John Malcolm Brinnin and Rita Dove aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1995. Photo by Fred Viebahn.

John Malcolm Brinnin helped establish New York City's 92nd St. Y as a national focal point for poetry in the 1950s and was a crucial influence on the Key West Literary Seminar in our early years. The author of Grand Luxe: The Transatlantic Style, he was also a great fan of travel aboard luxury ocean liners, the now-extinct class of which the QE2 was the highest iteration. Rita Dove, at the time, was the nation's poet laureate.

We've been drifting over the archives this week and have hauled in a coolerful of keepers. The trophies are below, but make sure to visit our Flickr page for more of these unique images from the early years of the Key West Literary Seminar.

Doyle Bush
The 1989 Key West Literary Seminar examined the American short story and featured informal events at venues including Capt. Tony's Saloon on Greene Street. Here, notorious barman and former Key West mayor Tony Tarracino (r) shares a laugh inside his establishment with longtime Esquire editor and KWLS board member Rust Hills, Sally Fiedler, and her husband, the influential literary critic Leslie Fiedler.


Jeffrey Cardenas
KWLS co-founder and novelist David Kaufelt's literary walking tours offered a writer's-eye view of unique Key West architecture. This 1986 photo captures the tour in front of the Richard Peacon house at 712 Eaton St., then owned by designer Calvin Klein.


Richard Watherwax
The 1993 Seminar, "The Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop," was organized by poet, critic, and essayist John Malcolm Brinnin. Brinnin, in white, began the Seminar by discussing Bishop with Nobel Prize-winning Mexican poet Octavio Paz.


Jeffrey Cardenas
Literary agent Dick Duane was having lunch in New York with David Kaufelt when the idea for the Key West Literary Seminar first came up. Here's Duane at the 1986 Seminar.


Richard Watherwax
Outsider poet and publisher Kirby Congdon has been a Key West fixture for decades. Here, he makes his way through the lobby of the historic San Carlos Institute during a break in the 1993 Seminar.


photographer unknown
At a party during the 1992 Seminar, "Literature and Film," screenwriter, novelist, and sportswriter Bud Schulberg (center) joined former U.S. Poet Laureate Richard Wilbur (l), author of Key West Writers and their Houses Lynn Kaufelt, fiction writer Joy Williams, and founder David Kaufelt.

These studio portraits of novelist Thomas McGuane (left) and poet James Merrill (right) were taken by photographer Lawson Corbett Little in January of 1987. According to Merrill's wristwatch, his session took place at a quarter past one in the afternoon.



McGuane had lived in Key West in the 1970s and early 1980s on Love Lane, Ann Street, and Von Phister Street, while Merrill lived here in the 1980s and 1990s on Elizabeth Street at the top of Solares Hill. Both wrote of the island city, in novels like Panama and poems like "Clearing the Title," and each was an early supporter of the Key West Literary Seminar. At the time these photos were taken, they were participating in our fifth annual event, Writers and Key West.



Little lived in Key West during the 1970s and 1980s, where he photographed other notable authors including Shel Silverstein and Tennessee Williams. We hope to feature some of these images soon.

Click the image below for a full-size reproduction of the letter John Malcolm Brinnin wrote to Octavio Paz on October 13, 1991. Brinnin recalls the first time he and Paz met, in 1972 in Elizabeth Bishop's Cambridge apartment, and invites Paz to be the keynote speaker of the 1993 Key West Literary Seminar.

Tony Hillerman, bestselling author of detective novels set set among the Navajos of the Southwest, died last Sunday at 83. You can read his obituary in The New York Times here. It was written by Marilyn Stasio, who also wrote this piece for PaperCuts about meeting Hillerman at the 1988 Key West Literary Seminar, where they discussed Hemingway while leaning against the pink stuccoed wall of the La Concha.

Below is a reproduction of a letter Hillerman wrote on personal stationary to Les Standiford, the coordinator for our 1988 Seminar, Whodunit?, dedicated to the art and tradition of mystery literature.

This small broadside was designed and printed by John Hersey in 1969, and reprinted in 1993 by the Fellows of Pierson College at the John Hersey Printing Office.

Hersey, a Pulitzer Prize winner whose Hiroshima chronicles the destruction of that Japanese city in the wake of an American atomic bomb, lived in Key West with his wife Barbara for many years. Each was a good and longtime friend who did much good for the Seminar, and we honor John each year with our keynote spech, the John Hersey Memorial Address.

As master of Yale University's Pierson College, Hersey operated the college's printing press. Our investigation reveals a storied history of letterpress printing at Yale, fears for its extinction with the advent of desktop publishing, and a heroic revival by turn-of-the-century book-arts devotees. But there seems to be nothing on the web about the Yale Presses, or the John Hersey Printing Office, since 2002. Does anyone out there know anything more? Here's what we found about the Pierson Press; and about Yale's letterpress tradition. Click the image to enlarge.

The New York Times is reporting the death of critically acclaimed crime novelist James Crumley. He was 68.

We had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Crumley in 1988, for Whodunit?, our Seminar devoted to the art and tradition of mystery literature. In a correspondence between Crumley and Les Standiford, our program chair that year, Crumley explained his preference for detectives who are "more rebel than hero:"
    They should put their hearts and minds on the line to find whatever limited justice can be found in an injust world, should oppose greed, the sorriest of evils, and ignorance, and should prefer forgiveness over revenge. We don't need heroes stalking mean streets, but human beings, imperfect as they might be, seeking a justice beyond law."

The letter reproduced here, typed on Hellgate Productions stationery, shows a lighthearted, funny, and gracious Jim Crumley. He will be missed.

During our 27th annual Seminar this January, we'll consider the various ways in which historians like David Levering Lewis and novelists like William Kennedy reveal essential truths about our shared history. As we prepare for this unique opportunity, we are also uncovering our own history– as an organization, as an event, and as a group of individuals joined in lettered island life. We've advanced in this endeavor by expanding our Past Seminars page, which now lists the theme and scheduled panelists for each and every year of our history, with links to images of our promotional posters from the pre-website era. Click here to see a slideshow of these low-tech handsome posters.

The New York Times is reporting today on the death of Robert Giroux, editor and publisher of some of the 20th century's greatest writers, including Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, Bernard Malamud, William Gaddis, Derek Walcott, and many more. He was 94.

We had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Giroux in 1993, for our Seminar devoted to the work of Elizabeth Bishop. At the time, he was editing the definitive collection of Bishop's letters now known as One Art. Reproduced below is a letter Giroux wrote to John Malcolm Brinnin, a friend and correspondent of Bishop's, and the organizer of that year's Seminar. (Click to enlarge.)

In the foreground, that's novelist Joy Williams, former Esquire fiction editor Rust Hills, past executive director Monica Haskell, and poet James Wilson Hall. They are gathered in front of Capt. Tony's bar, on Greene Street, one evening during the 1988 or '89 Seminar. Photograph by Doyle Bush.


That's Monica Haskell again, circa 1988, with daughter Elena Rose, outside a party at the Hemingway House. Happy Birthday, Monica!

"I have been drinking too much coffee – about five times in week – will cut that out and will try to keep myself so active physically during the day that I will sleep from sheer exhaustion – Now I feel quieter – I hear the birds chirping and a rooster – I would like to get a bicycle – maybe that would help – I guess I'd better do everything I possibly can to snap out of it."

Photographer unknown. The original appears to be a press photo issued in conjunction with the 1986 Seminar, which was dedicated to the work of Tennessee Williams. It is dated 1970. The quote, dated August 9, 1937, is from Williams's notebooks, as edited by Margaret Bradham Thornton and published by Yale University Press.

The 1993 Seminar, our eleventh annual, was dedicated to the work of Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979). Among the panelists were many who had known her well, including John Malcolm Brinnin, Mexican poet Octavio Paz, Bishop's editor Robert Giroux, and poets James Merrill and Richard Wilbur. In cooperation with the Seminar, the Key West Art & Historical Society put on the first-ever exhibition of Elizabeth Bishop's paintings. The show was held at the East Martello Museum and curated by William Benton, who at that time was working on Exchanging Hats (1996), his simply beautiful book devoted to Bishop's paintings. The painting reproduced on the cover of the exhibition catalog shown here depicts the Key West Armory building (home today to The Studios of Key West) two doors down from Bishop's Key West home. The exhibition also featured the photographs of Rollie McKenna, including several portraits of Bishop.

In conjunction with the Seminar, Bishop's former home at 624 White Street was added to the national register of Literary Landmarks on January 4. The photo below, taken by Richard Watherwax, shows James Merrill reading that day in front of the plaque which still adorns the gate at 624, inscribed with the concluding lines from Bishop's "Questions of Travel:"

    Should we have stayed at home,
    wherever that may be?

Richard Wilbur, John Malcolm Brinnin, and Philip Burton, at the January 4 1993 dedication of Elizabeth Bishop's former Key West home as a Literary Landmark.
Photograph © Richard Watherwax.

American author John Hersey (1914-1993) and noted theater critic Mel Gussow (1933-2005) at a Key West Literary Seminar party hosted by David Wolkowsky, circa 1986-1990. © Jeffrey Cardenas.

American poet, biographer, and critic John Malcolm Brinnin with Jean Trebbi, early Seminar organizer and honorary board member, at the same Wolkowsky party. © Jeffrey Cardenas.

Before 1999, we promoted the Seminar entirely on paper– in magazine and newspaper ads, through direct mail, and on 11"x17" posters. At present, there's scant online record of the Seminar at all before 1994, and only a text listing of the panelists for the years 1994-1999. We're working to fix that. Above, posters from 1988, '89, and '92. We're building pages for all years prior to 1999, featuring these classic posters. They won't be fancy, they'll stick to the facts. We'll let you know as they're ready.

We've now identified each of the writers in this photo, taken on Hidden Beach in 1984. Thanks to Liz Lear, Holly Merrill, and Don Kincaid for their help. Read the appended post here. Click here for a full-size version.

1991 marked our first foray into full-color printing. Techniques had yet to attain today's precision, and the resulting promotional literature bore serendipitous irregularities. As in life, the sunset on each of these 5"x7" postcards varies widely— from an almost entirely chartreuse haze, to a nearly-complete spectrum that steps from red in the upper altitudes, to a flash of green, to deep blue sea. Our trusty logo was perhaps never more at home than it is against this unpredictable backdrop, where ingredients and intent are only suggestions toward a result.

John Malcolm Brinnin delivered the keynote address that year, "Travel and The Sense of Wonder," in which he said:

Some of the soupiest travel writing on record has been done by moonstruck impressionists aspiring to literature; some of the best by close observers aiming to convey no more than pertinent information, a credible economic or sociological overview, a guidebook devoid of Chamber of Commerce soufflé.

Touché, John Malcom. We've got a few of these cards lying around, reader. If you'd like to start a collection, email me with your mailing address, and I'll post one your way before sundown.

from top left: James Merrill, Evan Rhodes, Edward Hower, Alison Lurie, Shel Silverstein, Bill Manville, Joseph Lash, Arnold Sundgaard, John Williams, Richard Wilbur, Jim Boatwright.
from bottom left: Susan Nadler, Thomas McGuane, William Wright, John Ciardi, David Kaufelt, Philip Caputo, Philip Burton, John Malcolm Brinnin.

How many words is a picture worth if its subjects have penned more than many thousands of bestselling words apiece, already read by tens of thousands of readers? If in their beach bags are five Pulitzer Prizes, a few National Book Awards, two Bollingen Prizes, and office stationery from the U.S. Poet Laureate?

Thanks to Bill Wright for loaning this excellent group portrait. Liz Lear arranged the event, at Hidden Beach. The photographer was Don Kincaid. Click here for a full-size version. Thanks to Liz Lear, Holly Merrill, and Don Kincaid for their help in identifying the authors.

1990. If ever a year spoke greater optimism, I, only recently turned twelve, was unaware. The eighties were down, and the twentieth century was nearly out. Our promotional literature from that year displays a timely enthusiasm. A sloop sails counter to the prevailing winds betrayed by the bent coconut palm. The postcard, below, has fireworks. And that custom-cut font, running in every direction it can to get away from itself! In the program, David Kaufelt recounts how it all began:

Literary agent Dick Duane and I were schmoozing over Diet Cokes and white meat chicken sandwiches in a Manhattan hotel bar with Rosemary Jones of the Council for Florida Libraries. She was in New York to round up authors for the council's annual lecture series. But New York publishers' publicists were having none of it, fully convinced no one in Florida read, much less bought books.

I said we have so many writers of so many persuasions in Key West, we could have our own literary festival. There was a suden enlightened silence. We could. We should. And we would.

For our fourth annual event, in 1986, we honored playwright and Key West habitué, Tennessee Williams. The graphic design of the program and poster, as in 1985, is simple and direct. The Martha Swopes photograph shows a dapper, not-quite-at-ease Williams, seated in a wicker rocking chair on the telltale terrazo floors of a Key West home. The font is a straight-ahead serif, printed on glossy stock. We were the Key West Literary Seminar and Festival, it seems, and we were administrated by the Friends of the Monroe County Public Library. Then-President of the Friends, Petronella Collins, pens a delightful early statement of our intents: "The correct mix of intellectuality and frivolity has, over the centuries, proved extraordinarily successful. As our Literary Seminar evolved, the keen judgement and clairvoyance of the Council for Florida Libraries was combined with the magic of Key West to produce a mix of very fine quality."

Yes, intellectuality and frivolity. A fine mix indeed, one whose perfect proportions ever eluded Tennessee:

Frankie and I (let's face it!) have fallen into a virtual social oblivion here. A great old Queen Bee named Erna Shtoll or Shmole or something like that has arrived on the scene and become the center of gay society. Bedecked with yellow diamonds like 1000 watt light bulbs on the marquee of a skating rink, she holds continual court on the beach and at the bars, the boys flock to her like gnats. ...

A regular focus of this blog will be the treasures I breathlessly retrieve from the depths of the KWLS archives. This first installment is a poster from our 3rd annual, way back in 1985. It hearkens to a simpler, perhaps more elegant, time: two colors, ink and paper, professional type-setting, an ordinary handsome mug. All you need to know, and little more.