Join the Berkeley County Library System (BCLS) for a series of writer’s workshops featuring special guest speaker, Hope C. Clark, a freelance writing expert, author of the Carolina Slade Mystery Series, the Edisto Island Mystery Series, and the editor of FundsforWriters.com (a weekly newsletter service reaching over 40,000 writers).

The workshop series will offer a 6 workshops during the first three weeks of May, each highlighting a different topic pertinent to developing, publishing, and marketing one’s work of writing:

  • Habits of a Successful Writer, Monday, May 2, from 5 – 6 pm at the St. Stephen Library
  • Plotting, Tuesday, May 3, from 6:30 – 8 pm at the Daniel Island Library
  • Characters, Monday, May 9, from 5:30 – 6:30 pm at the Goose Creek Library
  • Editing, Tuesday, May 10, from 5 – 6 pm at the Hanahan Library
  • Publishing and Marketing, Monday, May 16, from 6 – 7 pm at the Moncks Corner Library
  • Habits of a Successful Writer, Tuesday, May 17, from 5:30 – 6:30 pm at the Sangaree Library

This series of workshops is brought to you by the Berkeley County Library System with support from the S.C. New Writers Partnership. The S.C. New Writers Partnership is supported by The Humanities Council and spear-headed by the Calhoun County Library System. This multi-county project brings resources and support to local writers across the state. Partners of this project include the following agencies: The Humanities CouncilSC, South Carolina State Library, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Calhoun County Library director, Kristen Simensen, explains, “[The S.C. New Writers] project speaks to the value, not only of what public libraries can do for individual customers and organizations in the community, but also serve a new and critical role. The ‘Library as a Community Anchor’ is a role that [libraries] increasingly find themselves in through business development and creative opportunities. So while, we have long been positioned to be the important centers of literacy development and community engagement, we now step into this new role of community anchor, impacting individuals who may never step foot in the library.”

The Berkeley County Library System joined the S.C. New Writers Partnership in September of 2015 offering writer’s groups at several of its library branches, as well as a large community festival, The Tri-County Literary Celebration, which drew over 70 local authors to meet and greet with the community this past February.  Currently BCLS offers two groups. The first group is hosted by local author Crystal Klimavicz, whose most recent book, The Days of Not So Long Ago, features a collection of short stories from some of the oldest residents of Daniel Island, SC. This group meets every first Tuesday of the month from 6:30 – 8 pm at the Daniel Island Library. The second group is hosted by local authors Olivia Washington and Stephen Case and it meets every first Monday from 5 to 6 pm at the St. Stephen Library. Washington is best known for her young adult fantasy series: Jupiter.

For more information about the S.C. New Writers Partnership and a full schedule of workshops, please visit us at berkeleylibrarysc.org/writers-groups