Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home to Celebrate Author’s 101st Birthday

The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the legacy of one of the South’s greatest writers, will host Flannery O’Connor’s 101st Birthday Party on Sunday, March 29, 2026 from 12 to 3 p.m. in Lafayette Square. This annual event is hosted in conjunction with Savannah Local Author Day, sponsored by The Book Lady Bookstore. The event is free and open to the public.
“The only thing better than a 100th birthday party is the 101st,” said Lee Griffith, President of the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home Board of Directors. “And you’re invited! Come celebrate O’Connor’s life and stories in the square where she grew up, with the lively literary community she inspired.”
Participants will be able to compete in a Flannery O’Connor look-alike contest, enjoy a performance by Legacy Irish Dance, hear live music by the Sweet Thunder Band, shop original art by Panhandle Slim and ‘20s-’60s attire from Vintage Vortex, create Flannery-inspired crafts with the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home and Live Oak Public Library, play lawn games, participate in specialty raffles, and grab a slice of birthday cake in celebration of O’Connor’s 101st birthday.
In addition, a portion of Lafayette Square will be dedicated to the annual Savannah Local Author Day, where local and regional poets, children’s book authors, and fiction and nonfiction writers will be on-hand.
Authors include:
Helen Bradley
VL Brunskill
Don Cellini
Amy Paige Condon
Rosemary Daniell
Laura Davenport
Susan Earl
Deborah Grahl
Kevin Grogan
Charles Hoskins
Miho Kinnas
Danelle LeJeune
Jessica Leigh Lebos
Ann Lilly
Kevin McCarey
Tony Morris
Maggie Redmon
Elizabeth Robin
Southern Poetry Review
Patricia West

Sponsors for this event are Leopold’s Ice Cream and The Book Lady Bookstore.
For more information about the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home and the birthday party, please call 912-233-6014 or email info@flanneryoconnorhome.org. For more information about Local Author Day, please contact Joni Saxon-Giusti at The Book Lady Bookstore at books@thebookladybookstore.com.

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ABOUT FLANNERY O’CONNOR:
Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia on March 25, 1925 and is the author of the acclaimed novels Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, as well as 31 short stories and numerous essays. Perhaps best known as a pioneering Southern gothic author who often wrote about morally flawed characters, O’Connor remains an important voice in American literature. She lived in Savannah until 1938 and drew inspiration from her childhood experiences in Georgia’s First City until her death from lupus in Milledgeville, Georgia on August 3, 1964. She received the National Book Award for Fiction posthumously in 1972 for The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor.

ABOUT THE FLANNERY O’CONNOR CHILDHOOD HOME:
The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, located at 207 E. Charlton Street in the heart of Savannah, Georgia, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of one of the South’s greatest writers. An established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home has been meticulously restored to reflect the authentic period furnishings of a Depression-Era Savannah rowhouse and to offer insight into the years that O’Connor lived in Savannah from 1925 to 1938. The Home proudly presents a series of free readings as well as other events throughout the year. For more information, please visit flanneryoconnorhome.org.