Frozen River, Ironweed, and Caddyshack; and in numerous television series, including The West Wing, Law and Order, House, M.D., Homeland, Blue Bloods, and others. O'Keefe holds an MA in creative writing from Bennington College. A poet and songwriter, he is the author of the poetry collection Swimming from under My Father and a contributing writer to Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy. He is married to the actress Emily Donahoe.

Brea Parker is a senior at Beaufort High School, where she is vice president of her school’s chapter of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, a national organizer for Students Demand Action, a community service organizer for the USAF JROTC, and a member of the National Honor Society. She is also active in the Sea Island Sound marching and concert band and the USC Beaufort Children’s Theater.

Chris Pavone is the author of The Paris Diversion, The Travelers, The Accident, The Expats, and, most recently, The Doorman.. His novels have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal; have won both the Edgar and Anthony awards; are in development for film and television; and have been translated into two dozen languages. Chris grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Cornell, and worked as a book editor for nearly two decades, during which time he met Pat Conroy. He lives in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island with his family.

Marly Rusoff, president of The Marly Rusoff Agency, began her career in Minneapolis, where she was a bookseller and founder of the Loft Literary Center, before she moved to New York and became a publishing executive at Houghton Mifflin, Doubleday, and William Morrow. Her literary agency, founded in New York, represented Pat Conroy during his lifetime and continues to represent his literary estate, as well as a distinguished list of contemporary authors.

Sean A. Scapellato is a former English teacher, and now-practicing attorney in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Chair of the Pat Conroy Literary Center’s board of directors and a contributing writer to Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, Sean was a runner-up in the Novello Festival Press's First Novel contest and was published in that press’s anthology Hungry for Home. He also was a winner/finalist in TBS's My South Speaks (televised) and Listen to Your Mother where he performed original essay compositions about the South and his wonderful mom. He continues to write novels and teach workshops.

Valerie Sayers, author of six novels and a collection of stories, has also published more than one hundred fifty stories, essays, and reviews. Winner of a literature fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and two Pushcart Prizes for fiction, she is a member of the South Carolina Academy of Authors. She was the Kenan Professor of English at Notre Dame, where she founded and edited the Notre Dame Review. She is a member of the South Carolina Academy of Authors (the Palmetto State’s Literary Hall of Fame) and a 2025 South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities honoree.

Bernie Schein was born, bred, and Bar Mitzvahed in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was an educator for forty-five years, many of them in Atlanta. He is the author of three books: If Holden Caulfield Were in My Classroom, the novel Famous All over Town, and Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship. He has been published and featured in numerous newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek, the Jewish Advocate, Atlanta magazine, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and interviewed on NPR and radio stations across the country. He is now an educational consultant as well as a humorist and raconteur. He and his wife live in Beaufort.

Travel journalists Lynn and Cele Seldon have spent more than 30 years capturing the world through words and photography for hundreds of magazine, newspaper, and online features, specializing in culinary, cruise, and adventure travel. They have co-authored several guidebooks, including 100 Things to Do in Charleson Before You Die, 100 Things to Do in Savannah Before You Die, and their new book, 100 Things to Do in the South Carolina Lowcountry Before You Die. Lynn is also a published novelist and was mentored by Pat Conroy.

Adriana Trigiani is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one books of fiction and nonfiction–most recently The View from Lake Como, an instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller, as seen on Good Morning America, The View, Good Day New York, and Read with Jenna’s Open Book podcast. Trigiani’s work has been published in thirty-eight languages around the world. An award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker, Trigiani wrote and directed the major motion picture of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap, adapted her novel, Very Valentine, for television, and directed the documentary, Queens of the Big Time, among others. In 2023, President Sergio Matterella of Italy awarded Trigiani the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia. The Library of Virginia bestowed their highest honor, the Patron of Letters degree, to Trigiani in 2024. She received the 2025 Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her significant contributions to literature, culture, and community. Trigiani grew up in Appalachia, in the mountains of Virginia, where she co-founded The Origin Project, a year-round, in-school writing program that has served over 25,000 students since its inception in 2014. Trigiani is proud to serve on the New York State Council on the Arts. She lives in Greenwich Village with her family.

John Warley is the award-winning author of six novels and a history of his undergraduate alma mater, The Citadel, where he and his classmate Pat Conroy played on the baseball team and graduated in 1967. For John's first novel, Bethesda's Child, Pat wrote an eight-page preface, and for A Southern Girl concluded his blurb with "I wish I'd written this book." John contributed an essay to Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy and remains a dedicated supporter of the Pat Conroy Literary Center. In 2024, The Citadel awarded John an honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, for his contributions to The Citadel War Memorial and his history of the college. He lives and writes in Beaufort.

Chris Whitaker is a British author known for his books Tall Oaks, All the Wicked Girls, We Begin at the End, and The Forevers. His work has been honored with numerous awards, including The CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award, the CWA Gold Dagger Award, the New Kelly Award, Waterstone’s Thriller of the Month, Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, and others. His newest bestseller, All the Colors of the Dark, is a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick, the Boston Globe’s Thriller of the Year, and a Best Book of the Year of the Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and She Reads.

Host or Publisher Pat Conroy Literary Center Inc.