July 4, 2018 – (Key West, FL). Key West Art & Historical Society’s Hemingway Symposium to spotlight noted scholars and writers inspired by the late author’s works
In celebration of American author Ernest Hemingway’s remarkable literary legacy, Key West Art & Historical Society presents the Second Annual Hemingway Symposium, Tuesday, July 17, from 6:00-8:00pm at Old City Hall, 510 Greene Street. Noted author Kirk Curnutt, Ph.D., professor and chair of English at Troy University, will moderate a series of presentations by scholars, actors, and writers inspired by Hemingway’s works.
The evening’s first presenter, Ashley Oliphant, Ph.D., Hemingway scholar and professor of English at Pfeiffer University, will discuss her most recent book, “Hemingway and Bimini: The Birth of Sport Fishing at ‘The End of the World’”, which explores the emergence of big game fishing as an organized, competitive sport during the 1930s, a time when sport fishing enthusiast Hemingway lived on the westernmost island of the Bahamas.
Following Oliphant, Key West-based historian Brewster Chamberlin, Ph.D., author of “The Hemingway Log: A Chronology of His Life and Times,” will discuss Key West as it was during the years Hemingway lived on the island.
Canada-based playwright, actor and author Brian Gordon Sinclair, described as the “foremost interpreter of Ernest Hemingway in the world today” by the Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald, will briefly discuss his multi-book series, “The Hemingway Monologues,” then introduce Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, author, photographer, and great-granddaughter of Ernest, who will describe her early memories of Key West and the origins and evolution of Hemingway Days, the Hemingway legacy, her latest fiction projects, and her new book on her great-grandfather’s international adventures.
Wrapping up the symposium, Curnutt, whose fourteen published books include “Coffee with Hemingway,” “Ernest Hemingway and the Expatriate Modernist Movement,” and “Reading Hemingway’s “To Have and Have Not””, will deliver a short presentation on novels about Key West deserving of rediscovery, including Archibald Clavering Gunter’s “Don Balasco of Key West” (1898), Thelma Strabel’s “Reap the Wild Wind” (1942), and Thomas Sanchez’s “Mile Zero” (1989) and “American Tropic” (2013).
“The complexities of Hemingway’s life go beyond the gray beard and the six-toed cats,” says Director of Education Adele Williams. “This event is an excellent opportunity to learn about Hemingway from scholars dedicated to the study of America’s literary icon. Several of the presenters will be leaving directly from Key West, to present at the XVII International Hemingway Conference in Paris which takes place at the end of the month.”
Before the symposium, Hemingway Days participants are invited to a free admission day at the Custom House Museum, 281 Front Street, between 9:30am and 4:30pm to enjoy The Society’s collection of Hemingway artifacts and ephemera, along with a life-sized bronze sculpture of the iconic author, and a display of 59 original pen-and-ink drawings inspired by Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” created by world-renowned marine wildlife artist Guy Harvey while in his teens.
Funding for the Hemingway Symposium has beenprovided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Symposium tickets are free for Key West Art & Historical Society Members, $5.00 for non-members. For more information and to register for any of The Society’s Hemingway Days events visit kwahs.org and click “tickets.” Advance registration is suggested. Your Museums. Your Community. It takes an Island.
IMAGE:
2018 Hemingway Days Symposium:
Key West-based historian Brewster Chamberlin, Ph.D., center, and author Kirk Curnutt, Ph.D., professor and chair of English at Troy University (left), pictured here with a bronze sculpture of Ernest Hemingway, will appear with several other noted scholars, actors, and writers inspired by the late Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize in Literature-winning author’s works at the Second Annual Hemingway Symposium, presented by Key West Art & Historical Society on Tuesday, July 17, from 6:00-8:00pm at Old City Hall, 510 Greene Street.
###
