A Writer's Guide to Charleston, South Carolina

Susan Dart Butler opened a reading room at Dart Hall for Charleston's African American public in 1927, and it opened as a branch of the Charleston Free Library in July 1931. Today it has public computers and Wi-Fi, with color and black-and-white printing. Nonprofit and civic groups can book county library meeting rooms free of charge with at least 48 hours' notice.

Addlestone is the College of Charleston's main library. Visitors from outside the college can come in on weekdays by showing a government-issued ID and signing in.

Special Collections holds more than 500 manuscript collections and a set of rare books and pamphlets. Its named collections include the Jewish Heritage Collection and the SC LGBTQ+ Collection. The reading room is open on weekdays to all researchers, whatever their affiliation. Members of the public who need several days in a row can apply for an Extended Reader Card.

The state historical society keeps its manuscripts, letters, journals, and maps here, along with drawings and photographs from across South Carolina history. The archive is open on weekdays.

Blue Bicycle started as a used bookstore and still sells used books, along with signed modern first editions and new children's books and cookbooks. It stocks just about every Charleston book, new and used. More than 200 authors a year give events here, and the room holds 75 people for a talk. The store also hosts a long-running Piccolo Spoleto reading.

Philosophers & Fools is a bookstore and a wine and craft beer bar. It opened in 2024 with about 5,000 titles and a small seating area, and it runs the P&F Book Club and a First Edition Club. The store is closed Wednesdays.

Julian and Polly Buxton opened this independent bookstore in 2016. Its author events take place next door at the Charleston Library Society and at venues around the city, and its story-driven walking tours start at the front door.

Summer Anderson opened Ladybird in 2025 to sell literary fiction, contemporary Southern fiction and nonfiction, and cookbooks. Memoir writers should find the "How to Be a Human" section. Southern books and cookbooks share a shelf called "What the South Holds."

Callie Lamb opened this romance bookshop in 2025, and it also celebrates Taylor Swift. It hosts author signings and book clubs and posts them on its Instagram.

Itinerant Literate began in 2015 as a mobile and pop-up bookstore and opened its Park Circle Bookstop in 2018. It sells new books for all ages. Its shelves lean toward marginalized authors and social justice titles.

Kudu has served coffee and local craft beer a few steps off King Street since 2005, and it calls itself laptop-friendly. Its shaded courtyard under the oaks suits a long work session.

Second State opened its first shop here in 2012. The tables are custom-made from heart pine salvaged from Charleston's oldest buildings.

Clerks is the coffee shop in Hotel Emeline, with wooden tables and arched brick walls. It serves breakfast and lunch every day.

Its local artist owners built this specialty coffeehouse as a neighborhood space. It is closed Sundays.

Park & Grove serves seasonal New American food from brunch through dinner, a few steps from Hampton Park.

The Royal American has served food and drink with live music in the old Charleston Forge building since 2011. Bands playing original music take the stage on weekends. The kitchen stays open late.

Pour House has been a live-music venue since 2002. Bands play on three stages, one of them on the deck, and Monday shows on the deck are free. Its two food concepts are Jack of Cups Bebop and Kwei Fei.

The festival holds ticketed author events at the Dock Street Theatre each November. It also runs the Cato Fellowship Prize for emerging Carolinas writers and the Young Writers Awards. Its website keeps a guide to Charleston's local bookstores.

The society was founded in 1920 and supports amateur and professional poets. Published poets and members both read at its events. In Charleston, its readings and workshops meet at James Island Town Hall.

Founded in 1748, the Library Society calls itself the oldest cultural institution in the South. It is a private lending library whose collections serve both reading and scholarly research. Programs cover literature and history, world affairs and music.

YALLFest is Charleston's young adult book festival, held each November with more than 70 authors. General admission is free. Most venues are within three blocks of Blue Bicycle Books, and the ticketed headliner events are at the Charleston Music Hall.

The Avery Research Center collects and preserves the history and culture of the African diaspora, and it holds about two hundred manuscript collections. The reading room is open by appointment, and researchers need a consultation before they book one. Avery also offers the Karen Chambers Fellowship.

The society publishes the scholarly South Carolina Historical Magazine and Carologue. Its museum is in a National Historic Landmark building, and its archives are in Addlestone Library.

CLAW promotes scholarship and public engagement on the Lowcountry, the Atlantic World, and the links between them. Faculty can join its seminar sessions and conferences. It also publishes a book series with the University of South Carolina Press.

SC Humanities, the state humanities council, gives nonprofits several kinds of grants, including fast-track literary grants. Its Speakers Bureau sends South Carolina scholars to talk to community groups.

Evening Post Books is the book division of Evening Post Publishing, which publishes The Post and Courier. Its list runs from Lowcountry history and Gullah-focused fiction to cuisine, poetry, and children's books.

Professional Psychology: Research and Practice is an APA journal of peer-reviewed work on applying psychology, with clear implications for practicing psychologists. Its editor is based at the College of Charleston and the Medical University of South Carolina. Preparing an article for Professional Psychology: Research and Practice

The South Carolina Arts Commission awards these competitive fellowships in categories that change from year to year. Writing categories have included prose, poetry, spoken word, and playwriting.

These grants go to South Carolina artists who have been active for one to five years. The commission also offers an Emerging Artist Alumni Grant.

Every two years, the Arts Commission and Hub City Press publish a novel by a South Carolina prose writer chosen through this competition. Debut novelists can enter if they have lived in the state for at least a year.

The festival gives this fellowship to early-career writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry who live or study in North or South Carolina. Fellows get full access to festival sessions and free lodging downtown.

Winning poems from the society's fall and spring contests are published on its website and in its Yearbook. The Yearbook goes to school and university libraries across the state.

Redux is a nonprofit art center, and its print studio rents by the day, week, or month after a first-time tour. The studio has a six-color manual screen-printing press and a table-top etching press. A darkroom is also available. Unlimited renters get a key and 24/7 access.

The Library Society's bindery repairs and preserves books by custom commission. Its workshops teach hand bookbinding and paper marbling.

AlphaGraphics lists book printing and binding among its services, which suits a short run of chapbooks or galleys.