BOOMING BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

An array of literary events awaits readers and writers during Hemingway Days 2023, set for Tuesday through Sunday, July 18-23. The festival celebrates the talent and Key West lifestyle of author Ernest Hemingway, who lived on the island for most of the 1930s.

Events include prose and poetry readings, a walking tour, a Hemingway museum exhibit and presentations that illustrate the island city’s impact on the legendary writer’s life and work. All are presented by the Key West Art & Historical Society, whose Custom House Museum contains one of the United States’ most comprehensive collections of Hemingway artifacts and memorabilia.

The festival’s opening evening Tuesday, July 18, features a lecture by Rebecca Johnston, president of the Florida Hemingway Society. Focusing on Hemingway’s connection to a 1935 hurricane that influenced his Key West novel “To Have and Have Not,” the presentation is set for 6 p.m. at the island’s Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton St.

For those who arrive in Key West before Hemingway Days, the film version of “To Have and Have Not” will be screened Monday, July 17, at the cinema.

Fans of fine writing can attend the announcement and reading of the winning entry in the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition Wednesday, July 19, paired with the Key West Poetry Guild’s reading of “Papa’s Poems” and guild members’ work. Awarding

$2,500 annually to emerging writers of short fiction, the competition is directed by Lorian Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter and author of books including “Walk on Water.” The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. at The Gardens Hotel, 526 Angela St.

The Key West Art & Historical Society’s historian and curator, Cori Convertito will discuss Hemingway’s Key West years Thursday, July 20, during a 5 p.m. “Happy Hour With the Historian” gathering. Exploring elements such as the author’s introduction to Key West and his love of Keys angling, the event includes a complimentary libation and takes place at Comedy Key West, 218 Whitehead St., #5.

At 9 a.m. Sunday, July 23, Convertito will lead a walking tour of iconic Key West structures and sites where Hemingway lived, worked and played. The 90-minute tour will depart from the Custom House Museum, 281 Front St.

All day Sunday, the festival spotlights aspects of the museum’s Hemingway collection, free admission for those mention Hemingway Days upon entering. As well as items from late author’s life, view a full-size bronze depicting him in his prime and 59 original drawings by famed marine wildlife artist Guy Harvey that illustrate Hemingway’s novel, “The Old Man and the Sea.”

For literary event information and ticketing, visit kwahs.org. For Hemingway Days general information, visit hemingwaydays.net.

— Contributed

Fireworks explode over a portion of Florida Bay for the enjoyment of attendees at a Florida Keys bicentennial celebration on June 17 at Rowell’s Waterfront Park in Key Largo. The gathering was among a series of Keys events being staged to mark the 200th anniversary of the Florida Territorial Legislature’s July 3, 1823 founding of Monroe County, containing the entire island chain. ROB MODYS/Florida Keys News Bureau