Ashley Hall Writers Series | Ashley Hall

Ashley Hall Writers Series

Since its creation in 2005, the Ashley Hall’s Writers Series has hosted dozens of award-winning authors on the school’s historic campus located in downtown Charleston. Events are generally free and open to the public. Recent featured guests have included acclaimed art critic for The New Republic Jed Perl, non-fiction writer and poet Lisa Wells, and award-winning food writer Rossi Anastopoulo ’13.

UPCOMING WRITERS SERIES EVENTS

In the coming months, Ashley Hall is pleased to present the following authors: 

NOVEMBER 8: Cindy Andrews, author and illustrator

An Evening with Cindy Andrews
November 8, 2023 | 5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. followed by book signing reception
Davies Auditorium

This event is perfect for families with young readers. 

Ashley Hall is thrilled to welcome back to campus former fine arts faculty member and now author, Cindy Andrews. In Andrews’ new book, we take a journey through Charleston history with a little Christmas ornament who wants some wings of her own. It’s 1882 in the Holy City of Charleston, where a beloved handmade Christmas angel named Engel has been safely stored year after year in the attic of the prominent Witte family, Ashley Hall’s own McBee House. When a modern factory-made angel with feathered wings assumes her role at the top of the tree, Engel fears irrelevance and makes a wish for real wings. Through an ironic twist of fate, the little ornament is unwittingly discarded into Charleston harbor.

Engel is filled with dazzling illustrations of historic Charleston and the Charleston ecosystem. Engel travels through significant local landmarks and meets alligators, dolphins, herons, sea turtles, and many more along the way. These places and characters combine to teach the wingless Engel a valuable lesson about confidence and finding one’s place in the world.

Bringing the Lowcountry to vivid life, we are pleased to annouce the South Carolina Aquarium will be on hand with live wildlife demonstratons including a small alligator, turtle and various marsh animals.

Unfortunately this event has been cancelled. To purchase your copy of “Engel” click here.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CINDY ANDREWS has lived in Charleston for over thirty years. She recently retired from Ashley Hall, where she taught visual art, art history, European history, and graphic design. As a lover of all things historical, Cindy also loves to cook, kayak the local waterways, golf at the muni, and visit her grandchildren in Mexico City.

 

 

Ashley Hall thanks the South Carolina Aquarium for participating in this event.

SEPTEMBER 20: Marshall Highet and Bird Jones

An Evening with Marshall Highet and Bird Jones
SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 | 6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
Davies Auditorium & Jenkins Atrium

Reception and book signing to follow

Intergenerational writing team Marshall Highet and Bird Jones will be discussing of their co-authored book Blue-Eyed Slave, a carefully researched historical young adult novel set in Charleston. The event will be followed by a book-signing reception showcasing student projects around their study of the novel’s themes of race, religion, and responsibility.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

RSVP HERE

Book signing sponsored by

 

 

 

Purchase a hardback copy of Blue Eyed Slave. | Purchase a paperback copy of Blue Eyed Slave.

ABOUT THE BOOK

“The two heroines are 13-year-old girls, one a slave and one a Sephardic Jew. They are strong characters with a highly defined sense of the possible in the face of the impossible. They are  fearless and fearful simultaneously but determined to see the situation through… Finally, Harry’s story is stunning.  It is true and, as I have said before, almost entirely unknown. Harry taught 1000 enslaved people to read in spite of laws that forbid it. There is a lot going on here with plenty of opportunities to talk about, not only the historical record, but the challenges we face today.” –  Bird Jones, author of Blue-Eyed Slave

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

MARSHALL HIGHET has previously published several novels and a short story: Spare Parts, a YA science-fiction novel based on real science; Modified, chapters of which were serially published in Realm, a science-fiction and fantasy literature magazine; and “Fetch,” a short story that will appear in Skelos, a science-fiction and dark fantasy fiction publication. Marshall also wrote the foreword to the republished novels of Helen MacInnes, an espionage writer of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s.

BIRD JONES is an emerita of Elon University and an ethnographer by training. Her love of stories and story collecting has taken her from Appalachia to Central Asia. She has published widely in academic journals and presented at conferences. Her book And That’s the Way of It: Life in a Maine Village became a popular read in Down East Magazine, was a best-book pick by independent bookstores along the coast, and was featured on Maine Public Radio. Together, Bird and Marshall wrote Hold Fast, a historical novel. Blue-Eyed Slave is their second collaboration.

Learn more about Highet and Jones

Parking is available in the Smith Street parking lot. Please enter through the Smith Street gate. 

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Ashley Hall is a K-12 independent school for girls, with a co-ed preschool, committed to a talented and diverse student population. We consider for admission students of any race, color, religion, and national or ethnic origin.
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