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.
2024 Seminar: To Have and Have Not
Join us September 5-7, 2024, to delve into Hemingway’s 1937 novel, To Have and Have Not. The story follows fishing boat captain Harry Morgan between Depression-era Key West and Cuba as he turns to running contraband in order to make ends meet. Over three days we’ll explore the novel’s social and political contexts, its creation and critical reception, and the art it inspired.
Speakers include, Dr. Kirk Curnutt, author of Reading Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not (Kent State University Press, 2017), Florida Keys historian Brad Bertelli, a Boise State University panel with Dr. Clyde Moneyhun and Dr. Stacey Guill, Rob Wilson, and more.
The Seminar will open on Thursday, September 5 with an evening reception at 5:00 p.m. and keynote presentation from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, September 6-7, we’ll hear from speakers and enjoy films and breakout discussions from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. Click here to see the full Seminar schedule. Registration for in-person attendance at the full seminar is $95, and registration for virtual-only attendance is $30.
Registration opens Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Thank you to all who joined us for our
2023 Ernest Hemingway Seminar!
See the highlights here:
Past Seminars
2023: Fathers and Sons
Examining Hemingway the father, son, and writer, and six short stories with guest speakers Sherman Alexie, Dr. Marc Seals, and Dr. Verna Kale.
2022: Islands in the Stream
Exploring Hemingway’s time on the Gulf Stream and featuring presentations by Dr. Mark P. Ott, Dr. Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian STREAMCODE Project, and Paul Hendrickson.
2021: Hemingway in Africa
Examining “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” and featuring presentations by Dr. Suzanne del Gizzo, Gabriela Curtiz, Judith Freeman, and Dr. Andrew Farah.
2020: Out of the Box
A fully-virtual seminar celebrating Hemingway’s life in Idaho. From reading Ray Bradbury’s “The Kilimanjaro Machine,” to a unique insider’s look at Hemingway’s final home, and some off-the-wall stories about the literary giant’s legacy in Idaho.
2019: “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
Featuring presentations by Dr. Hilary Justice, Pilar Pobil, and Dr. Alex Vernon, as well as a Basque paella dinner with Boise’s Txikiteo.
2018: “A Farewell to Arms”
Focusing on Hemingway and World War I, with presentations by Dr. Suzanne del Gizzo, Dr. Alex Vernon, and Dr. David Wyatt.
2017: Isn’t It Pretty to Think So?
Taking the last line of “The Sun Also Rises” as a focal point, and featuring a keynote by Paula McClain and presentations by Arlo Haskell, Emma Sarconi, and Phil Huss.
2016: Hemingway and Nature
Featuring discussions on “Big Two-Hearted River,” presentations by Rick Bass and Dr. Scott Knickerbocker, and a walking tour of The Nature Conservancy’s Silver Creek Preserve.
2015: Hemingway at the Edges
Exploring the many ways in which Hemingway pushed boundaries – in the wild places he visited, in the writing style he crafted, and in the political realms and conflict zones he investigated. With speakers Amanda Vaill and Nancy Sindelar.
2014: Hemingway’s Cuba
With presentations by Ada Rosa Rosales, curator of the Finca Vigia; Sean Poole, author and nephew of artist Antonio Gottorno; BSU’s Dr. Mac Test on The Old Man and the Sea; Martin Peterson, Hemingway scholar; and Nancy Sindelar.
2013: Hemingway and the Modern
With presentations by David Earle, University of West Florida; Heather Parkinson Dermott; Clay Morgan; Clyde Moneyhun; Jacky O’Connor; Mitch Wieland; and Ben Fischer, Northwest Nazarene University.
2012: Hemingway’s Politics
With presentations by Clyde Moneyhun, Clay Morgan, Jacky O’Connor, and Mitch Wieland. Keynote by Peter Moreira, author of Hemingway on the China Front.
2011: Hemingway and Women
Focusing on how Hemingway’s life and writing were influenced by the women in his life and how his depictions of women continues to influence writers and readers. Keynote talk by Frederic Hunter, author of The Hemingway Play.
2010: The Hemingway Influence
How the Pulitzer/Nobel prize winner continues to affect authors, journalists, and readers fifty years after his death. Featuring Walter Kirn, author of Up in the Air; BSU faculty Clyde Moneyhun, Mitch Wieland, Clay Morgan, and Edward Test; and librarian Sandra Hofferber.
2009: Inaugural Ernest Hemingway Symposium
Featuring Scott Donaldson, author of Fitzgerald & Hemingway: Works and Days; Susan Beegel discussing A Farewell to Arms; David Earle, author of All Man!: Hemingway, 1950s Men’s Magazines, and the Masculine Persona; and librarian Sandra Hofferber.
