Ann Head

The South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA), in partnership with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, will hold its biennial induction weekend in Beaufort County this May 3-5.

The SCAA selects new inductees whose works have been judged culturally important. Each inductee, whether living or deceased, has added to South Carolina’s literary legacy by earning notable scholarly attention or achieving historical prominence. Including this year’s induction, the SCAA, founded in 1986, will have officially inducted more than 100 authors into its literary hall of fame. This year’s honorees are Marcus Amaker, William P. Baldwin, Harlan Greene, and the late Ann Head.

Beaufort-born Ann Head (1915-1968) published several novels as well as over 50 short stories and novelettes in major magazines, both here and abroad. She is best remembered as the author of the novels Fair with Rain, Always in August, Everybody Adored Clara, and Mr .and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, which was made into a TV movie and stayed in print for four decades. Head was also the first writing mentor to bestselling author Pat Conroy, who was himself inducted by the SCAA in 1988. During the SCAA induction weekend, Head will be represented by her daughters, Nancy Thode and Stacey Ahner.

Of Head’s trio of fellow 2024 inductees, Marcus Amaker served as the first Poet Laureate of Charleston from 2016 to 2022, William P. Baldwin was awarded the prestigious Lillian Smith Book Award for his novel The Hard to Catch Mercy, and archivist and historian Harlan Greene is the author of such works as The Real Rainbow Row: Explorations in Charleston’s LGBTQ History.

The 2024 SCAA induction weekend is funded in part by a grant from South Carolina Humanities, a not-for-profit organization inspiring, engaging, and enriching South Carolinians with programs on literature, history, culture, and heritage.

The weekend features a robust schedule of free and ticketed events in Beaufort County, the highlight of which is an awards dinner ceremony on Saturday, May 4, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Beaufort Holiday Inn & Suites Conference Center. Registration is $55/person. Additionally, author presentations will be held at the Beaufort County Main Branch Library and Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort. And a reading by the winners of the SCAA’s fellowships in poetry and prose will be held at the Rhett House Inn, also in Beaufort.

For a complete schedule of events, May 3-5, and to register in advance, please visit:

https://scaa2024inductionweekend.eventbrite.com.

About the SCAA: The South Carolina Academy of Authors seeks to identify and recognize the state’s distinguished writers and to promote their literature’s influence on our cultural heritage. The Academy’s educational focus serves to publicize works by South Carolina authors, to connect the writers with their audience, to nurture and support South Carolina’s literary talent, and to foster the love of reading and writing among the people of South Carolina. Learn more and donate at www.scacademyofauthors.com.

Learn more about the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center at www.patconroyliterarycenter.org.