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• Authors Toolbox: Marjory Wentworth

  • When
    23 Apr 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Spaces left
    95

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  Inside the Poet’s Mind

  Go beyond the page with an intimate, in-depth conversation with Marjory Wentworth, Past South Carolina Poet Laureate. Explore the craft, the inspiration, and the stories behind the lines in a rare, behind-the-scenes experience. Help us celebrate National Poetry Month.

  Up close. Unfiltered.
  Reserve your spot and experience poetry from the inside out. 

  MARJORY WENTWORTH is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Out of Wonder, Poems Celebrating Poets, and the author of the prizewinning children’s story Shackles. She is also the co-writer of We Are Charleston, Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel, and Taking a Stand, The Evolution of Human Rights. She has published five collections of poetry. In 2021 she received South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts, where she served as the poet laureate from 2003-2020. She is the Director of the Writing Center and Oral Communication Center at Wittenberg University, and she is the Ohio codirector of Authors Against Book Bans. She also serves on the steering committee of Right to Read Ohio.

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• 2026 Storyfest Literary Retreat

  • Start
    24 Apr 2026
  •  
    3:00 PM
  • End
    26 Apr 2026
  •  
    1:00 PM
  • Location
    AC Hotel, 225 W. Main St., Spartanburg, SC 29306
  • Spaces left
    146

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  RETREAT REGISTRATION DEADLINE: APRIL 19

  DEADLINE FOR HOTEL RESERVATIONS FOR GROUP RATE: MARCH 25

  The South Carolina Writers Association is excited to present the 2026 Storyfest Literary Retreat Friday, April 24, through Sunday, April 26, featuring Pam Stone, actress, syndicated columnist and author of "Girls Like Her;" author Caleb Wygal, keynote speaker; Michael McGandy, director of USC Press, leading a panel of esteemed publishers; and Tayler Simon of Liberation Is Lit Pop-Up Bookstores.

  The event, to be held at the AC Hotel in downtown Spartanburg, will include talks and classes by writers, editors and agents from across South Carolina and the Southeast.

  Full details on all speakers, panels and schedule will be provided soon.

  Registration:

  Early Bird/Members: $200 (through March 31)
  Early Bird/Nonmembers: $325 (through March 31)
  Students: $125
  Saturday Only: $150
  Regular Registration/Members: $250 (starting April 1)
  Regular Registration/Nonmembers: $375 (starting April 1)

  RETREAT REGISTRATION DEADLINE: APRIL 19

  If you are not a member of SCWA, join now to enjoy the member rate for Storyfest along with other SCWA benefits. Membership is $75 annually; go to Join Us. (Be sure to renew if you haven't already!)

  Registration may be canceled up until 14 days before the start of the conference for a full refund. No refunds after that date.

  THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS AND PARTNERS:

  Hub City Press
  University of South Carolina Press
  Warren Publishing

  

  HOTEL INFORMATION:

  AC Hotel Spartanburg
  225 W. Main St., Spartanburg, SC 29306

  Room Rate: $239.00 USD per night, plus taxes/fees

  Deadline to book under group: Wednesday, March 25, 2026

  Book your group rate for SC Writers Association

  Please note: There is a 2-night minimum length of stay required to book under the group block for Friday and Saturday nights. If a guest initially books a 2-night stay and later reduces it to 1 night, the reservation will be adjusted to the standard retail rate for that night. 

  There is a 48-hour cancellation policy associated with the group block, and the last day to cancel room reservations is Tuesday, April 21, 2026, without a cancellation fee (one night’s room & tax).

  If you need assistance with booking, please call our sales office at (864) 345-6918. 

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• Author's Toolbox From the Mountains to the Sea Series: Gullah GeeChee

  • When
    21 May 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM

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  From the mountains to the sea

  Join us  for this series that weaves it way through the tapestry of South Carolina. South Carolina has a rich main character energy. Learn more about it to help you improve your characters, settings, and plots. Discover the richness of the Gullah Geechee in the Low Country. Travel to the time of the Native American tribes of the state. Train up on the importance of South Carolina in US military history starting with the Revolution as we celebrate 250 years of the United States. Feel the rhythm of the Grand Strand with Beach Music. Grab a hot dog and drink as we go out to the ballpark to explore South Carolina and Baseball. From the Mountains to The Sea weave South Carolina through your writing.

  Gullah Geechee Disaporas

  Gullah-Geechee Diasporas counters romantic portrayals of Gullah-Geechee culture as a static, geographically isolated remnant of the past. Across eight interdisciplinary essays, the book's contributors trace an arc, described in time and space, from pre-Middle Passage Africa through the Caribbean and coastal United States into the interior South and beyond. They consider how Gullah-Geechee cultural traditions are simultaneously rooted in the physical Lowcountry homeland and represent a dynamic cultural ethos that is not bounded by geography and has shaped Black life across North America and the Caribbean Basin. Together, these essays reveal the resilience and adaptability of people whose history defies myths of isolation and immobility. Gullah-Geechee Diasporas is a fresh framework for understanding African American cultural origins, migrations, and transformations.

  Muhammad Fraser-Rahim is associate professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel. He is the author of America's Other Muslims and Gullah Geechee Muslims in America.

  Elizabeth J. West is professor of English and the John B. and Elena Diaz-Verson Amos Distinguished Chair in English Letters at Georgia State University. Her books include Finding Francis and African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction.

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