Every July, Hemingway Days in Key West celebrates the literary success and lifestyle of one of our most famous literary legends, Ernest Hemingway. Every year, to honor Hemingway’s birthday, Key West comes to life with lively literary events including films, lectures, poetry readings, museum days and more!

Schedule

July 17, 2023

6:30 PM to 8:30 PM: Ernest Hemingway Film - To Have and Have Not

To Have and Have Not (1944)

n Vichy France, fishing boat captain Harry (Humphrey Bogart) avoids getting involved in politics, refusing to smuggle French Resistance fighters into Martinique. But when a Resistance client is shot before he can pay, Harry agrees to help hotel owner Gerard (Marcel Dalio) smuggle two fighters to the island. Harry is further swayed by Slim (Lauren Bacall), a wandering American girl, and when the police take his friend Eddie (Walter Brennan) hostage, he is forced to fight for the Resistance.

July 18, 2023

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM: DSS - Hemingway and the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935

Distinguished Speaker Series - Hemingway and the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 with Rebecca Johnston

Tropic Cinema
American men returning from the First World War came back to a country that did not understand them nor support them. Many of these men ended up serving in WPA and CCC camps that built aspects of the state parks we still enjoy around Florida today. During Labor Day Weekend of 1935 a hurricane hit the camps located in the Keys and caused the deaths of hundreds of these men due to government neglect. Hemingway was living in Key West at the time of the storm and he joined the rescue efforts. The deaths from the Labor Day Hurricane were a loss Hemingway would not forget. He documented the incident in his article “Who Murdered the Vets? A First-Hand report on the Florida Hurricane” in New Masses and he wrote them into his novel To Have and Have Not. This talk will focus on what brought the veterans to the Keys, the storm itself, and Hemingway’s involvement in the rescue efforts, as well as their appearances in his writing.

Tickets: $12.00 - $15.00

July 19, 2023

5:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Papa's Poems & Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition

The Gardens Hotel
The annual Hemingway Days Festival celebrates the legend known for fishing, carousing, and an innovative writing style that shook the world and continues to reverberate today.  “Papa’s Poems & the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition” spotlights that remarkable literary legacy with its annual evening of readings and awards Wednesday, July 19 from 5:00-7:00pm, presented by Key West Art & Historical Society at The Gardens Hotel, 526 Angela Street. Admission is FREE and The Gardens Hotel bar will be open to all attendees to enjoy a cool beverage during the event.

The evening begins with the acclaimed Key West Poetry Guild’s annual showcase of Hemingway’s little-known poetry and guild members’ own work.  Following is the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition winners’ announcement and the first public reading of the winning story.

The event was co-created by Shaughnessy to celebrate the impact that Key West had on Hemingway’s exuberance for life. He was fascinated by the kind of gritty, hard-scrabbled lifestyle that he found here, and the people that lived it, and many of them turned up as inspiration for characters in To Have and To Have Not, his only novel set in the United States.

Emceeing and assisting in the coordination of the guild’s portion is Vicki Boguszewski, the Poet Jah Love, from the Key West Poetry Guild.  She has previously acted as emcee and lead poet for the 2022 Womenfest “Key West Women & Words” poetry event and a Key West Sidewalk Poem Bike Tour.

July 20, 2023

5:00 PM to 6:00 PM: Happy Hour with the Historian - Ernest Hemingway: The Key West Years

The Key West Art & Historical Society is excited to partner with Comedy Key West to offer a series of fun historical lectures entitled ‘Happy Hour with the Historian’. Attendees will receive a complimentary drink (beer, house wine or soft drink), and treated to a short presentation by the historian.

Historian: Cori Convertito Ph.D.

Topic: Ernest Hemingway: The Key West Years

Ernest Hemingway first stopped in Key West on a visit home from Paris with his second wife, Pauline Pfieffer. He soon fell in love with the island’s charms, and the fact that it felt like living in another country. He and Pauline settled on the tiny island, first renting an apartment for several years, and eventually purchasing a home with help from Pauline’s wealthy uncle Gus.

Key West afforded Hemingway the opportunity to enjoy the sport fishing that he loved so much. He sailed his boat, Pilar, around the Keys and fished the Gulf Stream extensively. Many famous images of Hemingway picture him standing dockside in the Caribbean, the catch of the day hanging beside him.

Tickets: $12.00 - $15.00

July 22, 2023

7:30 p.m: Hemingway 5k Sunset Run and Paddleboard Race

Location:
Southernmost Point located overlooking the Atlantic in the 1300 block of Whitehead Street.

8 p.m: Beach party

outside the Southernmost Beach Café with entertainment, food, raffles and libations. Finishers in both the paddleboard race and 5k are to receive awards in multiple categories. Athletes who compete in both challenges earn special medals.

July 23, 2023

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM: 'Hemingway's Key West' Walking Tour

Key West Museum of Art & History to Blue Heaven
The Key West Art & Historical Society is hosting a walking tour associate with Ernest Hemingway led by the curator and historian, Cori Convertito.  During the tour, she will discuss the several of the iconic structures and streets from Hemingway’s time on the island in the 1930s.

Tour Highlights:

You will meet at the Key West Museum of Art & History and our curator will take you to the places where Hemingway lived, worked and played during his decade on the island.

Tour will meet in front of the Key West Museum of Art & History at 9:00 a.m and will finish at Blue Heaven around 10:30 a.m. We will cover a large distance during this walk, ensure you feel comfortable walking longer distances in hot weather. Please dress appropriately for an outdoor walk.  We encourage hats and bringing along a bottle of water.

Date: July 18-23, 2023

Location:
Key West, FL 33040

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