36th annual Key West Literary Seminar is January 11-14

Key West, Florida – The 36th annual Key West Literary Seminar, “Writers of the Caribbean,” begins Thursday, January 11, at the San Carlos Institute, 516 Duval Street, and runs through Sunday, January 14. This year’s Seminar is the first to take a geographic focus, and arrives at a time when the hurricanes of 2017 have underscored how much Key West shares with its Caribbean neighbors.

“Writers of the Caribbean” presents an opportunity to consider the impact of the Caribbean in today’s world with some of the writers and thinkers who know it best. Thursday’s keynote address by acclaimed Antiguan writer Jamaica Kincaid will discuss cultural appropriation, an issue that is central to understanding Caribbean influence and has become a flashpoint in American life. On Saturday night, the Seminar pays tribute to the late Nobel Prize-winning poet (and former KWLS keynote speaker) Derek Walcott, including discussions of Walcott’s legacy with novelist and playwright Caryl Phillips and Walcott’s longtime publisher, Jonathan Galassi.

Throughout the weekend, the Caribbean will serve as inspiration, setting, myth, memory, and idea. Featured presenters include Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings; and Haitian icon Edwidge Danticat. Jamaican novelists Kei Miller and Nicole Dennis-Benn will examine the literary context of their island home; and Cuban novelist Leonardo Padura will discuss literary life in Cuba today with his American translator, Anna Kushner. In a conversation particularly relevant to the Florida Keys, Esmeralda Santiago and Tiphanie Yanique will examine this year’s devastating hurricanes and their impact on writers in Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands.

Although this year’s Seminar is sold out, a free and open-to-the-public session will be held from 2:00-5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 14, also at the San Carlos Institute. All seating is first-come, first-served and doors open at 1:45 p.m. In conjunction with the main event, Seminar organizers have also arranged for Jamaica Kincaid to meet with students at Key West High School; and for acclaimed writer Teju Cole to kick off the Friends of the Library Lecture Series on January 15. An expanded schedule of Literary Walking Tours is also offered throughout the seminar weekend.

More information about this year’s presenters can be found at kwls.org/seminar. The complete schedule of events can be found at kwls.org/2018-seminar-schedule

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