Tennessee Williams came to Key West to work on a re-write of Battle of Angels but he also came "because I like to swim". And because Key West was the southernmost point in America. In 1949 he bought the house at 1431 Duncan that he called home for the rest of his life. The studio where he wrote was called "The Mad House." When he would finish writing in the morning he would swim in his pool, "allowing my mind to go all black while I listened to the beguiling song of the Australian pines."

NEW VOICES: Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?

The 26th Annual Seminar

Speakers

Workshop Program

1st Session January 10 – 13, 2008

(For a printable version please click here.)

Each session will begin with a keynote on Thursday evening (January 10 and January 17) at 7:30 p.m. and conclude with a conch chowder luncheon around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon (January 13 and January 20). There will be an optional "free and open" to the public event on each Sunday from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., but this is not included in the registration fee, and admission to this free session requires a long wait in line.

Registration for each session will be at the San Carlos Institute, 516 Duval Street from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 - 7:30 p.m. on each Thursday.

(Please Note: Schedule and participants are subject to change. All events take place at the San Carlos Institute, 516 Duval Street, Key West, or within walking distance, as noted.)

Thursday, January 10

7:30 -8:00 Introductions

Lynn Kaufelt, President, Key West Literary Seminar
Introducing Rafael Penalver, President, San Carlos Institute

8:00 - 9:15 John Hersey Memorial Address

Mark Doty: Tide of Voices: Why Poetry Matters Now

9:30 – 11:00 Reception at Audubon House & Gardens

Friday, January 11

8:45 – 9:30 Coffee, tea, pastries

9:30 – 10:00 Welcome Notes: Robert Richardson, 2008 Program Chair

Many Voices and a “universe of eaches”

You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly.

10:00 – 10:45

Usondinma Iweala
Giving Voice to the Unspeakable
Finding the right language
Reading and Commentary: Beasts of No Nation

"All we are knowing is that, before the war we are children and now we are not.”

10:45 – 11:05 Break

11:05 – 11:20 Patrick Ryan, Reading from Send Me

11:20 – 12:15 Edmund White

"A Man's Own Story: The Outsider Finds His Voice"

12:15 – 2:15 Lunch

2:15 – 2:35 Michael Thomas: Reading

2:35 – 3:15 Ann Beattie: Ambient Sound

3:15 – 3:30 Break

3:30 – 3:45 Bich Minh Nguyen, reading

3:45 – 4:30 Judy Blume with Mary Hays

7:00 – 10:00 Dinner at the Lighthouse Gardens

Saturday, January 12

8:45 – 9:30 Coffee, tea, pastries

9:30 – 9:45 Reading: Mary Hays

9:45 – 10:15 Michael Thomas: The hyphenated-American voice

10:15 – 10:45 Judy Blume with Bich Minh Nguyen

10:45 – 11:05 Break

11:05 – 11:45 Is there a gay voice; what does it sound like? How has my voice been heard?

Edmund White with Vestal McIntyre and Patrick Ryan

11:45 – 12:30 The Voice of the Poet: Becoming an Individual on the Page: Learning to Hear Yourself

Mark Doty with Tina Chang, Terrance Hayes, Brenda Shaughnessy

12:30 – 2:00 Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 Ann Beattie with Hannah Pittard

Talking about Writing “Hoping to see the moon at her feet”

2:30 – 3:00 Robert Richardson with Maggie Nelson

“Trusting the Facts of Feelings, The Feelings of Facts”

3:00 – 3:20 Break

3:20 – 4:15 Changing Voices: Across Genres, Across Works, Across Lives

With Mary Hays, Vestal McIntyre, Maggie Nelson, Bich Minh Nguyen, Patrick Ryan

7:30 – 8:00 "Stephen Crane's Lost Manuscript: Edmund White reads from and discusses his new novel, Hotel de Dream"

8:00 – 9:00 Poetry Reading:

Mark Doty, Tina Chang, Terrance Hayes, Brenda Shaughnessy

9:15 – 11:00 Champagne Reception, Custom’s House

Sunday, January 13

9:00 – 9:45 Coffee, Tea, Pastries

9:45 – 10:00 Reading: Hannah Pittard

10:00 – 10:15 Reading: Maggie Nelson

10:15 – 11:00 Michael Thomas and Uzodinma Iweala, A conversation

“Where in the world do we find voice?” Write what you know.

11:00 – 11:20 Break

11:20 – 11:35 Vestal McIntyre, Reading from "ONJ.com" a story from his collection, You Are Not the One.

11:35 – 12:30 New Voices: Where Are We Going? A discussion

Tina Chang, Terrance Hayes, Maggie Nelson, Hannah Pittard, Brenda Shaughnessy
Moderated by Mark Doty

12:30 – 2:00 Conch Chowder Library Lunch

Note: The afternoon session is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served. This session is not included in registration fee.

2:00 – 2:15 Michael Thomas, Reading

2:15 – 2:30 Uzodinma Iweala, Reading

2:30 – 3:00 Mark Doty, Reading and Commentary

3:00 – 4:00 New Voices: What does a new voice sound like?

Maggie Nelson, Bich Minh Nguyen, Patrick Ryan, Brenda Shaughnessy
Moderated by Edmund White