Key West Literary Seminar

To open Shorts: Stories, Essays & Other Briefs, Junot Díaz and Hilton Als came together on the subject of “Baldwin’s Children, or, Our Bodies Long for (a) Home: Belonging, Exile, and Love in African Diaspora Letters.”

Pulitzer Prize-winner Marilynne Robinson delivers a lecture on the notion of grace, "a word without synonyms, a concept without paraphrase." From the current state of the publishing industry to her work in academia, Robinson presents a series of thought-provoking contrasts and illuminations.

Wally Lamb reads his essay, “A Case of Joni,” in which Joni Mitchell’s song “The Magdalene Laundries” is used as an entry point into a discussion on the complexities of compassion. Lamb also explores his path to becoming a writer and his work teaching at a women's prison in Connecticut.

This conversation focuses on the concept of wonder and it’s relationship to literature. In this broad yet focused discussion, Pico Iyer & Barry Lopez speak on the importance of diversity, the author’s obligation to bear witness, and the ethical dilemmas that accompany such pursuits.

“I have a theory why we all live here—it’s called the Peter Pan theory. Freud said we're at our most creative before we’re five years old. That’s where we are here. We wear shorts, we ride bicycles, we have the water, a great symbol of the unconscious, and we’re free to be children here and let our spirits go.”

“We have this illusion that we are unitary beings. We have the notion that there is a pilot light inside us that is one's self. I don't believe this is the case. We're a collection of poses, of attitudes, of versions of ourselves. We make ourselves up as we go along. This is what makes life interesting.”

In Florida, news tends toward the outlandish, Carl Hiaasen explains, and it’s difficult to write stories that don’t eventually come true. On this hilarious recording, Hiaasen recounts his favorite Florida news items, including the disappearance of legendary Key West Fire Chief Joseph “Bum” Farto—“a character no one could have created.”

Laura Lippman, Megan Abbott, and Gillian Flynn discuss how novels and films featuring women protagonists are presented in popular culture and perceived by audiences. “Things that make men cry are considered profound," remarks Lippman. “Things that make women cry are considered sentimental.”

Sara Paretsky weaves together contemporary social and political issues as they relate to mystery and crime fiction. She asks “What is the role of the writer?” while warning of the dangers of self-censorship and government surveillance; and she reminds us that fiction reveals essential truths about what we fear, what we want, and what we need.

The late Harvey Shapiro reads a selection of his poems as well as work by Richard Wilbur and Yiddish writer Joseph Rolnik. Shapiro discusses the impact of World War II on the ‘class of 1924’ and talks about his mentors Charles Reznikoff, Louis Zukofsky, and George Oppen.