Up On Heaven’s Boulevard

January 15, 2020

Grace Potter

Lauren Groff



Hemingway House

Up On Heaven’s Boulevard

Sunday afternoon marks the final chapter of the official Key West Literary Seminar and the transition to the second act of the two week series of events as the annual week of KWLS workshops kicks off. This year the transition was marked by a wonderful party at the home of Cecelia and Seward Johnson at one of the most beautiful properties in Key West, the house that is actually just south of the Southernmost Point. The party featured the last hurrah for most of the writers who were on hand as well as serving for a welcome event for the amazing cast of writers who were arriving to teach week-long writing workshops.



Rowan Riccardo Philips







This group included Christopher Castellani, Fernanda Eberstadt, Lynne Griffin, Lauren Groff, Claire Messud, Gregory Pardlo, Francine Prose, Krystal Sital and Luis Alberto Urrea as well as Billy Collins who was on hand for both the seminar and the workshops. The week of workshops is punctuated with an ever increasing of public events and soirees that keep us busy for a second straight week.

Grace Potter soundcheck



But before I got too deep into that, between the concluding session on Sunday afternoon, the Johnson’s party and other seminar related things, Kathy and I had VIP tickets to see singer/songwriter Grace Potter at Sunset Green. I have been a fan of hers since we first saw her some years ago with her previous band the Nocturmals at Folks Fest in Colorado. I was nervous about the timing but it actually worked out great as we were able to sneak away in the afternoon and watch her private soundcheck, which was awesome, before returning to attend the party before heading back to the actual concert.



Grace Potter



As exhausted as we both were, I am so glad that we made the effort as her show was fantastic. Certainly the best show that I have seen at that venue since it opened and we both really loved Grace. I am always happy to support Rams Head, the promoters who bring artists like Grace Potter to Key West. She is gaining popularity rapidly, for example she appeared on the “Today” show in the days leading up to her appearance here, but in Key West she was mostly an unknown quantity to most people here. So I was thrilled to see a decent and enthusiastic crowd on hand.











The rest of the week it was back to seminar related events, starting with the first of the ten week series of lectures by the Friends of the Key West Library. This week’s opener was co-sponsored by the KWLS and featured one of the authors who was at the seminar, Rowan Ricardo Philips, who gave a terrific presentation on his latest book about tennis called “The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey” to a packed “sold-out” event at the Tropic Cinema. Every Monday night for the next ten weeks the Friends of the Library will present an author giving a free to the public lecture.







Hemingway House







Andrea, Chase and Chloe

From there, I walked over to the Ernest Hemingway House for the opening night party and dinner for the workshop participants and instructors. I always enjoy that event as it is fun to meet so many fascinating people who travel from all over the country to take our workshops. The event is where the participants first meet the instructors and the other people in their workshops and it is always a fun thing to do.





Arlo



There are two additional public events featuring the workshop authors, readings and discussions held on Tuesday and Wednesday night at the Studios of Key West. I went on Tuesday night as there was a reception for the workshop attendees at Books and Books hosted by Judy Blume and George Cooper prior to the readings upstairs in the Studios. The presentations included readings from Lauren Groff, Luis Alberto Urrea and Billy Collins and Gregory Pardlo. It was an outstanding evening.



Lauren Groff and Chase





Luis Alberto Urrea