VENUES

With venues as historic as the city itself, the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival will showcase Charleston's rich tapestry of architecture along with some of today's most vibrant speakers.

Most events will take place in the Charleston Library Society's Main Reading Room, but events will also be held at the Charleston Music Hall and the Circular Congregational Church.

Charleston Library Society's Beaux Arts Building
164 King Street

Home of the second oldest circulating library in America, the Beaux Arts Building provides a beautiful setting for literary discussion, with books and historic exhibits surrounding a large, sun-drenched space. Built in 1914 at the height of the city's Gilded Age, it holds court atop King Street and boasts an original marble checkerboard floor, vast marble steps a the entryway, and iconic Palladian windows.

Rotating exhibits highlight the extensive collections found with the building's glass-floored stacks and secure vaults. From books and newspapers of colonial times to the latest releases in contemporary fiction, the Charleston Library Society is a uniquely stunning library, research facility, and event space.

The Dock Street Theatre
135 Church Street

On February 12, 1736 the Dock Street Theatre opened as the first building in America built exclusively to be used for theatrical performances. The original Dock Street Theatre was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1740. In 1809, the Planter's Hotel was built on this site and in 1835 the wrought iron balcony and sandstone columns of the Church Street facade were added. After falling into disrepair following the Cival War, the theatre was rebuilt in the 1930s as a Depression Era WPA project. DuBose Heyward (Porgy) wasnamed its writer-in-residence.

Now owned and managed by the City of Charleston, the Historic Dock Street Theatre is home to many of the City's finest cultural institutions, including Spoleto Festival USA. Charleston Stage, which became its resident professional theatre in 1978, produces over 100 performances each season and plays to more than 49,000 patrons annually. In addition, more than 15,000 South Carolina students enjoy special school day performances offered by Charleston Stage each year at the Historic Dock Street Theatre.