John Hersey Memorial Address: John Irving
Presenters: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Kristen Arnett, Jeffrey Brown, Meg Cabot, Billy Collins, S.A. Cosby, Sika Dagbovie-Mullins, Andre Dubus III, Paul Harding, Nathan Hill, John Irving, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Victor LaValle, Malinda Lo, Joanna Margaret, Ayana Mathis, David McConnell, Lydia Millet, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Emily Raboteau, Barbara Rae-Venter, Edel Rodriguez, Dani Shapiro, Brando Skyhorse
Writers’ Workshop Faculty: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Hilton Als, Lynne Barrett, Kwame Dawes, Andre Dubus III, Malinda Lo, Ange Mlinko, Safiya Sinclair
by Alicia K. Garcia
The 42nd Key West Literary Seminar introduced three remarkable emerging writers to the KWLS “Family.” These gifted voices–Ricardo Zegri, Annaka Saari, and Brenton Sizwe Zola—shared their work…
by Marsh Muirhead
In her opening remarks last Thursday evening, board president Nancy Klingener referred to 19-time attendee Billy Collins as the paterfamilias of this…
by Annaka Saari
“I don’t have any poems that are targeted at family,” said Rowan Ricardo Phillips, speaking with Billy Collins and Jeffrey Brown, on the afternoon…
by London Griffith
The setting of a living room for the conversation between three very different and very verbose authors was painfully apropos. The theme of Family was alive and well and thoroughly examined by…
by Dr. Amy Catania
Family members are the ultimate unreliable narrators. This humorous idea, adapted from a statement that Kristen Arnett made at the beginning of the panel, “With Teeth, Lone Women, and My Name Is Iris…
by Rebekah Heppner, PhD
As soon as Barbara Rae-Venter took the stage, we knew we were in for something different. The ominous title of her book, I Know Who You Are, refers to her breakthrough work using Investigative Genetic…
by Aimee Suzara
As author and critic Emily Raboteau begins her talk, we see a projection of a person in winter clothes walking, bearing a black backpack – in front of a roll-down metal door painted with twin owls..
by Ricardo Zegri
“Writers tell lies to tell the truth,” S.A. Cosby said Saturday morning at the San Carlos Institute. “Your father is the first hero you have. How do you deal with your parents being human?” He was joined on stage by by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Victor LaValle…
by Luis Guzmán Valerio
Edel Rodríguez’s presentation of his book Worm: My Family’s Cuban American Odyssey aptly followed the history shared about the San Carlos Institute by the institute’s board member Rafael Peñalver. Edel’s graphic novel…
By Mandy Miller
Dani Shapiro’s memoir, Inheritance, landed in the public consciousness much as the news that her father was not her biological father—like a bomb going off. In conversation with Arlo Haskell, Dani eloquently regaled the attendees with the details of her journey…
by Olajide Omojarabi
What do you expect when sitting in for a session titled Found Family? Malinda and Kristen used humor, just like their books, to ease the heaviness that might have come with the conversations bordering…
By Katie Mitchell
On a morning when the world is indeed burning with flames too real to be a metaphor, Ayana Mathis, Lydia Millet, and Emily Roboteau sat down for a conversation entitled “The Radical Potential of Mothering: On Children and Building Worlds While the Earth Burns.”
By Anna Dunlavey
Key West, as Nathan Hill acknowledged, is not a town known for early risers, but at 9:40 a.m. on Friday, the auditorium at the San Carlos Institute was packed full of people eager to hear his talk, entitled…
By Darren Chase
John Irving delivered the John Hersey Memorial Address to a rapt and appreciative audience Thursday evening. The Oscar- and National Book Award-winning author began his presentation…
Welcome to the 2025 Key West Literary Seminar! We are so excited to be back talking about literature yet again, this time looking at one simple (or not so simple) theme: Family. Tomorrow at 1 pm, the audience check-in begins at the San Carlos Institute in downtown Key West. A …Read More
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