The thirty-third annual Key West Literary Seminar is underway. Check-in for those who are registered for the event takes place at the San Carlos Institute (516 Duval St.) from 1:00-5:00 pm today, Thursday, January 8, 2015.
“How the Light Gets In: Literature of the Spirit” will explore literature’s relationship to the inexplicable. “Our hope,” writes program co-chair Pico Iyer, “is to talk about essentials—what lasts and what is at the heart of us—through poetry, essay, fiction, and even silence; to push words as far as they can go and then to respect what remains when they give out.”
Opening night features a unique musical performance by the Paul Winter Consort at the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center. Following a brief keynote address by Pico Iyer, the Consort will present “Unbridled Joy,” a composition incorporating the voices of acclaimed poets including Mark Doty, Jane Hirshfield, and Marie Howe, among others.
Sunday afternoon’s program is free and open to the public: first-come, first-served. Doors will open at the San Carlos Institute (516 Duval St.) at 1:45 pm for a program featuring Billy Collins, Mark Doty, Patricia Hampl, Marie Howe, Pico Iyer, Charles Johnson, Wally Lamb, and Mary Rose O’Reilley. See the full schedule here.
The 2015 Seminar also marks the end of Miles Frieden’s remarkable twenty-year career as KWLS Executive Director. Congratulations, Miles, on a job well done. And welcome to our incoming Executive Director, Arlo Haskell.
