Southern author Brenda Sutton Rose to speak in Bluffton on July 21st
Libraries for Kids, International will welcome acclaimed Southern author and visual artist Brenda Sutton Rose for a special author talk on Monday, July 21st, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Roasting Room, located at 1297 May River Road in Bluffton. The event is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5.
Rose will speak about her award-winning debut novel, Dogwood Blues, and her newly released novella, A Wiregrass Childhood. The presentation will be followed by an optional Dutch treat lunch with the author at a local restaurant. Space is limited, and reservations are required. Early arrival is recommended. To RSVP or obtain additional information, contact Tamela Maxim at 843-683-4100 or tamela.maxim@libraries4kids.org.
Brenda Sutton Rose is known for her lyrical writing style and evocative storytelling rooted in the culture and geography of the American South. A native of Georgia, Rose draws on her experiences and local history to craft stories that resonate with themes of identity, community, and resilience.
In A Wiregrass Childhood, Rose blends fiction with elements of local history to create a nostalgic and imaginative portrait of rural life in Georgia’s Wiregrass region. While the story is fictional, she enriches the narrative with inspiration from Irwin and Turner County records and the traditions of the Creek people. Rose calls the book “a creation of my imagination,” yet the emotional truths she conveys are drawn from the region’s deeply rooted past.
Her first novel, Dogwood Blues, unfolds in the fictional town of Dogwood, Georgia, near the Alapaha River. It follows New York writer Kevin Kilmer, who returns to his hometown to face unresolved personal conflicts, and Boone Marshall, a blues pianist and farmer whose second marriage causes a stir among the town’s residents. With colorful characters like the outspoken members of the Honeysuckle Bridge Club, the novel explores the friction between tradition and change in a tight-knit community.
Rose’s poetic reflection on her craft reveals her deep connection to the Southern landscape and storytelling tradition: “I write from the seeding syllables of my gardens, from the crumbling graves of my ancestors, from sorrow sleeping in my grandmother’s tattered Bible... I dig for stories in the soil of the Southern landscape, under longleaf pines, ancient oaks dripping with Spanish moss.”
The July event marks the beginning of a yearlong author series hosted by Libraries for Kids, International. The Bluffton-based nonprofit supports schools in rural Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda by supplying reference and leisure reading books to areas with little to no electricity or internet access.
Future speakers include Mark O’Neill on August 18, Pat Branning on September 15, Scott Gould on October 20, Lynn and Cele Seldon on November 17, and Annelore Harrell on December 15. Author talks are scheduled monthly through June 2026.
For more information on the author series or the organization’s mission, visit www.libraries4kids.org.
