'Bees' will have local preview

The long wait is almost over.

A preview of the film version of Sue Monk Kidd's celebrated novel "The Secret Life of Bees" will be screened Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Terrace Theater.

One of the fall film season's showcase debuts, the feature was written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and stars Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo.

"Bees" will be released nationally Oct. 17 by Fox Searchlight Pictures, but will premiere Sept. 5 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Tickets are available for the Charleston preview on a first-come, first-served basis.

An event to benefit the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts, of which the Mount Pleasant author is a board member, the screening will be followed by a reception at the Harbour Club downtown.

Tickets for the reception are $100 and will be available beginning Monday at Blue Bicycle Books downtown or online at www.lilaconnects.com.

The first 200 reception ticket buyers receive priority admittance to the Oct. 16 screening. Others will receive a ticket for the theatrical release of the film at the Terrace.

"Of all the events surrounding the opening of the movie, I look forward most to the one in Charleston," Kidd said Wednesday. "I will see it next week for the first time in New York, then attend the world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. At this point I'm going into it with lots of optimism and hope. Having read the script and had hours of conversations with the screenwriter about it, with her really listening to my ideas and suggestions, I'm very encouraged. I hear that advance comments from test audiences have given the movie high marks."

A publishing phenomenon when released in 2002, and now in print in more than 30 languages, "The Secret Life of Bees" has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, having spent two years on The New York Times bestseller list. In addition to the film adaptation, it has been produced on stage in New York by The American Place Theater.

Kidd, who also wrote "The Mermaid Chair," will publish a memoir, "Traveling with Pomegranates," co-written with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, in 2009.

Proceeds from the post-screening reception will be earmarked for LILA's fund-raising goal of $30,000 to support the "Poets in the Schools" program, an ongoing public school initiative.

The organization's long-term goal is to establish an endowment fund that "will ensure the future of these literary initiatives that are proven to improve language and writing skills of young people."

LILA is a literary outreach organization established in 2004 through the College of Charleston. Its mission is to nurture and promote the literary arts in South Carolina.

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.