Jonathan Escoffery’s debut story collection IF I SURVIVE YOU has been long-listed for the National Book Award and short-listed for the 2023 Booker Prize. Pulsing with vibrant lyricism and inimitable style, sly commentary and contagious laughter, the novel follows a Jamaican family striving for more in Miami. Jonathan appears courtesy of the Key West Literary Seminar.

Elise Hart Kipness is a television sports reporter turned thriller writer. LIGHTS OUT is based on her experience in the a high pressure, adrenaline-pumping world of live TV. Like her protagonist, she chased marquee athletes through the tunnels of Madison Square Garden and stood before glaring lights, reporting to national audiences. Kipness divides her time between Stamford, CT and Key West.

KEY WEST SKETCHES—Writers at Mile Zero includes a treasure trove of more than sixty essays, reminiscences, musings, and poems about Key West. It features the town’s best-known writers: Lurie, Blume, Caputo, Cabot, McGuane, Beattie, Shames, Lee Smith, Frank Deford, Phyllis Rose, Glenn Frankel, Joy Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich, Billy Collins, and on and on… John Leslie, Lynn Kaufelt, Arida Wright, Mike Mewshaw, Ros Brackenbury, and Carey Winfrey will offer brief readings from their essays.

Award-winning short story writer Ann Beattie has been included in five O. Henry Award Collections, and in The Best American Short Stories. Her most recent book ONLOOKERS is an astute story collection about people living in peaceful Charlottesville, Virginia, which drew national attention when white nationalists held a rally there in 2017, a horrific event whose repercussions are still felt today.

Lee Smith has written seventeen works of fiction. Her novel THE LAST GIRLS was a New York Times bestseller. Her latest novel SILVER ALERT, a funny and endearing story of family, secrets, and aging, follows an elderly man who heads off on a joyride with a new young friend—who may have some secrets of her own.

The Friends Annual Gala will honor our own Key West celebrity Judy Blume, who has experienced a banner year. Over the decades, Blume’s books have been the subject of controversy, censorship, and bans. She will focus on this timely and very personal subject in a conversation with her friend Pat Scales, former chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. Their conversation promises to be nothing if not provocative.

Speakers courtesy of The Studios of Key West where they are in residency. Allegra Hyde‘s most recent work is the story collection THE LAST CATASTROPHE.  Ariel Delgado Dixon’s first novel is DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU, published by Random House in 2022. 

Jean Hanff Koretlitz is the author of eight novels. Her newest, THE LATECOMER, was a New York Times Notable Book, and a New Yorker Best Book of 2022. Her previous novel, THE PLOT, was a New York Times bestseller. Several of her works have been adapted for the screen, including The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, and Admission, starring Tina Fey, Lily Tomlin, and Paul Rudd.

David McConnell is the author of the non-fiction book AMERICAN HONOR KILLINGS and the novels THE SILVER HEARTED, and THE FIREBRAT. In AMERICAN HONOR KILLINGS, straight and gay guys cross paths, and the result is murder. McConnell is the former co-chair of the Lambda Literary Foundation

Jeffrey Colvin is the author of the acclaimed debut novel AFRICAVILLE, which chronicles the lives of three generations against the tumultuous events of the twentieth century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s. As it explores notions of identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home, the novel tells the larger story of the black experience in parts of Canada and the United States.

S. A. Cosby is an Anthony Award-winning writer from Southeastern Virginia. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a New York Times Notable Book, and was named a best book of the year by NPR, The Guardian, and Library Journal, among others. Cosby’s appearance is kindly provided by the Key West Literary Seminar.

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty novels, including her most recent, Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, as well as Last Girl Ghosted, and Confessions on the 7:45 — now in development at Netflix, starring Jessica Alba. With books published in thirty-two languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.

The Vet at Noah’s Ark: Stories of Survival from an Inner-City Animal Hospital follows Dr. Doug Mader and his staff over the course of a year at his inner-city Los Angeles veterinary hospital, where Dr. Mader treats not only dogs and cats, but also emus, skunks,snakes, foxes, monkeys, and a host of other exotic animals. The book is a heartfelt, sometimes hilarious, always suspenseful tale of the human-animal bond.

Carl Hiaasen has written twenty-four novels for adults, including national bestsellers like Strip Tease,andStormy Weather. All the novels are set in Florida, where they are read more as documentary than fiction. He is also responsible for several popular novels for young readers: His first, Hoot, won a Newbery Honor. Filmed in Miami and the Florida Keys and based on Hiaasen’s best-selling novel, Apple TV’s upcoming series Bad Monkey, stars Vince Vaughn.

In 1964, Beatlemania flooded the United States. The Beatles appeared live on the Ed Sullivan Show and embarked on their first tour of North America–and they spent more time in Florida than anywhere else. Bob Kealing‘s Good Day Sunshine State: How the Beatles Rocked Florida dives into this momentous time and place, exploring the band’s seismic influence on the people and culture of the state.

New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who writes crime novels set in the United Kingdom. Her Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series has received numerous awards, including Edgar, Macavity, and Agatha nominations, and is published in more than a dozen countries to international acclaim.

Tom Perotta is the bestselling author of nine works of fiction, including Election and Little Children, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films, and The Leftovers, which was adapted into a critically acclaimed, Peabody Award-winning HBO series.

A recording of this event is available on YouTube here.

George Cooper has had a variety of careers. He spent most of his first twenty-five adult years as a law professor at Columbia University, and as a civil rights lawyer during the 1960-70 heyday of that reform movement. In 2016, with his wife Judy Blume, he helped found Books & Books at The Studios. Guide to the Key West Literary Pantheon is his latest contribution.

A recording of this event is available on YouTube here.

S.A. Cosby is a NYT’s best selling author of Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland. A writer from Southeastern Virginia, now residing in Gloucester, Virginia, his short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines.

A recording of this event is available on YouTube here.

Sam Sifton headlined the Friends first Annual Fundraising Gala. He is an assistant managing editor of The New York Times, and the founding editor of New York Times Cooking. Sifton is the author of two cookbooks, See You On Sunday and New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes.

A recording of this event is available on YouTube here.

Pam Jenoff is the author of the best selling books of historical fiction: The Orphan’s Tale and The Lost Girls of Paris. Her latest book is The Woman With the Blue Star.

A recording of this event is available on YouTube here.

In addition to her adult contemporary fiction, Meg Cabot is the author of the bestselling young adult fiction series, The Princess Diaries. Over 25 million copies of her novels for children and adults have sold worldwide.

When Charlaine Harris’s career as a mystery writer began to falter, she decided to write a cross-genre book that would appeal to fans of mystery, science fiction, romance, and suspense. She could not have anticipated the huge surge of reader interest in the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid in Louisiana, or the fact that HBO would come knocking at her door.

You can watch this event on YouTube here.

Les Standiford is the author of several critically acclaimed books. The Man Who Invented Christmas, was a New York Times ‘Editors’ Choice’ and was made into a feature film starring Christopher Plummer and Dan Stevens in 2018. His latest book Battle for the Big Top was released in June of 2021.

You can watch this event on YouTube here.

A Night of Mystery–Hank Phillippi Ryan, Rhys Bowen, and Julia Spencer-Fleming in conversation with Lucy Burdette (a.k.a Friends of the Key West Library president Roberta Isleib).

A recording of this conversation is available on YouTube here.

Susan Cerulean is a writer, naturalist, and advocate based in Tallahassee, Florida. Her latest book is I Have Been Assigned the Single Bird: A Daughter’s Memoir. In 2015, her book Coming to Pass: Florida’s Coastal Islands in a Gulf of Change won a gold medal Florida Book Award.

A recording of this conversation is available on YouTube here.

Lily King is the award-winning author of five novels. Her most recent novel, Writers & Lovers, was named one the of 100 Notable Books of 2020 by The New York Times and one of the 10 best books of 2020 by The Washington Post. She appears in conversation with Judy Blume. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Blubber; and Just as Long as We’re Together.

A recording of this conversation is available on YouTube here.

Tom Corcoran is the author of Key West-based mysteries and numerous books of non-fiction. His latest novels in the Alex Rutledge series are The Cayo Hueso Maze and Guava Moon Revenge. Also recent is the spin-off from his series, Crime Almost Pays.

A recording of this conversation is available on YouTube here.

Rita Troxel appears in conversation with sculptor John Martini on the occasion of the publication of her new book, Home at the End of the World.

A recording of this conversation is available on YouTube here.

Patricia Engel‘s latest novel Infinite Country has received favorable reviews in national media, including the New York Times and NPR. Her earlier novel, The Veins of the Ocean, won the 2017 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year.

A recording of this conversation is available on YouTube here.

Rowan Ricardo Phillips is a poet, critic, translator, Paris Review sports columnist, and author of The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey, a non-fiction book that won the 2019 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. His appearance will be made possible by the Key West Literary Seminar.

Julie Zickefoose is an author and illustrator of several books, most recently Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay, which chronicles her experience rehabilitating an injured Blue Jay. She lives and works quietly on an 80-acre wildlife sanctuary in the backcountry of Whipple, Ohio.

Phyllis Rose is a literary critic and biographer. Her most recent biography Alfred Stieglitz: Taking Pictures, Making Painters chronicles the life of one of the first American photographers to achieve international fame, as well as the first gallerist to show the works of Picasso, Rodin, and Matisse in the U.S.

Arlo Haskell, is a poet, historian, and Executive Director of the Key West Literary Seminar. He will be in conversation with Mark Hedden about poet Elizabeth Bishop, her legacy, and her long term relationship with Key West. The KWLS recently purchased Bishop’s former home on White Street.

Meg Cabot, author of the popular The Princess Diaries, has published over 80 novels written for kids, tweens, teens, and adults. Her most recent works are the adult contemporary novel No Judgments and her first comic book, Black Canary: Ignite, for DC Zoom for middle-grade readers.

Michael Mewshaw writing career spans five decades and twenty-two books — including eleven novels, four memoirs, two true crime accounts of murder cases. His most recent book is The Lost Prince: A Search for Pat Conroy, an account of his friendship with the author of The Prince of Tides.

Ayse Papatya Bucak is a writer and professor at Florida Atlantic University. Her fiction and essays have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Kenyon Review, and Prairie Schooner. Two of the stories in her recent book The Trojan War Museum were selected for the O. Henry and Pushcart prizes.

Naomi Gordon-Loebl is a writer, educator, and fellow at Type Media Center who writes often about LGBTQ issues and has been published in The New York Times, Harper’s, and The Nation. She is the recipient of residencies and fellowships from Lambda Literary, Vermont Studio Center, and the Studios of Key West.

Madeline Miller’s second novel, Circe, was an instant number 1 New York Times bestseller, won the 2018 Elle Big Book Award, was at the top of many most anticipated books lists before it was published, and at the top of many best of the year lists after it was published. Madeline Miller’s appearance is made possible by the generous support of the Key West Literary Seminar.

John Simon is a music producer, musician, storyteller and author. He has produced dozens of classic albums, including The Band’s Music From Big Pink. His memoir Truth, Lies & Hearsay was one of Billboard Magazine’s Ton Ten Music Books of 2018.

Jennifer Brody is the author of the the Continuum series of young adult novels: The 13th Continuum, Return of the Continuums and The United Continuums. The 13th Continuum was a Gold Medal Winner from the Independent Publisher‘s Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.

Glenn Frankel grew up in Rochester, New York and graduated from Columbia University. He worked for many years as a Washington Post reporter, editor, and bureau chief in London, Southern Africa, and Jerusalem, and in 1989 won a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. He later served as editor of the Washington Post Magazine. More recently, Frankel served as the director of the School of Journalism and G.B. Dealey Regents Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He also spent four years as a visiting journalism professor at Stanford University.

Early in his career Hal Crowther was a reporter and editor, working for publications such as Time and Newsweek. But he found his opinions kept getting in the way. “I think I might have been a preacher if I was something other than a journalist,” he told one interviewer. As a writer he evolved from covering the news to commenting upon it. His syndicated column won the Baltimore Sun’s H.L. Mencken Writing Award in 1992 and a prize for commentary from the American Association of Newsweeklies in 1998. His most recent book is Freedom Fighters and Hell Raisers: A Gallery of Memorable Southerners.

Roberta Isleib, a clinical psychologist, writes under the name of the Lucy Burdette. She has published 16 mysteries, including the latest in the Key West food critic series, Death on the Menu. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards.

Dennis Beaver is curator of the Tennessee Williams Museum. He has been a resident of Key West since 1979 and has always been fascinated with the history of Key West and the legendary people who have called it home. 

David Garrard Lowe is a well-regarded lecturer, cultural historian, and author. His
articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, American Heritage, House & Garden, and City Journal, amongst other publications. His books include Stanford White’s New York, Lost Chicago, Chicago Interiors, Beaux Arts New York, and Art Deco New York.

Chelsea Rathburn is a native of Miami and currently lives in the North Georgia mountains with her husband, the poet James Davis May, and their daughter. She is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Young Harris College, where she directs the creative writing program.

David Lawrence Jr. served as publisher of the Miami Herald for a decade before retiring in 1999 and became an advocate for early childhood development in Florida. He chairs The Children’s Movement of Florida. His memoir, A Dedicated Life: Journalism, Justice and a Chance for Every Child was published in 2018. His appearance is made possible by Take Stock in Children, the signature program of the Monroe County Education Foundation.  Take Stock in Children will present each attendee with an autographed copy of A Dedicated Life.

Calvin Trillin has been contributing to the New Yorker since 1963. He writes about murder, food, politics, and culture. Among his many achievements he coined the term “Sabbath Gasbags” in reference to the pundits who appear on Sunday morning talk shows. He is also known for his expansive thoughts on barbecue.

Curt Richter is a photographer who splits his time between Finland and the United States. His most recent book is A Thousand Words: Portraits from the Key West Literary Seminar. Richter has been visiting Key West and photographing members of its arts and literary community for close to a decade. This book is the most recent fruit of those visits.

Frank DeFord is a writer and public radio commentator who primarily writes about sports. He has been a writer at Sports Illustrated since 1962, and a commentator at NPR since 1980. His football-centric novel Everybody’s All American was made into a movie starring Denis Quaid and Jessica Lange. He has also written several novels not centered on the world of sports.

David Garrard Lowe is a well-known cultural historian, lecturer, and author of books about great cities and their architecture. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, American Heritage, House & Garden, and City Journal among others. His books include Lost Chicago, Chicago Interiors, Stanford White’s New York, Art Deco New York, and Beaux Arts New York.

Rebecca Wallwork is a writer and editor from Miami Beach. Her book New Kids on the Block’s Hangin’ Tough is a deep study of the late 1980s cultural moment inspired by an album that has sold more than 17 million copies. She will be in Key West for a writer’s residency at the Studios of Key West.

Alison Lurie is a writer and novelist who has spent her winters in Key West since the 1980s. She has published ten novels, a book of short stories, three books of non-fiction, and a number of books of children’s stories. Her novel Foreign Affairs, which centers on the romantic liaisons of Americans in England, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

James Gleick is the author of The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood. His first book, Chaos, was a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist and a national bestseller. His other books include the best-selling biographies, Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman and Isaac Newton, both shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize. His most recent book Time Travel examines the porous boundary between pulp fiction and modern physics.

Eugene Robinson is a columnist for the Washington Post and a well-known TV pundit. In 2009, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for “his eloquent columns on the 2008 presidential campaign that focus on the election of the first African-American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture.” His books include Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America, Last Dance in Havana, and Coal to Cream: A Black Man’s Journey Beyond Color to an Affirmation of Race.

Diana Abu-Jaber was born in Syracuse, New York, to an American mother and a Jordanian father. Her upbringing was the subject of her award-winning memoir The Language of Baklava. Her latest novel, Birds of Paradise, won the National Arab American Book Award and was named a top book pick by the Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Tribune, and the Oregonian. Her most recent book is the memoir Life Without a Recipe: A Memoir of Food and Family.

Minneapolis-based Doug Mack specializes in offbeat takes on familiar topics and issues—the unexpected stories hiding in plain sight. His first book Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day was about traveling around modern Europe with a 1960s guidebook. His most recent book is The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA.