“Ever feel like the land is swallowing you whole, Sierra? That all of this beauty is wrapped around you so tight it's like being in a rattlesnakes mouth?" ― Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina: Stories

November 24, 2019

Kali

 

Tom Skerritt

Julia Phillips

Sarah M. Broom

“Ever feel like the land is swallowing you whole, Sierra? That all of this beauty is wrapped around you so tight it's like being in a rattlesnakes mouth?" ― Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina: Stories

This week was a big week for our author friend Kali, her first book a collection of short stories called “Sabrina & Corina” had been longlisted for the National Book Award for fiction, meaning that the people at the National Book Foundation thought it was one of the ten best fiction releases out of all the books released in the past year. This week her book made the cut as one of the five finalists and she was invited to the huge ceremony in New York City where the award was given out, better yet, the day after the award ceremony the winners and finalist were flown to Miami where we would get to see her for the first time since the book was released and the accolades poured in.

Kathy and I watched the entire ceremony on a live stream with a mix of excitement and trepidation. It was so cool, hosted by veteran actor Ben Vereeen and very much in the mold of the Oscars as the various categories were announced and the winners took the stage to accept. Our fellow Key Wester, Edmund White won a lifetime achievement award and we really enjoyed the entire ceremony right up until the final announcement that the winner for fiction was…Susan Choi for her novel, “Trust Exercise”.

Susan Choi

While we were disappointed, the achievement that our friend had reached was still pretty amazing and it was a life changing event for her and we were so excited and proud to see her named as a finalist along with the likes of Choi, Marlon James, Laila Lalami and Julia Phillips. To see one of your friends dreams realized in front of your eyes is a pretty special thing and we could not be happier and more proud of Kali and the fact that she was coming to Key West to stay with us where we could share even a little in her monumental week was really cool.

Before heading up to Miami though, we had some events here to attend and it has been a crazy busy week even in advance of heading to the Miami Book Fair. The week began when we attended Drag Queen Bingo at the 801 Caberet for the first time ever. Our friend QMitch has been hosting this weekly event for charity for years and we have always told ourselves that we need to get out and see it as we love Mitch and love supporting charity.

QMitch

 

The beneficiary this month is Little Pink Houses of Hope which is a charity that Kathy and many of our friends have been involved in supporting so it seemed like the perfect time to finally get out to 801 to see the uproariously funny and entertaining bingo. Now as expected, we are kicking ourselves for not getting out to see this sooner and vow to return again to what is truly a unique and fun Key West experience.

 

This week also marked the eighth annual Key West Film Festival, which we really enjoy but sadly always corresponds with the book fair and since most of the events overlap, we are unable to attend a lot of the Film Fest events. This year we did make it to the Tropic Theater to attend the 40^th anniversary of the film “Alien”, which seems shocking in and of itself. One of the stars of the film, Tom Skerritt was on hand at the Tropic to receive an award from the Film Fest and to do a Q & A before the screening about the film and his long and illustrious career in the film industry.

Tom Skerritt 

 

We were out again the next evening, this time to an author presentation at Books & Books at the Studios of Key West where author Dani Shapiro did a reading and presentation on her new memoir, “Inheritance”. Shapiro was in South Florida for the book fair and tacked on an appearance at Judy Blume’s local bookstore for a good and grateful crowd. 

Dani Shapiro 

Judy Blume

Shapiro was great in recounting her story of finding out way more than she bargained for upon taking a DNA test that literally turned her world upside down. It is a fascinating take and while I have not yet read the book, it looks to be a fascinating read. Friday afternoon, Kathy and I were on the road to Miami for the first book fair event, the annual evening with the National Book Award winners and finalists where our friend Kali joined about 20 others from all the different categories for an evening of short readings that gave the audience a teste of the breadth and scope of the finest writers in America.

Carolyn Forche

It was so great to see her share the stage with so many literary luminaries and to seem right at home with the wonderful, diverse and beautiful group of writers who were on hand. We did not get a lot of time to interact during the book fair itself as she and the other authors were whisked off to fancy dinners and parties during their spare moments, but knowing that she was headed to Key West to spend a few days staying at our house after the fair made that all ok.

Lisa Lucas of the National Book Foundation

Marlon James