MarshSong Cottage, sitting creekside on a tidal marsh, is host to the spring and fall Pat Conroy Literary Center Writer’s Residencies. Mary Ellen Thompson welcomes writers to her guest cottage, located on Saint Helena Island in South Carolina, mid-way between downtown Beaufort and Hunting Island State Park.
MarshSong, so named for the melody the marsh mud plays at low tide, is situated on an historic property, once the first school in the nation for freed Black slaves. But the history goes deeper than that with ancient shell middens hinting at stories of other cultures.
The Cottage is a perfect writer’s sanctuary with views of water and woods; wildlife creatures and birds abound.
WRITER’S RESIDENCY FALL 2024
Coinciding with the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will offer our ninth Conroy Center Writer's Residency this coming fall.
Our upcoming Fall 2024 resident is Holly Hart Shirley from Alabama. Holly describes herself as: “I am an only child with thirteen brothers and sisters. My mother was a country singer, and my father is a very prolific, heavily decorated Vietnam Veteran who killed my first husband in self-defense. I come from a place in the woods near the Florida line in Alabama that should never be confused with the Panhandle. A descendant of Sehoy of the Wind Clan, I am a warrior. I can sing two notes at once like a train. I am an eternal optimist, a wife, a mother, an interior designer, a believer in innate goodness, and a decent storyteller.”
Stay tuned and we will let you know more about Holly when the time comes. You can bet we are going to ask her to sing!
To learn more about Holly, visit: http://www.deepsouthramblings.com