littoral | event coverage

How Writers Become Ourselves

KWLS 2013 - Re-imagining a Life (19 of 23) — “I have rights as a writer, but no responsibility. My sole responsibility is to a single reader in a single room reading a book. My only duty is to my next sentence.” —Colm Tóibín

KWLS 2013 - I and Not I Morning Group (7 of 35) — “If Walt Whitman were alive today, we’d give him a couple of literary awards, probably the big ones. And then we’d ignore him completely… Literature lives on the margins and speaks back to the center from some distance.” —Mark Doty

KWLS 2013 - I and Not I Morning Group (29 of 35) — “Of the many kinds of novels I don’t read, the ‘state of the nation’ novel is at the top of the list.” —Geoff Dyer

KWLS 2013 - I and Not I Morning Group (6 of 35) — “Barack Hussein Obama is the greatest living travel writer.” —Pico Iyer

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Key West Literary Seminar welcomes readers and writers to this subtropical island city. Our flagship program is the annual Seminar, a four-day event that explores a unique literary theme each January, where readers from around the world enjoy presentations by some of the best writers of our time. In our Writers’ Workshop Program, also in January, writers of all levels meet in small groups with esteemed faculty to share their work and explore the craft of writing. A Scholarship Program reduces fees for teachers and librarians and recognizes the work of outstanding emerging writers. Exclusive recordings from the Seminar spanning thirty years are available in the Audio Archive, while our online journal, Littoral, features news, essays, photographs, and other resources that document Key West’s rich literary history.

A diversity of life thrives in the littoral zone — a thin strip of coastline between high and low watermarks. As the operating metaphor for our online journal, it refers to that part of Key West routinely overrun by the tide of literature and to the rich life of letters in this island city. Here you’ll find event coverage from our team of writers and photographers; news and updates about upcoming opportunities; and rare images from historic collections, interviews, and all manner of report from Key West’s life of letters.