The Key West Literary Seminar is a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

s' conference and festival held each January in Key West,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It draws an international audience for readings, panel discussions, and workshops.

History

The Seminar was founded in 1983 by David Kaufelt and his wife Lynn Kaufelt, as a program operated by the Council for Florida Libraries. The inaugural event, known as the Key West Literary Tour and Seminar, consisted of readings, panel discussions, literary walking tours, and cocktail parties. This basic format remains unchanged. The current Executive Director is poet, writer and publisher Arlo Haskell. In its early years, the Seminar focused on the literary history of Key West, a small subtropical town which has been home to

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Awar ...

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

, Robert Frost, and

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

, among others. Subsequent Seminars have been devoted to broader genres or literary themes. In 1987, the Seminar incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, run by a board of directors, with Lynn Kaufelt named as the executive director. In 1988, Monica Haskell became executive director. She was succeeded by Miles Frieden in 1995. Many well-known authors have served on the Seminar's board of directors, including

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are ''Are You There God? It's Me ...

Harry Mathews Harry Mathews (February 14, 1930 – January 25, 2017) was an American writer, the author of various novels, volumes of poetry and short fiction, and essays. Mathews was also a translator of the French language. Life Born in New York City to an ...

James Gleick James Gleick (; born August 1, 1954) is an American author and historian of science whose work has chronicled the cultural impact of modern technology. Recognized for his writing about complex subjects through the techniques of narrative nonficti ...

, William Wright,

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentle ...

, and

John Malcolm Brinnin John Malcolm Brinnin (September 13, 1916 – June 26, 1998) was a Canadian-born American poet and literary critic. Life and work Brinnin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to American parents John A. Brinnin and Frances Malcolm Brinnin ...

. An honorary board of directors has included popular singer Jimmy Buffett, former First Lady

Barbara Bush Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously w ...

, and writers Annie Dillard, Robert Stone, Alison Lurie, and Joy Williams. The Seminar was formerly held at the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center at

Florida Keys Community College The College of the Florida Keys (CFK), formerly Florida Keys Community College, is a public community college in Key West, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Its main campus is on Stock Island, adjacent to the only living coral re ...

on Stock Island. Since 1993, events have been held on

Duval Street Duval Street () is a downtown commercial zoned street in Key West, Florida, running north and south from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, just over 1.25 miles in length. It is named for William Pope Duval, the first territorial gove ...

at the

San Carlos Institute The San Carlos Institute, also known as the San Carlos, is a Cuban heritage center and museum located at 516 Duval Street in Key West, Florida. The institute was founded in 1871 by members of the Cuban exile community with the goal of preserving ...

, a historic building whose construction was partly funded by the Republic of Cuba during the 1920s. The seminar begins each year with the John Hersey Memorial Address and features a series of receptions at notable Key West locations. Through their website, the Seminar offers audio recordings of past events, biographies of past and forthcoming speakers, and information about Key West's literary history. The seminar went on hiatus in 2021. Key West Literary Seminar themes by year: *1983: Key West Literary Tour and Seminar *1984: Key West Literary Tour and Seminar *1985: Hemingway: A Moveable Feast *1986: Tennessee Williams in Key West *1987: Writers & Key West *1988: Whodunit? The Art & Tradition of Mystery Literature *1989: The American Short Story: A Renaissance *1990: New Directions in American Theatre *1991: Literature of Travel: A Sense of Place *1992: Literature and Film *1993: Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop *1994: Biography and Autobiography *1995: Journalism *1996: American Writers and The Natural World *1997: Literature in the Age of AIDS *1998: Once Upon A Time: Children's Literature in the Late 20th Century *1999: The American Novel *2000: The Memoir *2001: Science and Literature: Narratives of Discovery *2002: Spirit of Place *2003: The Beautiful Changes: Poetry *2004: Crossing Borders: The Immigrant Voice in American Literature *2005: Humor *2006: The Literature of Adventure, Travel, and Discovery *2007: Wondrous Strange: Mystery, Intrigue, and Psychological Drama *2008: New Voices: Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going? *2009: Historical Fiction and The Search for Truth *2010: Clearing the Sill of the World: 60 Years of American Poetry *2011: The Hungry Muse: an exploration of food in literature *2012: Yet Another World: Literature of the Future *2013: Writers on Writers *2014: The Dark Side: Mystery, Crime, and the Literary Thriller *2015: How the Light Gets In: Literature of the Spirit *2016: Shorts: Stories, Essays, and Other Briefs *2017: Revealing Power: The Literature of Politics *2018: Writers of the Caribbean *2019: Under the Influence: Archetype & Adaptation from Homer to the Multiplex *2020: Reading Between the Lines: Sport & Literature *2022: A Seminar Named Desire (planned)

References

"In Key West: the Writer as a Star," by Jane O'Reilly for ''TIME'', Feb. 06, 1984
* ttp://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0112literaryseminar,1,593755.story "Key West literary seminar opens amid literary fog"br>A Literary Adventure"Right on Key"Frommer's South Florida
{{coord missing, Florida Image:KeyWestLiterarySeminar_1989.jpg, Promotional poster from the 1989 Key West Literary Seminar Image:KeyWestLiterarySeminar_1992.jpg, Promotional poster from the 1992 Key West Literary Seminar

External links

Key West Literary Seminar websiteL I T T O R A L: the journal of the Key West Literary SeminarKWLS Audio Archives
American writers' organizations Culture of Key West, Florida Festivals in Florida Recurring events established in 1983 Writers' conferences

Literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

Literary festivals in the United States 1983 establishments in Florida

History

See also

References

External links