Books & Bites with Mary Alice Monroe and Barb Bergwerf: Presented by Wild Dunes Literary Series

Save the Date Now: Tuesday, May 19! 

When the Wild Dunes Literary series returns on May 19, enjoy good food and lively conversation about writing, friendship, sea turtles, and reinventing yourself in any chapter of life with authors- and friends- Mary Alice Monroe and Barb Bergwerf.

Stay tuned… Tickets coming soon! https://www.buxtonbooks.com/events/5096620260519 

About Mary Alice Monroe:

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 books for adults and children. Her newest title, Where the Rivers Merge, is a USA Today bestseller and a top selection among book clubs. It’s her first historical novel, and it’s a duology. The release date for part two, titled The Rivers End, is coming soon.

Mary Alice has earned numerous accolades and awards including induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame; South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing; the South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence; the SW Florida Author of Distinction Award; the RT Lifetime Achievement Award; the International Book Award for Green Fiction; the Henry Bergh Award for Children’s Fiction; and her novel A Lowcountry Christmas won the prestigious Southern Prize for Fiction. Mary Alice is also the co-founder of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.

The Beach House is a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Andie McDowell. Several of her novels are optioned for film.

Mary Alice has championed the fragility of the earth’s wild habitat. The coastal southern landscape in particular is a strong and important focus of many of her novels. For her writing, Monroe immerses herself in academic research, works with wildlife experts, and does hands-on volunteering with animals, then crafts captivating stories that identify important parallels between nature and human nature. Sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, monarch butterflies, raptors, and shorebirds are among the species she has worked with and woven into her novels.

Mary Alice is also an active conservationist and serves on several boards including the South Carolina Aquarium board emeritus, the Pat Conroy Literary Center Honorary Board, and the Leatherback Trust, for which she received the Leatherback Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

Mary Alice was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois. She lives along the South Carolina coast just outside of Charleston and considers the Lowcountry home. When she’s not writing a novel, she’s with her family or busy working with wildlife somewhere in the world.

About Barb Bergwerf: 

Born in Chicago and raised in the Midwest, Barb Bergerf discovered her passion for photography at an early age. After earning a degree in International Affairs from George Washington University, she worked in government service before returning to Chicago, where she built a career in photojournalism, including time as a staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune.

A lifelong creative, she later founded an award-winning stained glass studio in Northfield, Illinois, where she spent more than twenty years creating and teaching Tiffany-style stained glass. Now based in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, she works as a photographer with organizations including the Center for Birds of Prey, the South Carolina Aquarium, and the Island Turtle Team.

Her debut novel, Fatal Exposure, brings together a lifetime of visual storytelling and a long-held passion for writing.