Key West Literary Seminar

Where Music and Poetry Press Up against Memory: Kevin Young and Rowan Ricardo Phillips

By Michael Adno As Kevin Young and Rowan Ricardo Phillips took the stage, James Brown poured out of the PA. Outside the San Carlos Institute just before 6 pm, dusk’s soft glow fell over Duval St., where a decidedly different type of music played across the street. Almost as soon ...Read More

Meg Cabot and Danielle Paige: “From Princesses to Supergirls”

By Diane Hance Meg Cabot and Danielle Paige opened the first public session of the 37th annual Key West Literary Seminar with a confession: “We are both guilty,” Cabot claimed, “of writing books based on other books.” The authors began their lively conversation by sharing early influences and favorite childhood …Read More

“King Arthur, The Wizard of Oz, Frankenstein, and the Undersea City,” a Conversation with Meg Cabot, Victor LaValle, Danielle Paige, and Eric Shanower

By Amber Karlins The structure of this panel — the first to explore graphic novels in the festival’s history — was, as moderator Meg Cabot described it, “very loose.” Meg began by asking panelists why graphic novels are experiencing such a surge in both quality and popularity, but this quickly …Read More

Malleability and Transformation: Geraldine Brooks and Nicole Galland

By Ross Feeler Neither Geraldine Brooks nor Nicole Galland started off with aspirations to write fiction. After holding the pages of a hot-off-the-press newspaper as a child, Geraldine Brooks pursued a career in journalism for several years and with much success. This phase of her life came to a screeching …Read More

A Conversation on “Wives and Maids, What do They Know? Equal Rights for Minor Characters”

By Andrea Rinard Margaret Atwood, Valerie Martin, and Emily Wilson engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of “Wives and Maids, What do They Know? Equal Rights for Minor Characters,” moderated by Kate Tuttle. Atwood began the session with an invocation from her Penelopiad and then discussed her impetus for writing the …Read More

Naomi Novik on “The High Cost of Magic”

By Nancy Klingener The title of Naomi Novik’s talk was “The High Cost of Magic” — a reference to the work-in-progress from which she read an excerpt. And to frame the reading, she spoke about context — and how it relates directly to the theme of this year’s Seminar. “I …Read More

No One Is Coming to Save Us: The Great Gatsby Meets the African-American South

By Deirdre Sugiuchi “This summer my goal was to read all of James Baldwin’s works,” Stephanie Powell Watts told the audience at the Key West Literary Seminar. While reading Go Tell It on the Mountain, she came to the section where Baldwin speaks of when he was five and his mother said, …Read More

Madeline Miller on “Writing Back to Homer”

by Genevieve Morgan Madeline Miller set the tone for her lively discussion, “Writing Back to Homer,” when she grasped the microphone, strode to the middle of the stage, and said she could not abide being stuck behind a podium. She started with a short passage from Circe where Odysseus asks …Read More

Rowan Ricardo Phillips at Key West High School

by Kate Peters For the past four years, the Key West Literary Seminar has been spiriting one of its esteemed authors away from the Friday morning session to speak to students at Key West High School during their third period. First Junot Díaz, then George Saunders. Last year, Jamaica Kincaid, …Read More

“Age of Bronze”: Retelling the Trojan War for Comic Book Readers

by Roxann Fournier Eric Shanower enlightened and entertained participants of the Key West Literary Seminar with his obsessively accurate depiction of the Trojan War in the graphic novel Age of Bronze. “Even though you are familiar,” he warned, “you will find surprises. I hope you like surprises.” Surprises were indeed …Read More

Emily Wilson on “Translating the Odyssey Again: How and Why”

By Michelle Alonzo On a stage aptly decorated with Doric columns and a large amphora, Emily Wilson kicked off the first talk of the 37th Annual Key West Literary Seminar, “Translating the Odyssey Again: How and Why,” by reading from her 2018 translation of Homer’s Odyssey to a packed auditorium. Contained in the …Read More

Giving Young Women a Voice: Meg Cabot and Naomi Novik in Conversation

By Jodi Turchin In an animated discussion Friday afternoon, Meg Cabot and Naomi Novik tackled topics from writing female characters who have agency in their worlds, to fanfiction and computer coding, to the distraction of the Internet. Cabot and Novik had a mutual admiration society going, led by moderator Nancy …Read More

Behind Fear: Victor LaValle’s Discussion of The Changeling

by Connie Pertuz-Meza Victor LaValle’s latest novel, The Changeling, is a hybrid fairy tale and horror story. Set in New York City, it tackles many issues that are part of our everyday reality. In his conversation with Kate Tuttle, LaValle dove into the major themes of the novel: parenting in this …Read More

Margaret Atwood’s Keynote on “Influences at Work!”

by Shayne Benowitz The 37th annual Key West Literary Seminar “Under the Influence: Archetypes & Adaptation” commenced Thursday evening with the John Hersey Memorial address delivered by the inimitable Margaret Atwood. To begin her talk, “Alert! Influences at Work!” she took to the podium and introduced herself: “I’m Margaret Atwood, …Read More