Charleston Literary Festival

10/09/2026

Dame Hermione Lee, one of the most acclaimed biographers of our times, who has illuminated the lives of Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Philip Roth and Tom Stoppard, reveals her groundbreaking exploration of the life and art of the enigmatic and contradictory novelist and art historian, Anita Brookner (1928-2016). Brookner won the Booker Prize for Fiction for Hotel du Lac in 1984. She has attracted devoted admirers for her fiction as ell as for her erudite art criticism and inspirational teaching at Cambridge and the Courtauld Institute in London.

Join us for Hermione Lee’s session on Saturday, November 14 at 11am. Tickets are available at the link in bio.

10/08/2026

Barbara Kingsolver’s long awaited Partita is out this week! 👏🏽

While our in-person session on Friday, Nov. 12th is sold out, you can still join us at home. We’ll be streaming this event live. Join us at home for conversation, short readings, and a piano performance.

Tickets for the livestream can be found at the link in our bio.

10/06/2026

We're officially 1 month away from Charleston Literary Festival!

10/02/2026

Exciting news! ✨ Thanks to the generosity of the Fiederowicz Family Foundation, we are delighted to announce a brand new fellowship offered by Charleston Literary Festival. This year marks the launch of our Inaugural Fiederowicz International Fellowship.

Thanks to this fellowship, we will choose an exceptional writer from a country of our choosing each year and invite them for a ten-day residency in the historic Dock Street Theatre as part of Charleston Literary Festival.

The International Fellow will be invited to all Festival events, offer workshops, meet with students, and present their work in a Festival event onstage. Our Festival has always had an international edge; this fellowship will now open the world to Charleston—and open Charleston to the world.

✨ This year, we are pleased to announce our inaugural Fiederowicz International Fellow, Kateryna Yehorushkina.

Kateryna is Ukrainian writer, poet, literary scholar, and member of PEN Ukraine. She is the author of over twenty books, which have won numerous Ukrainian and international awards and have been recognized among the best books of the year by PEN Ukraine and BBC Book of the Year.

In her writing, Kateryna explores themes of home, memory, identity, childhood, and culture during wartime. She lives and works in Ukraine, where she volunteers conducting art therapy sessions for children in frontline areas. As the Fiederowicz International Fellow, Kateryna will be with us for 10 days, running workshops with CCSD students, working with Wings for Kids, and appearing on stage in an event free for all!

Reserve your tickets at https://charlestonliteraryfestival.ticketspice.com/charleston-literary-festival-2026?t=facebook

10/02/2026

80+ authors and only a few weeks to go until they arrive here in Charleston.

Download the full 2026 Program at charlestonliteraryfestival.com

10/01/2026

Announcing the 2026 Cato Fellowship Prize Shortlist! ✨

These 12 finalists were selected from hundreds of writers from South Carolina and North Carolina. Our esteemed judges panel will select one writer of fiction or nonfiction from this list to receive full access to Charleston Literary Festival’s sessions and receptions, free accommodations in downtown Charleston, networking and collaborative opportunities, and a cash prize of $10,000 to allow them to further their writing career as they see fit.

We are energized by the quality of work we've seen from our area's emerging writers. Stay tuned for the announcement of this year's winner.

Congratulations to the finalists!

09/30/2026

Julie Orringer's upcoming third novel, Luna, Phoenix, Queen is a spellbinding tour de force between two married English professors about infidelity, helplessness, regret, and a radical testament to love in all its forms.

She'll be joining us at the Festival November 10th at 3pm. Tickets are still available. Don't miss this event!

When she started her new novel, Julie Orringer didn’t know that it would mirror the taxing medical challenges faced by her husband.

09/29/2026

The latest issue of Foreword is out today on our Substack. See what's happening for literary lovers around town in October.

Read more at https://charlestonlitfest.substack.com/p/foreword-everything-literary-happening-f05

09/27/2026

Tag a Young Writer! ✍️

Our Young Writers Awards seeks to elevate teen voices while supporting their talents and providing the encouragement needed to be lifelong creators.

🌟 High school students currently enrolled in 9th – 12th grade at a Charleston, Berkeley, or Dorchester County public school are encouraged to submit their work through next Saturday, October 10th.

Learn more and find the Submission Form on our website here: https://www.charlestonliteraryfestival.com/young-writers-awards