Roger Pinckney was born and raised in the South Carolina Lowcountry.  He graduated from the University of South Carolina and earned an MFA at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.  Pinckney farmed, taught school, and wrote award winning features for Minnesota and North Dakota newspapers.   His first successful book was Blue Roots, a history of South Carolina voodoo.  Pinckney published The Right Side of the River, Signs and Wonders, and Seventh Son on Sacred Ground, all collections of essays with a strong regional connection.  His novel, Little Glory, has been purchased by a Hollywood independent film maker.  He is a two-time winner of the SC Fiction Project and the Orion Writer's Circle Award.  He lives on Daufuskie Island, one of the last free and wild barrier islands, where he writes and works diligently to preserve land and  culture.

Lectures, tours, public appearances can also be booked by email rpinck@hargray.com. 

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BLUE ROOTS: African American Folk Magic of the Gullah People 

Raised in the heart of Gullah country, author Roger Pinckney provides an inside look at the history, practices and people of Gullah country, off the coast of  South Carolina.  On the plantations of the American South, slaves passed their African roots to their descendents in a rich and lasting oral tradition, a tradition that survives today.  Prominent among Gullah culture was the belief in herbalism, spiritualism, and black magic.  The Gullah called this belief "the root." 

The infamous root doctor, Dr. Buzzard, could administer a root to bring money, find love, or cure ailments  and J.E.McTeer, former High Sheriff, businessman and root doctor considered himself the "poor man's psychiatrist".  This book is an important reference to a vanishing culture.

The Gullah and Geechee, who were traditionally without political or economic power, practice a mystical art which descended direct from Africa.  It is known as "hoodoo" or "rootwork".

148 pages. 6 x 9.  2003.  ISBN 13: 978-087844-168-6; ,ISBN 10: 0-87844-168-9,  Softcover  $16.95

SIGNS AND WONDERS by Roger Pinckney

Chronicles a rural community life that is threatened by modern-day intrusions and resort developments. The stories are filled with the sweet smells of the sea and the salt marsh, and with the sights of sunset skies and wide open spaces. Peopled with hunters and fishermen, family and friends, and fellow islanders with their own stories to tell, this book is a poignant rendering of the emotional, social, and physical geography of a very special place and the struggle to preserve it.
104 pages (April 1, 2004), ISBN: 0-94171-172-2, Hardcover: $19.95

LITTLE GLORY by Roger Pinckney

The high-spirited, often humorous adventures of a boy growing up in World War II-era rural South Carolina are at the heart of this remarkable novel.. An array of fascinating characters whose dialogue is deeply influenced by the black Gullah culture of the Carolinas are introduced. They share modest lives and uncommon bonds amidst the great physical beauty of the Lowcountry. 193 pages (04/01/2003), ISBN: 0-94171-163-3, Hardcover: $22.95