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Hemingway Days Festival
The people who come to Key West in July are all alike…
Resemblance to literary giant, Ernest Hemingway,
is the first requirement to enter Sloppy Joe's Hemingway
Look-Alike Contest. As many as 150 white-bearded Hemingway hopefuls from around
the world compete for the coveted title of "Papa" each year.
The competition is held at Sloppy Joe's, 201 Duval St., Hemingway's
favorite Key West watering hole. Preliminary rounds are scheduled Thursday
and Friday, July 19 and 20, with the selection of the proud "Papa" set
for Saturday night
on the anniversary of
Hemingway's birth.
The "Papa" compadres play a large role in many other festival events, including the unforgettable "Running of the Bulls" that takes place outside Sloppy Joe's. Scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, the offbeat run pays tribute to one of Hemingway’s favorite sporting events.
Pulitzer and Nobel prize winner, Ernest Hemingway, lived in Key West throughout the 1930s, writing some of his most enduring works and embracing the live-and-let-live island attitude. Hemingway wrote in the mornings in a small studio behind his 907 Whitehead St. home and spent his afternoons deep-sea fishing, drinking and socializing with the locals.
Notes from event coordinators:
Hemingway Days events include not only the look-alike contest, but readings
and book signings, an awards ceremony that caps a leading American literary
competition, a commemoration of the 108th anniversary of Hemingway's
July 21 birth, a one-man play exploring the legendary author's life
and motivations, a museum exhibit of rare Hemingway memorabilia, the
zany "Running of the Bulls" and a three-day
marlin tournament.
The festival's best-known literary event is the awards reception for the annual Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. The Key West-based fiction competition, created in 1981 to recognize the talents of emerging writers, is now internationally renowned for its support of quality writing. Lorian Hemingway, a Pulitzer Prize–nominated author and Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter, is to announce the victorious writers, introduce the winning story and read from her current work at a literary reception Friday, July 20. The event traditionally takes place at Casa Antigua, 314 Simonton St., where Ernest Hemingway stayed during his first visit to Key West in 1928.
Aficionados of fine writing also can hear authors' reminiscences and readings during "Voices, Places, Inspirations," hosted by Lorian Hemingway and set for the evening of Wednesday, July 18. Participants are to include celebrated Florida novelist Tom Corcoran, whose Alex Rutledge mysteries paint an evocative and sometimes rueful picture of contemporary Key West.
For those who share Hemingway's passion for marlin fishing, the 2007 Key West Marlin Tournament provides a chance to pursue the magnificent billfish. Anglers also can pursue more than $250,000 in available cash prizes during three days of hard-fought fishing competition. The tournament's events are slated for Wednesday through Saturday, July 18-21.
Festival attendees can learn more about Hemingway when actor and playwright Brian Gordon Sinclair performs as the author in a theatrical storytelling evening titled "Hemingway's Havana." Each year for the past four, Sinclair has introduced a one-man play from his five-part "Hemingway On Stage" series during the festival. The final segment of "Hemingway On Stage" is to debut in Key West next year.
Like the critically acclaimed series, "Hemingway's Havana" is based on Sinclair's research into the author's life in the United States and abroad.
In addition, Hemingway fans can visit an ongoing exhibition at the Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House, 281 Front St., showcasing the literary legend's Key West years. Elements of the unique exhibit include rare family photographs, papers and documents, and memorabilia relating to Hemingway's personal life in the island city.
Other events during Hemingway Days typically include daily tours of
the author's former Key West home, Sloppy Joe's Arm Wrestling Contest,
a Caribbean street fair, Green Parrot Off-the-Wall Sidewalk Art Show
and a 5k sunset run through Old Town Key West. 
For the most recent info on this event and others,
check our Key West Special Event Calendar.
