The Key West Literary Seminar is a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

s' conference and festival held each January in

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 Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. 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

, 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. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

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 Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

, 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 three ...

, 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 26 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...

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, along with his friend Anthony Hecht, of the World War II generation, Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and c ...

, and John Malcolm Brinnin. An honorary board of directors has included popular singer

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

, former First Lady

Barbara Bush Barbara Bush (; June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush. She was previously second lady of the United States fr ...

, and writers

Annie Dillard Annie Dillard (née Doak; born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and nonfiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memo ...

, Robert Stone,

Alison Lurie Alison Stewart Lurie (September 3, 1926December 3, 2020) was an American novelist and academic. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel ''Foreign Affairs''. Although better known as a novelist, she wrote many non-fiction books ...

, and Joy Williams. The seminar was formerly held at the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center at Florida Keys Community College 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 gov ...

at the San Carlos Institute, 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, 24.5591, -81.7934, display=title 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 novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

Literary festivals in the United States 1983 establishments in Florida

History

See also

References

External links