Best-selling writer Pat Conroy (1945–2016) inspired a worldwide legion of devoted fans numbering in the millions, but none are more loyal to him and more committed to sustaining his literary legacy than the many writers he nurtured over the course of his fifty-year writing life. In sharing their stories, his fellow writers honor his memory and advance our shared understanding of his lasting impact on literary life in and well beyond the American South. Winner of 17 book awards, the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy is a collection of remembrances from 67 writers befriended, beloved, taught, mentored, and championed by Conroy—and no two stories are the same. Neither are any two panel discussions among the contributors.
Join us at Village Social on Monday, February 23, 5:00-6:00 p.m., for a lively conversation, moderated by Our Prince of Scribes co-editor and Pat Conroy Literary Center executive director Jonathan Haupt and featuring a trio of contributing writers: Conroy’s brother Tim (author of two poetry collections, most recently No True Route), Conroy’s widow Cassandra King (New York Times bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction, most recently Tell Me a Story), and USC Beaufort writer in residence Ellen Malphrus (author of Untying the Moon).
The $25 registration fee includes the presentation, refreshments, and a donation in support of the year-round educational mission of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center.
About Our Presenter:
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. With Claire Bennett, Jonathan also serves as co-mentor to the student leaders of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, who in turn have been recognized with a national commendation from the American Association of School Librarians, the South Carolina Education Association's Richard W. Riley Award for Human and Civil Rights, and an honorable mention for the South Carolina Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Award.