Literature, Lectures, Art, Discussions, Food, and Fellowship
Each year, the Ernest Hemingway Seminar focuses on a particular text or theme and its literary and historical context.
September 10-12, 2026
The Garden of Eden
Our 2026 seminar invites you into the lush, provocative world of The Garden of Eden—a posthumously published and deeply intriguing work by Ernest Hemingway.
September 10-12, 2026
The Community Library and Wood River Museum
Registration for in-person and virtual attendance opens on June 1. Register here.
Over the course of two and a half days, we’ll journey to the sunlit French Riviera of the 1920s, where a young writer and his wife find themselves drawn into a daring and complicated relationship with another woman. What begins as a romantic escape unfolds into a bold exploration of identity, desire, and artistic creation.
Together, we’ll examine the novel’s rich and often controversial themes—creativity, gender fluidity, sexuality, and race—while considering its unique place within Hemingway’s body of work. Written over a span of 15 years, from 1946 until Hemingway’s death in 1961, and ultimately published in 1986, The Garden of Eden offers a rare and revealing glimpse into the evolution of one of the 20th century’s most iconic literary voices.
Join us for thoughtful discussion, fresh perspectives, and a deeper appreciation of this daring and unconventional novel.
Speakers will include Dr. Carl Eby, author of Reading Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden; Dr. Marc K. Dudley, author of Hemingway, Race, and Art: Bloodlines and the Color Line; and Timothy Christian, author of Hemingway’s Widow, a biography of Mary Welsh Hemingway. This year’s Boise State University panel features Dr. Mac Test, who will present “Hemingway and the Literary Tradition of Gender Bending,” and Dr. Stacey Guill on “White Elephants, Sea Changes, and Secret Gardens: Hemingway’s Gendered Worlds.” The full seminar program will be published this summer.
