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Lowcountry writer wins S.C. Novel Series with debut work

A look at blue-collar Lowcountry life

Hub City Press announced today that Robert Maynor was selected as the winner of the 2022 South Carolina Novel Series for his debut novel, The Big Game is Every Night.

Hub City Press will publish the novel in the fall of 2023. The South Carolina Novel Series publishes a novel by a South Carolina writer biennially. Writers selected for publication in this series are awarded $1,500 and book publication, including marketing and tour support from Hub City Press and the series partners. The novel also receives placement in all South Carolina state libraries and readings/events with presenting sponsors. The Big Game is Every Night is told in the keen, honest voice of a young high school football player growing up in rural South Carolina Lowcountry and gives readers a glimpse into the cultural forces that shape contemporary blue-collar America. “The South Carolina Arts Commission is proud to provide South Carolina’s artists with career development opportunities like this one. We are excited to read a novel that is set in our state and is by a South Carolina author. Congratulations to Robert on this achievement, and we thank Hub City Press for being our partners,” South Carolina Arts Commission Executive Director David Platts said. “Hub City Press is thrilled to publish Robert's debut novel as the inaugural selection of the South Carolina Novel Series next year, and to continue the great work we have accomplished in our 15-year partnership with the South Carolina Arts Commission,” said Meg Reid, director of Hub City Press.

About Robert Maynor

Robert Maynor is from the Lowcountry of South Carolina. He lives and writes in a patched-up fish camp on the bank of the Edisto River, the longest free-flowing blackwater river in North America. His fiction explores the spectrum of complexities and contradictions in the contemporary American South. His short stories have appeared in Blood Orange Review, BULL, the Carolina Quarterly, and CRAFT, among other outlets. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and he is the past recipient of the Larry Brown Short Story Award and the Coker Fellowship in Fiction from the South Carolina Academy of Authors. The Big Game Is Every Night is his first novel.

About the S.C. Novel Series

The South Carolina Novel Series is open to writers of all levels who have lived in South Carolina for at least one year prior to submission of their manuscript. Co-sponsors include the South Carolina Arts Commission, the South Carolina State Library and South Carolina Humanities. Submissions for the series will open on Jan. 1, 2024 and close April 15, 2024. No submission fee is required.

Series Partners

The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances. Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the Arts Commission works to increase public participation in the arts by providing services, grants and leadership initiatives in three areas: arts education, community arts development and artist development. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the Arts Commission is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources. Visit SouthCarolinaArts.com or call 803.734.8696, and follow @scartscomm on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for #Arts4SC and #SCartists content. Founded in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1995, Hub City Press is the South’s premier independent literary press. Focused on finding and spotlighting extraordinary new and unsung writers from the American South, our curated list champions diverse authors and books that don’t fit into the commercial publishing landscape. The press has published over ninety high-caliber literary works, including novels, short stories, poetry, memoir, and books emphasizing the region's culture and history. Hub City is interested in books with a strong sense of place and is committed to introducing a diverse roster of lesser-heard Southern voices. The South Carolina State Library develops, supports, and sustains a thriving statewide community of learners committed to making South Carolina stronger. The Library serves the people of South Carolina by supporting state government and libraries to provide opportunities for learning in a changing environment. It is the primary administrator of federal and state support for the state’s libraries. In 1969, as the result of action by the General Assembly, the State Library Board was redesignated as the South Carolina State Library and assumed responsibility for public library development, library service for state institutions, service for the blind and physically handicapped, and library service to state government agencies. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the Library is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and other sources. For more information, please visit www.statelibrary.sc.gov or call 803.734.8666. South Carolina Humanities is the state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The mission of South Carolina Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. South Carolina Humanities programs and initiatives are balanced, reflect sensitivity to a diversity of ideas, encourage open dialogue, demonstrate integrity, and are ethical in operations. For more information, visit www.schumanities.org or call 803.771.2477.

Jason Rapp

Hey writers: One more week to finish up your manuscripts

S.C. Novel Series submission deadline is April 15

Frustrated woman writer lost concentration feeling lack of creative ideas

If this is you, we're sorry. But...

You have ONE WEEK to finalize that manuscript for the South Carolina Novel Series. The Hub brought you updates for the partnership this past December, so you have surely been hard at work ever since. We felt a reminder was in order just in case. Here's the program in a nutshell: Every other year, the South Carolina Novel Series recognizes one of South Carolina’s exceptional writers. Writers selected for publication in this series are awarded $1,500 and book publication, including marketing and tour support from Hub City Press and the series partners, as well as placement in all South Carolina state libraries and readings/events with presenting sponsors. The series is open to writers of all levels who have lived in South Carolina for at least one year prior to submission of their manuscript. Submissions for the series opened Jan. 1 and will close next Friday, April 15. Good news: they require no submission fee. The South Carolina Novel Series is a partnership of the South Carolina Arts Commission, Hub City Press, South Carolina Humanities and the South Carolina State Library.

Jason Rapp

State Library offers free training for cultural heritage orgs

There's no time like now to prepare for the next emergency.

From March 2021-June 2021, the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) is providing free emergency preparedness training for South Carolina cultural heritage organizations sponsored by the South Carolina State Library and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This course is open to individuals associated with South Carolina cultural heritage organizations, county government departments, and offices involved with emergency management and public safety. There is no cost to attend, but you must register to reserve a seat. Seats are limited to 33 registrants per region. For more information and to register, visit the S.C. State Library website now.

Submitted material

2020 S.C. Novel Prize goes to Upstate writer

Winning manuscript publishes in 2021

The South Carolina Arts Commission, Hub City Press, the College of Charleston, the South Carolina State Library,  and South Carolina Humanities are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2020 South Carolina Novel Prize is Maris Lawyer for her manuscript The Blue Line Down.  

Lawyer’s winning manuscript will be published in 2021 by Hub City Press of Spartanburg.

Maris Lawyer (right) grew up in Oconee County and hasn’t strayed far since. Graduating with a degree in Creative Writing from Anderson University in 2017, she then moved into a tiny apartment in Greenville with her husband, where she spent her evenings hunched over a laptop writing stories. Maris and her husband (and two cats) are now homeowners in Easley, where she still catches a glimpse of the Blue Ridge Mountains every day.

Stephanie Powell Watts, author of We Are Taking Only What We Need and No One is Coming to Save Us was the judge of the biennial prize this year. Of the winning manuscript, Watts wrote, “Readers are always looking for the topic that both feels familiar until we scratch the surface a little and realize we know almost nothing about it. In the clear light of the present, movements, protests and even revolutions of the past can seem obvious and inevitable. History loves to condense the story, connecting dots to make the narrative cohere. However, there is turmoil, angst, and great human suffering in between those dots. This story shows us how a decent enough person might be compelled to aid and abet bullies and killers. The story also shows us the main character's remarkable path to possible redemption.”

The South Carolina Novel Prize is funded by the following partner organizations:

The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances.

Hub City Press was founded in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1995 and since then has emerged as one of the South's premier independent presses.

The College of Charleston is home not only to a cadre of nationally and internationally recognized writing faculty, but also houses one of the country’s premiere literary journals, Crazyhorse, published since 1960 and consistently ranked as among the top publishing venues in the nation. The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program provides students an immersion in a world of prose and poetry and the practical aspects of establishing a career in the arts.

The South Carolina State Library develops, supports, and sustains a thriving statewide community of learners committed to making South Carolina stronger. The Library serves the people of South Carolina by supporting state government and libraries to provide opportunities for learning in a changing environment.

South Carolina Humanities is the state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. SC Humanities presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.

For more information about the Novel Competition, visit or call http://www.SouthCarolinaArts.com, 803.734.8696; and http://www.hubcity.org, 864.577.9349.

More about Maris Lawyer

Maris Lawyer is a born and bred native of the South Carolina Upstate. She graduated with a degree in creative writing from Anderson University and has since gone to work as an HR generalist for an environmental consulting firm in Greenville. Maris lives in Easley with her husband Benjamin and two cats, Merlin and Luna. Alongside reading and writing, Maris spends much of her time fussing over the vegetable garden in her back yard. In The Blue Line Down, protagonist Jude Washer leaves his tormented childhood in the Virginian coal mines to join the Baldwin-Felts agents—the very agents who hunted down and disbanded the unionizers at his own mine camp. Instead of living a life of power and control, Jude finds himself disturbed by the brutal brand of justice dealt out by the Baldwin-Felts, and seeks to free himself and his young trainee, Harvey. An unplanned escape turns into a harrowing manhunt as Jude and Harvey flee the Baldwin-Felts, traveling down the Blue Ridge Mountains only to fall into the hands of bootleggers—who may present a greater threat than the Baldwin-Felts.

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Finalists named for 2020 South Carolina Novel Prize

Winner to be selected next week

The South Carolina Arts Commission and Hub City Press announce the three books named finalists in the 2020 South Carolina Novel Competition.

The finalists are: Rebecca Helms of Murrells Inlet for her manuscript Singing in the Corn, Maris Lawyer of Easley for The Blue Line Down, and Susanne Parker of Spartanburg for her novel What Happens to the Children. The winner will be announced next week and will have her book published in 2021 by Hub City Press of Spartanburg. Stephanie Powell Watts, was the judge of the biennial prize. Watts is the author of the novel, No One Is Coming to Save Us, and a short story collection, We Are Taking Only What We Need, which won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Her short fiction has been included in two volumes of the Best New Stories from the South anthology and honored with a Pushcart Prize. Born in the foothills of North Carolina, with a PhD from the University of Missouri and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, she now lives with her husband and son in Pennsylvania where she is an associate professor at Lehigh University.

Rebecca D. Helms is a South Carolinian novelist, short-story writer, and poet who discovered her love of literature by the time she was only ten years old. Her style is influenced by the grit and grace of the Carolina low-country and her voice is an echo of the maternal village who raised her and showed her the way. Her first novel, Singing in the Corn, carries her readers deep inside every adventure with humor, fear, darkness, and joy—in many scenes, all at the same time. Ms. Helms is currently finalizing her Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and works abroad while writing her next novel.

Maris Lawyer grew up in Oconee County, South Carolina, and hasn’t strayed far since. Graduating with a degree in Creative Writing from Anderson University in 2017, she then moved into a tiny apartment in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband, where she spent her evenings hunched over a laptop writing stories. Maris and her husband (and two cats) are now homeowners in Easley, South Carolina, where she still catches a glimpse of the Blue Ridge Mountains every day.

Susanne Parker is a Hub City native and graduate of the Converse College Creative Writing MFA. She loves to read journey and travel narratives when she isn’t embarking on some new adventure herself. Susanne works as a library assistant and spends her free time tending the single, enormous sunflower in her garden and snuggling with her pets. What Happens to the Children is her first novel.

The South Carolina Novel Prize is funded by the South Carolina Arts Commission, Hub City Press, South Carolina Humanities, South Carolina State Library, and the College of Charleston's Masters of Fine Arts Creative Writing department. For more information about the Novel Competition, visit or call the South Carolina Arts Commission (SouthCarolinaArts.com | 803.734.8696); or Hub City Press (HubCity.org | 864.577.9349).

Jason Rapp

South Carolina Novel Prize opens submission window

Author Stephanie Powell Watts judging entries

Submission deadline: Monday, March 16 23, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.
Every other year, the South Carolina Novel Prize recognizes one of South Carolina’s exceptional writers. Submissions will be read anonymously by our readers at the College of Charleston Department of English and this year's judge, author Stephanie Powell Watts. The contest is highly competitive, and the winner is provided a book contract with Hub City Press, who will print no fewer  than 2000 copies to be nationally distributed to the trade in 2021. This can also bring recognition that may open doors to other resources and opportunities in the literary community. The S.C. Novel Prize is funded by the South Carolina Arts Commission, Hub City Press, and South Carolina Humanities. The College of Charleston and South Carolina State Library are also partners. The South Carolina Novel Prize (formerly the First Novel Prize) is open to any South Carolina writer, including those who have never had a novel published and those who have been published. Applicants’ works are reviewed anonymously by panelists who make their judgments on the basis of artistic merit and narrowed through two rounds of judging. Five novels will be judged in a third round by Watts. Find the eligibility and restrictions and link to submit on SouthCarolinaArts.com. [caption id="attachment_34666" align="aligncenter" width="563"] The world-famous Hub Calls for Art Megaphone.[/caption]   Ed. note: This post was updated March 12, 2020 with a deadline extension to March 23, reflected at the top of the post.

Jason Rapp

Author Stephanie Powell Watts to judge 2020 S.C. Novel competition

The South Carolina Arts Commission, the College of Charleston Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, the South Caroline State Library, SC Humanities, and Hub City Press announce Stephanie Powell Watts as the judge for the 2018 South Carolina Novel Prize. Stephanie Powell Watts won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence for her debut story collection, We Are Taking Only What We Need (2012), also named one of 2013’s Best Summer Reads by O: The Oprah Magazine. Her short fiction has been included in two volumes of the Best New Stories from the South anthology and honored with a Pushcart Prize. Born in the foothills of North Carolina, with a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri and a bachelor's from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, she now lives with her husband and son in Pennsylvania where she is an associate professor at Lehigh University. The South Carolina Novel Prize (formerly the First Novel Prize) is open to any South Carolina writer, including those who have never had a novel published and those who have been published. The contest is highly competitive. Applicants’ works are reviewed anonymously by panelists who make their judgments on the basis of artistic merit and narrowed through two rounds of judging. Five novels will be judged in a third round by Watts. The winning author will receive a book contract with Hub City Press, an award-winning independent press in Spartanburg. The winner is awarded publication by Hub City Press in the form of a printing of no less than 2,000 copies to be nationally distributed to the trade in 2021. This can bring recognition that may open doors to other resources and opportunities in the literary community. Submissions open Jan. 1, 2020 and close March 15, 2020. Find complete eligibility requirements and application guidelines at SouthCarolinaArts.com.

Young readers invited to write to favorite authors

Submission deadline: Friday, Jan. 11, 2019

Young readers in grades 4-12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for the Letters about Literature (LAL) contest, a national reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre (fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic) explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s life or view of the world. This is the first year for online submissions. The 26th annual writing contest for young readers is made possible by a generous grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with the South Carolina Center for the Book and the South Carolina State Library with financial support from the South Carolina State Library Foundation. Prizes will be awarded on both the state and national levels. The South Carolina Center for the Book’s panel of judges will select the top letter writers in the state.  Their winning letters will be published online at the South Carolina Center for the Book’s website and advance to the national judging. South Carolina winners will receive $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place in each level. For more information, online submissions, and entry forms, please visit www.read.gov/letters. The deadline for submissions is January 11, 2019.

About the S.C. State Library

The South Carolina State Library develops, supports, and sustains a thriving statewide community of learners committed to making South Carolina stronger. The Library serves the people of South Carolina by supporting state government and libraries to provide opportunities for learning in a changing environment. It is the primary administrator of federal and state support for the state’s libraries. In 1969, as the result of action by the General Assembly, the State Library Board was redesignated as the South Carolina State Library and assumed responsibility for public library development, library service for state institutions, service for the blind and physically handicapped, and library service to state government agencies. Headquartered in Columbia, the Library is funded by the state of South Carolina, by the federal government through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and other sources.  For more information, please visit statelibrary.sc.gov or call 803.734.8666.

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Announcing the 2018 S.C. Novel Prize winner

      LEAD MEDIA CONTACT: Kate McMullen, Hub City Press 864.577.9349|  kate@hubcity.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 19 June 2018 Winner announced for biennial South Carolina Novel Prize SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The South Carolina Arts Commission, Hub City Press, the College of Charleston, and the South Carolina State Library are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2018 South Carolina Novel Prize is Scott Sharpe for his manuscript “Whispering into the Wind.” [caption id="attachment_35640" align="alignright" width="250"] Scott Sharpe (2018)[/caption] Scott Sharpe was born and raised in the Sandhills of central South Carolina and graduated from the University of SC with a degree in business. He lives in Eastover and currently works for the South Carolina Disaster Recovery Office. When not helping the state rebuild its rural communities or writing, he practices the art of fly-fishing and paddles any body of water big enough to launch his canoe. He has written countless short stories and is currently working on his second novel and a collection of short fiction.  “Whispering into the Wind” follows protagonist Jack Parker’s struggle to find some purpose to his life-long strained relationship with his father and his father’s peculiar actions just before his death. The very issues that separated them in life ultimately lead to understanding and a quiet peace as Jack reluctantly follows in his father’s footsteps. Sharpe’s winning manuscript will be published in 2019 by Hub City Press of Spartanburg. Jill McCorkle, author of 10 books including “Life After Life” was the judge of the biennial prize this year. The South Carolina Novel Prize is funded by the following partner organizations:

  • The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances.
  • Hub City Press was founded in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1995 and since then has emerged as one of the South's premier independent presses.
  • The College of Charleston is home not only to a cadre of nationally and internationally recognized writing faculty, but also houses one of the country’s premiere literary journals, Crazyhorse, published since 1960 and consistently ranked as among the top publishing venues in the nation. The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program provides students an immersion in a world of prose and poetry and the practical aspects of establishing a career in the arts.
  • The South Carolina State Library develops, supports, and sustains a thriving statewide community of learners committed to making South Carolina stronger. The Library serves the people of South Carolina by supporting state government and libraries to provide opportunities for learning in a changing environment.
  • South Carolina Humanities is the state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a founding partner of the South Carolina Novel Prize.
For more information about the Novel Competition, visit or call:
  • SouthCarolinaArts.com / 803.734.8696;
  • or HubCity.org / 864.577.9349.
 

Free grants writing workshop in Allendale April 20

South Carolina Humanities, in partnership with USC Salkehatchie, the South Carolina State Library, and the South Carolina Arts Commission, is hosting a free grants writing workshop and invites staff and volunteers of S.C. cultural organizations and nonprofit agencies to attend. Admission to the workshop is free, but pre-registration is REQUIRED. This workshop is especially targeted to the six-county Promise Zone region (Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper). The workshop will be held April 20, from 10 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. at the Conference Room in the Education Building of USC Salkehatchie’s West Campus in Allendale (address: USC Building #849, 266 Spruce Street, Allendale, SC). Staff, officers, and board members of SC Humanities, South Carolina State Library, and the South Carolina Arts Commission will lead participants in a general grants writing overview, will highlight funding opportunities for cultural projects and other cultural resources, and can offer feedback on project ideas and application drafts, time permitting. This workshop offers a unique learning opportunity for cultural organizations of all sizes and provides the opportunity for partnership building between local organizations with similar missions. REGISTRATION for the Grants Writing Workshop for Community Cultural Projects is REQUIRED. Please REGISTER HERE. Schedule: 10 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Welcome and Introductions 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. – Overview of General Grants Writing Techniques 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Overview of Resources and Grants for Community Cultural Projects South Carolina Arts Commission – Susan DuPlessis, Program Director South Carolina State Library – Dawn Mullin; Reference Librarian SC Humanities – T.J. Wallace, Assistant Director 12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Questions, Networking, and Partnership Building 12:45 p.m. – Adjourn For more information, please contact T.J. Wallace at 803-771-2477 or tjwallace@schumanities.org. Special thanks to USC Salkehatchie for hosting the workshop!

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