Hemingway Days is an annual celebration of the life of

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winning author

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, Florida. The festival runs for three days each year, coinciding with July 21, Hemingway's birthday. The festival was founded in 1981 by Michael Walton as a promotional stunt for Sloppy Joe's Bar, of which Hemingway was a frequent patron when he lived in Key West. It most notably features the yearly Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, which is operated by the Hemingway Look-Alike Society. Other attractions include a “

running of the bulls A running of the bulls (, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; , literally 'haste, momentum'; 'bulls in the street', or 'bull-runner') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typically six Fiske ...

” spoof, a

street fair A street fair celebrates the character of a neighborhood. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood. The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey informa ...

and the Key West

Marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...

Tournament which is a fishing competition, and a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

competition.

Background

Ernest Hemingway lived in Key West, Florida, for 12 years, mostly when he was in his 30s; he visited and then quickly moved to the island in 1928 and lived there until late 1939. During this time, he published ''

A Farewell to Arms ''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the a ...

'' (1929), which he had already written, and wrote some of his most famous works including ''To'' ''Have and Have Not'' (1937) and ''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

'' (1940), the former being about Key West during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. He covered the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

in the late 1930s. Spending his mornings writing and the rest of the day fishing and drinking, he became a frequent patron of

Sloppy Joe's Sloppy Joe's Bar is a historic American bar in Key West, Florida, located at the corner of Greene and Duval Street since 1937. A frequent haunt of famous writer Ernest Hemingway, it is now home to the annual Hemingway Days celebration and it ...

Bar in this period of his life, and spent time

big-game fishing Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually on a large body of water such as a sea or ocean. History Big-game fishing st ...

with local fishermen he made friends with, eventually obtaining his own boat, the ''Pilar'', in 1934.

History

In December 1980, manager of Sloppy Joe's Bar Michael Walton read about a Bad Hemingway Contest in which writers parody Hemingway's writing style. As a promotional stunt for Sloppy Joe's Bar, he decided to centre a look-alike contest and other events around Hemingway's birthday on July 21, during a slow, humid season for the bar. Hemingway Days thus began in 1981, featuring a

competition, the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, a Caribbean street fair, an

arm wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled "armwrestling") is a sport in which two participants, facing each other with their bent elbows placed on a flat surface (usually a table) and hands firmly gripped, each attempt to "pin" their opponent's hand by forcing ...

tournament, and a "

". The literary aspect of the occasion was relatively lightweight, with an emphasis being placed on its social side, and the bull running portion of the event was retired due to safety issues in the summer weather. On one early year, the

United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

unveiled a first-day-of issue 25 cent stamp bearing Hemingway's image. Walton moved to West Virginia in the mid-1990s after 16 years running the event. It was not held in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with most contestants being between 60 and 80 years old, an age group susceptible to the virus.

Hemingway Look-Alike Contest

The Hemingway Look-Alike Contest is an annual contest held since Hemingway Days' first event in 1981. It is held at

. in which contestants compete to be Hemingway's best

look-alike A look-alike, or double, is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of Family resemblance (anthropology), family resemblance. Some look-alikes have been notable individua ...

. It is held by the Hemingway Look-Alike Society. The contest takes place over three days, with two preliminary rounds, and a final taking place on the last day. Previous winners of the competition form a panel of judges. Contestants, who are often "heavy-set" men and largely wear

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...

s or fishermen’s sweaters, take turns to imitate Hemingway's mannerisms, often adopting the "Papa" persona from Hemingway's later years. As a result, winners are often referred to as "Papas", whereas contestants who have not won are called "Wannabes" No cash prize is offered for the winner. A spokesman for the society stated in 2015 that some competitors had returned to compete in the contest for up to 20 years without winning.

History

The contest has been held since Hemingway Days' first event in 1981, inspired by the Bad Hemingway Contest that Whalton read about in 1980. For its first iteration, Whalton simply "called everybody eknew in Key West who ha a beard." The Hemingway Look-Alike Society was later established. Over time, it developed into a

service organization A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined firstly ...

which, , has funded more than $350,000 in scholarships for Florida Keys students and sponsors a youth baseball team in Cuba. David Douglas, who had begun attending the contest in 2000 and won it in 2009, is the current president of the society . During the 2023 festival, the Hemingway Look-Alike Society amassed close to $125,000 for scholarships for Keys students. In 2024, eighteen of its society members visited

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.running of the bulls A running of the bulls (, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; , literally 'haste, momentum'; 'bulls in the street', or 'bull-runner') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typically six Fiske ...

run held in Pamplona, Spain, in which the Hemingway look-alikes parade through downtown Key West with a "herd" of life-size fake bulls on wheels.{{Cite web , date=2015-07-25 , title=Hemingway Look-Alikes Spoof 'Running Of The Bulls' In Key West - CBS Miami , url=https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/hemingway-look-alikes-spoof-running-of-the-bulls-in-key-west/ , access-date=2024-12-11 , website=

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

, language=en-US A Hemingway Days Writers' Workshop and Conference was introduced in 1989, being conducted by Dr. James Plath. As of 2015, an annual short story competition at the event was run by Lorian Hemingway, Hemingway's granddaughter. A

and the Key West

Tournament, which is a fishing competition are also held.

References

Ernest Hemingway Ironic and humorous awards Annual events in Florida 1981 establishments in Florida

Background

History

Hemingway Look-Alike Contest

History

See also

References