“Have you no memories?' I am made of memories. 'Then speak.” ― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

January 13, 2019

Rowan Ricardo Phillips and Kevin Young 

Meg Cabot

Naomi Novak and Danielle Paige

Valerie Martin

“Have you no memories?'
I am made of memories.
'Then speak.”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

Every year at the Key West Literary Seminar, there are always certain readings, discussions or panels that stand out for their excellence and are toasted by attendees as a favorite of the weekend, conversely there are also invariably some that fall flat for whatever reason. Poor moderators, unprepared panelists and sometimes just dullness have occasionally popped up at some point during the seminar. I am thrilled to say that this year’s panelists were always on point.

Margaret Atwood

 

It was in fact the best continuous and connected discussion of a topic over the course of a weekend that I have seen, as the discussion expanded and grew in depth as the weekend progressed and every session was uniformly excellent, something that I had rarely seen. The moderators were terrific and helped a lot, Kate Tuttle being perhaps the best prepared, most relaxed and all around best moderator to have graced the stage at the San Carlos.

Joyce Carol Oates 

Valerie Martin and Jenni 

Each panel or reading added to the totality of the examination of the role that archetype and adaptation played in the writing process and the discussion developed and intensified as each session passed with very little, if any repetition, even in the final free and open to the public session. As a group, these writers were as engaged and well prepared as any we have seen over the years. Perhaps the focus of the subject helped that and the fact that each author had used archetype, yet in often very different ways.

Rowan 

Ben, Jolly and Dan

 

It was fascinating watching from the audience and both Kathy and I, and hopefully the majority of our audience felt the same excitement and exhilaration as the seminar progressed. The seminar always offers me a measure of inspiration and fulfillment, being in the company of such a literate and educated group of people and experiencing some of the best discussions on all manner of topics, not only during the seminar itself, but carried over to the parties, dinners and after-events. 

Kevin Young

Joyce Carol Oates

This event and the Miami Book Fair are two of my favorite events of the year, not just literary events, but events in general as they both offer insights into a world of literacy, imagination and education that is hard to come by in our day to day lives and yet I am drawn to each year to help replenish my creative drive and stimulate my mind, which is easily corrupted by today’s fast pace world of social media and seemingly constant stressful news cycles.

 

Emily Wilson

In the midst of the seminar, our amazing local bookstore, Books and Books at The Studios of Key West, hosted a standalone literary event. A book signing and short intimate performance by folk singer/songwriter Dar Williams, who was set to perform at the Key West Theater, but also took the opportunity to schedule a signing for her new book about the communities she has visited as a traveling musician. I was able to sneak away for a bit from the seminar to head over and check it out, a fun and informative diversion.

Dar Williams

Judy Blume, Dar Williams and Jed Dodds

Back at the seminar, Sunday morning brought one of my favorite parts of the entire weekend, reading from the emerging writer award winning authors. We have three named and endowed awards that provide full scholarships as well as cash prizes and the chance to take the San Carlos stage to read from their award winning work. We have literally hundreds of entrants that go through an exacting juried competition before being selected. Many of our past award winners have gone on to great things and it is always cool to see them.

Ross

Joe

The three names to look out for are Joe Dornich who won the Cecelia Joyce Johnson award for short story, Michelle Penaloza who won the Scotti Merrill Award for poetry and Ross Feeler who captured the Marianne Russo award for a novel in progress. All three of these writers gave stellar readings that made it fairly obvious that they are worthy of the recognition that they received and I look forward to seeing more of their work in the future.

Joe and Michelle