Pat Conroy’s Great Love of Poetry: A National Poetry Month Special Event

“The poets of the world occupy a place of high honor in my city of books.”—Pat Conroy, My Reading Life

In honor of National Poetry Month, join Jonathan Haupt and Beaufort High School students Holland Perryman, Alisha Arora, and Millie Bennett as they explore Pat Conroy’s lifelong relationship with poetry as a reader, as a self-described “failed poet,” and as a writer who found a creative outlet for his Great Love of poetry in his lyrical and descriptive prose. Through discussion of Pat’s teachers, mentors, and favorite poets, and through published and unpublished writings spanning the breadth of his life, this free public program fosters a new appreciation for Conroy’s admiration of poetry, his dedication to the writing craft, and the myriad ways in which poetry shines through his storied prose. This presentation was originally created in collaboration with poet and retired educator Tim Conroy, author of Theologies of Terrain.

Pat Conroy’s Great Love of Poetry will be presented on April 26, 4:30-5:30 p.m., at and in partnership with the Beaufort County Library (311 Scott Street).

About the Presenters
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Conroy Center and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, where he created the Story River Books fiction imprint with Pat Conroy, named by Garden & Gun magazine as one of “the top ten things to love about the South.” Haupt’s book reviews and author interviews have appeared in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, Beaufort Lifestyle, Savannah Morning News’ Beacon magazine, Southern Review of Books, and Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T blog. He is co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, the recipient of seventeen book awards. He serves on the boards of the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and the South Carolina Academy of Authors. In 2020, Haupt was recognized with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award presented by the Pulpwood Queens, the largest book club in the U.S.

The first student intern of both the Pat Conroy Literary Center and the Friends of South Carolina Libraries, Beaufort High School senior and student body president Holland Perryman is captain of the Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team, founder of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, winner of the Ann Head Literary Prize for Short Story, and a book reviewer and author interviewer for the Charleston Post and Courier, the Beaufort Lowcountry Weekly, and the Southern Review of Books. Perryman is the first writer of any age to be twice featured in the Lowcountry Poets Corner segment of ETV’s TELLY Award-winning author interview series By the River.

Beaufort County Library volunteer and Beaufort High School senior Alisha Arora is vice president of the BHS chapter of the National Honor Society, a board member of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, and an intern of the Pat Conroy Literary Center. An accomplished AP and Honors student in numerous STEM courses, with an emphasis on the biological sciences, she is the recipient of Academic Excellent Awards. Arora is also a competitive dancer and captain of the BHS Girls Varsity Tennis Team, and she teaches younger peers in summer tennis camps and at her dance studio.

Beaufort High School junior and Pat Conroy Literary Center intern Millie Bennett is a writer, visual artist, singer, and actress. A student in the AP Capstone Program, she is also a founding member of the BHS chapter of Letters for Rose, dedicated to reducing loneliness in nursing homes and assisted living residents during the pandemic. In 2020, Millie was selected for the SC Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities Summer Program for Visual Arts, and in 2021, she participated in the SCAD Summer Sessions for Visual Art, Animation, and Character Development.