Irish native Sarah Moriarty has found that getting invited to someone’s home for a gathering in Charleston is like a box of chocolates. You often don’t know whether you’re going to have a seated dinner with several people or a relaxed, intimate time with a couple of new friends. But it will be fun.
“People went out of their way immediately to make us feel welcome — to open up their homes for dinner,” she said. “They were very personal. People were just so open.”
Moriarty, who moved here from Berlin with her husband Mena Mark Hanna in October 2021 with a baby named Hugo (she says she couldn’t have predicted he’d grow up here with that name), is executive director of November’s Charleston Literary Festival.
He is head of Spoleto Festival USA.
“I didn’t know much about Charleston, but I had two friends who had lived in Charleston,” she said. “One of the friends told me that if someone asks you to do something, just say yes. It’s not like Germany at all — it’s not transactional.”
She explained Germans often are private about home life with strangers. If you invited Berliners into your home, they might wonder what you wanted to get out of the meeting.
But in Charleston, it’s just different. Moriarty said she’s been surprised with the generosity of people who have welcomed her growing family to town.
A wall of books
You’d expect an artistic family to have a wall of books, like the one that takes up yards of space at Moriarty’s contemporary home near Hampton Park in Charleston. But what’s interesting is to see a large poster nearby that microscopically shows all 700-plus pages of her favorite book, Ulysses by Irish icon James Joyce, a complex writer to say the least. (She suggests reading Finnegan’s Wake to get a first taste of Joyce.)
An open, modern kitchen is off of a comfortable den where toys peek in corners and a dog nervously patrols around a stranger before settling. It’s a bright room just waiting for another relaxed, highbrow conversation — or a deep dive into a gossipy talk about the Real Housewives.
Born in Dublin in 1986, Moriarty left Trinity College Dublin in 2008 with a degree in English literature and film studies. She landed in Paris, where she worked for a photojournalism agency. Two years later, she moved to Berlin where she enrolled in the Free University of Berlin to work on a master’s degree in English literature. In 2013, she earned the degree after completing a thesis on the concept of play in the work of dramatist Samuel Beckett.
In between, she honed editorial skills and became a specialist in branding and developing web content, working with companies all over Europe to help them present their offerings. By 2015, she got itchy to move and was working on packing for Rome or London. And then she answered a “superlike” request from Tinder.
‘Exhilaration Sunday’
She told Mena Mark Hanna right off the bat that she was thinking of moving. But she recalls how he said, “Before you leave, let me take you for a drink. That was on November 15, and I never left.”
Their first date was on a Thursday. But the Sunday of three days later is still celebrated today as “Exhilaration Sunday,” a perfect day for a new relationship. First there was a jazz brunch. Then there was a Botticelli exhibition. And finally there was a “flex” dinner where Hanna showed off his cooking skills.
“Mena wooed me by cooking a flank steak for me with a salsa crudo di pomodoro,” she recalled. It was a recipe from his father.
Four years later, they married. And 20 months ago, they moved here.
These days, Moriarty is busy with the literary festival, which started in 2017 as an Anglo-American collaboration. Past speakers include literary powerhouses Geraldine Brooks, Tina Brown, Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates.
Moriarty and Hanna’s artistic interests are
prevalent throughout their house
In November, it offered two dozen Charleston events and deep discussions with top-rated authors. It was a resounding success. At the time, Moriarty managed marketing for the festival, but took over in recent months as its executive director.
The festival returns Nov. 3-12 this year with more literary giants descending on Charleston for great talk, great food, great drinks and great times.
“We’ll have 25-plus events running 10 days in downtown Charleston, principally at the Dock Street Theatre, and we’ll have satellite sessions for students,” she said. “We take national and international authors and create a sense of intimacy in Charleston for an audience that already exists — people who love arts and books.”
She said she’s hoping to start a series of “student salons” to give aspiring students who want to be writers the chance to sit down with real writers and learn how they do their craft, as well as talk about their works.
More: CharlestonLiteraryFestival.com
The Lowdown on Sarah Moriarty
Age: 37
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland.
Education: Trinity College Dublin, Freie Universitat Berlin
Current profession: Executive director of Charleston Literary Festival.
Past professions of interest: Director of brand marketing at Blinkist, a nonfiction book start-up; nightclub hula-hooper.
Family: Husband, Mena, and two children under 4.
Something people would be surprised to learn about you: I love the Real Housewives, and earlier this year, I briefly went through a phase of running half-marathons.
Favorite thing to do outside of work: Read.
Your passion: Reproductive rights, and a fair and equal society
Books on bedside table: Walk Through Walls, Marina Abramović; Baby 411, Dr. Ari Brown and Denise Fields; Ruth and Pen, Emilie Pine.
Favorite novel: Ulysses (no, seriously).
Favorite food to eat: Hamburgers. Am on a quest to find the best hamburger in Charleston. Am open to hamburger brand partnerships.
Five foods you always need in your refrigerator: Kalamata olives, Kerrygold butter (a taste of home), milk chocolate, half jar of open pesto, cheese.
Favorite musicians: Stromae, Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone, Wet Leg, Beyoncé, Saint Levant and She Returns From War.
Describe your best day in 50 words or less: Walk on the beach with the dog, swim in the sea, salty French fries
for lunch.
Something you really miss (other than family) in Ireland: Real chips covered in vinegar; cold Irish sea swims (it’s a different feeling!).
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