books Archives - Charleston FYI

Feature Image Source: SueMonkKidd.com

While you’re stuck indoors, why not pick up a new book? The Charleston area has gifted us a plethora of wonderful authors over the years, and if you miss the marshes, city streets, and unexplored beaches, these are the books for you.

Pat Conroy is a beloved Southern author with a bibliography of work all set at least partially in the Lowcountry. Although Conroy passed away in 2016, he is survived by classic books like “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini.”

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Dorthea Benton Frank is a prolific Charleston-based author whose twentieth novel, “Queen Bee” is now on sale. Several of her books reference Lowcountry locations, including “Folly Beach,” “Return to Sullivans Island” and “Pawleys Island.”

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Sue Monk Kidd is the bestselling author of “The Secret Life of Bees” and “The Invention of Wings,” with a new novel called “The Book of Longings” on the way in late April. Read up on her books for Southern nostalgia and feel-good settings.

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Featured Image Credit: Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman

Hey, book worms! We have some exciting news for you: an England-inspired book festival is making its way to Charleston. The new festival is a partnership between the Charleston Library Society in historic Charleston, South Carolina, and the celebrated Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex, England.

So here are the details! The Charleston-to-Charleston Literary Festival will be co-sponsored by the Charleston Library Society and The Charleston Trust U.K. The weekend will be packed with various programs and events at multiple locations downtown.

“The Charleston Festival is the No. 1 literary festival in Europe, so we are thrilled to partner with the Charleston Trust to create a new cultural attraction in the U.S. Our goal is to strengthen the festival each year to continue to unite internationally acclaimed authors with readers for years to come” said Anne Cleveland, executive director of the Charleston Library Society.

Guest speakers include:

Sir Kim Darroch – British ambassador to the United States

Marjorie Spruill – Southern historian Nigerian poet and novelist

Ben Okri – Nigerian poet and novelist British novelist

Bernard Cornwell – British novelist

Dominic Dromgoole. – Former director of London’s Globe Theater

Friday (November 3rd) events:

Cornwell, Dromgoole, and Nan Morrison, all eminent Shakespearean scholars, discuss Shakespeare’s impact on the past, present, and future of Charleston’s Circular Congregational Church.

Saturday (November 4th) events:

Spruill joins Belinda Gergel and Margaret Bradham Thornton for Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women’s Rights, a panel discussing the past and present battle over, yep, women’s rights. Also on Sat. Nov. 4, poet Okri joins Charleston’s artist, activist, and academic Jonathan Green for Meditations on Greatness, a discussion of the qualities we need to survive and transcend the age in which we live.

Many more events will be taking place along with these ones. The festival also includes a screening of William Nicholson’s Breathe.

Stay up to date with the fest’s full schedule at charlestontocharleston.com. And if you’re interested in early bird tickets, call (843) 723-9912.

books

Books from Local Authors to Enjoy in Quarantine

Get Excited, Book Worms! A New Book Festival Is Coming To Charleston