Coming up Tuesday through Sunday, July 19 through 24, 2011, in Key West: Hemingway Days, the 31st. annual celebration of the (larger-than) life of Ernest Hemingway. The hard-living, Pulitzer Prize winning American author and globetrotter lived and wrote some of his most enduring works in Key West during the 1930’s. His leisure time here was spent stalking big game on the high seas and socializing with a colorful array of both local characters and internationally-known literary cohorts.
His architecturally significant Whitehead Street home and writing studio above its carriage house, with many relics still intact, is a registered National Historic Landmark. Tours of the expansive property feature his typewriter, a brood of polydactyl cats, and Key West’s first swimming pool.
Celebrating the 112th. anniversary of this American legend’s birth on July 22, the event brings devotees together to recall his exuberant lifestyle. Highlights include a Hemingway Look-Alike Contest sponsored by legendary Sloppy Joe’s, a Duval Street watering hole that Hemingway often frequented; a writing competition hosted by the literary legend’s granddaughter, Lorian Hemingway (herself, an accomplished author), a 3-day marlin tournament honoring Hemingway’s love of deep-sea fishing; a museum exhibit of rarely-seen Hemingway memorabilia; and a zany “Running of the Bulls”.