Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival Presents Spellbinding Speakers

As part of the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival in Charleston, SC, English author and aristocrat Charles Spencer (aka Princess Diana’s brother) is discussing his recently published book, To Catch a King: Charles II’s Great Escape. He speaks before a sold-out crowd inside the historic Dock Street Theatre in the French Quarter.

I’m in the audience, enthralled by the 9th Earl Spencer’s harrowing tale of the 17th-century British royal. Owing to warring political factions, England’s King Charles II was the most wanted man in the country. He undertook dramatic efforts to elude what was the greatest manhunt in British history. Disguise, deception, and inconceivably good luck played equal roles in his ultimately successful outcome. The 6-foot-two-inch king with a notably recognizable face even hid in an oak tree, an incident so legendary that over 400 English pubs are called “Royal Oak” in tribute.

Heightening my enjoyment are the tantalizing ironies inherent in Spencer’s very presence in this city, and in the engrossing tale he weaves.

First off, Charleston took its name from Spencer’s protagonist, King Charles II. Charleston was founded in 1670 as Charles Towne to honor the British king on the throne at the time.

Secondly, King Charles produced no heirs from his marriage, but he acknowledged a dozen children from multiple mistresses. Many of those offspring received dukedoms. Spencer himself is descended from one of those dukes, as was his sister — Princess Diana and mother to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. When Spencer’s nephew William ascends the throne of England, he will become the first direct descendant of King Charles II to do so.

These are among the fascinating and entertaining literary, historical, cultural, social, political, and creative insights I’m gleaning at the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival. An avid reader, this marks my first visit to a literary festival.

While the event takes place over a long weekend and boasts a full program of heavy-weight speakers and elegant receptions, I’m in Charleston just for the final day and a half. No matter, for this port city is one of my favorites and a perennial top-choice destination for travelers, thanks to its exquisitely preserved antebellum homes, graceful traditions, culinary prowess, scenic attractions, and horse-drawn carriage tours.

Despite my brief stay, the experience is proving to be a fun and filling feast for the mind.

And, with Dock Street Theatre along with Charleston Library Society as venues, I’m realizing my time at Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival is as much about location as program content. In other words, as much about a book’s cover as the pages within.

Origins of the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival

Suzanne Pollak, director of development of the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival, mentioned the event to me and proposed my visit. Totally unfamiliar with it, my first thought was the double dose of “Charleston” was a case of branding overkill.

Repetition, though, is completely appropriate. Indeed, necessary. And, the literary festival’s circumstances are, well…ironic.

Two stellar, yet diverse, sites bearing identical names – Charleston, SC, and Charleston, Sussex, England – came together in 2017 to launch the trans-Atlantic Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival. Despite being separated by an expansive ocean, the cities’ partnership seems a natural fit.

On the American side is the Charleston Library Society, the oldest cultural institution in the South and the country’s second oldest circulating library.

Established in 1748, the Charleston Library Society houses some of the oldest and most important historical documents in the South in a grand Beaux Arts building on King Street.

The across-the-pond Charleston is perhaps lesser known in America.

Here, Charleston is a house, garden, and art gallery. Charleston Farmhouse was the rural sanctuary for the renowned Bloomsbury group – progressive and influential artists, writers, and intellectuals, including author Virginia Woolf and economist John Maynard Keynes. Today, Charleston continues to encourage new ideas. Under its own auspices, Charleston has offered a small literary festival highly regarded in Europe for some 30 years.

Both organizations possess centuries-long legacies as homes to notable scholars, authors, and artists advocating lifelong learning. The festival’s motto is telling: “Where Books, Ideas, & Creativity Flourish.”

While Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival is still in its infancy, momentum is gaining toward the goal of becoming internationally renowned. Anne Cleveland, executive director of Charleston Library Society, tells me the literary festival’s existence is especially timely, relevant, and necessary.

“With our fractured political situation and disinformation, the written word is that much more important,” Cleveland asserts. “I think people are looking for validation from factual material and from far-reaching minds. They’re looking for thoughtful solutions and answers as opposed to a sound bite.

“The Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival has captured the spirit of a lot of different ideas being brought together, and people can take from that what they will,” she adds. “The sessions are thought-provoking, whether you agree or disagree. But they make you think, and that’s what we all need to do.”

First look at Charleston Library Society

My Saturday begins at the Charleston Library Society. I’ve walked past this imposing structure on King Street during previous trips, but never ventured inside.

The century-old building is wrapped in custom-created, Palladian-styled windows. In the soaring, light-filled Main Reading Room stands an L-shaped arrangement of tables artfully arranged for the occasion and topped with books by the speakers for sale and signing. Stacked shelves brimming with neatly organized library books line the walls, as do sepia-toned photos of the building and illustrious portraits from days gone by. Chairs for our growing crowd are set up on the lively checkerboard-patterned floor.

Sadly, I notice signs of water damage on the ceiling and descending partway down some walls. Near me are copies of The Charleston Reader, the library society’s magazine. I reach for one and scan an article highlighting how Hurricane Matthew in 2016 shed light on decades of deferred maintenance resulting in significant structural problems, leaks, and damage to interior walls.

Happily, the article goes on to note, the aged building is under reconstruction. In addition, a campaign is underway to raise $4.5 million to rescue it and its precious books, manuscripts, and other documents from jeopardy.

Stories galore

This rare jewel with an enduring connection to the past becomes the ideal setting to learn about the extraordinary Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa of Pescara.

Despite having been a pivotal figure in the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo’s best friend and confidante, descended from a prominent family, and the first woman poet to have her works published in Italy, Colonna has skirted the sidelines of history.

Author Ramie Targoff, professor of English at Brandeis University, has brought Colonna out of the shadows in her biography Renaissance Woman, The Life of Vittoria Colonna. Targoff helpfully uses a contemporary reference to introduce the emotionally intense, uniquely gifted, and utterly complex Colonna to us Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival attendees. She was “the Forrest Gump of the Italian Renaissance,” Targoff smiles, and involved in almost every aspect of politics, religion, culture, and aesthetics of the period.

Remarks by Stephen Greenblatt, Harvard University professor and author of Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics, take me back to high school English class. I’m reminded that Shakespeare couched his political and social views in ways less apparent and more symbolic to thwart the displeasure, and, worse, the wrath of the British sovereign and other authorities.

Tina Brown, author of The Vanity Fair Diaries, regales us with the razzle-dazzle glamour, passion, and prestige of her life editing upscale magazines. She has perfected the art of molding gritty journalism, celebrity, literary style, and colorful characters into a bold alchemy. Professionally, she prizes her ability to identify good talent and steer them on a course she deems will be in their best interest.

Born a Brit, Brown holds dual citizenship with the U.S. She claims residency in  “Transatlantica,” an imaginary world she conceived to bridge her multi-faceted life. That is, one that “combines English irony, country lanes in summer, the national theatre, and a real pot of tea with American openness, lack of class barriers, willingness to give money to good causes, and a view of Manhattan from Rockefeller Center.”

Brunch near the Battery

On Sunday, the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival relocates to another iconic and historic property. Rainbow Row is a celebrated lineup of 13 Georgian houses painted in bold pastels on East Bay Street, just along the Battery, the city’s landmark defensive seawall and promenade.

A generous benefactor is opening his richly appointed home for an al fresco brunch. Of course, the weather cooperates. Extending quintessential Southern hospitality and graciousness as he shakes hands in greeting at the front entry, he encourages me (and his other guests) to explore his home at will, and then make our way outdoors for dining.

A tempting buffet of ham, grilled vegetables, lettuce salad, melon, and the obligatory Southern biscuits stretches along one side of the lushly landscaped back lawn. I serve myself a plate, and chat with a couple who, like me, came from elsewhere this weekend to be enriched, entertained, and energized.

I’m recalling a banner I saw yesterday posted outside the Charleston Library Society. It’s message, flanked by colorful, child-like silhouettes of dinosaurs, speaks volumes: “Dinosaurs didn’t read, and now they are extinct. Coincidence?”

No chance of extinction among this eager book-loving group. The Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival is making sure of that.

Thank you to the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival for hosting my attendance at the lectures and brunch as a media guest.

The third Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival will take place November 7-10, 2019. Looks like another great lineup of speakers.

Some photos are courtesy of Leigh Webber.