Hemingway Festival will feature keynote speaker, Rick Bass
By Dana DuGan
Credit: Nicole Blaisedell
Though the writer Ernest Hemingway had homes in many communities, it was Ketchum that he came back to over the course of three decades, and where he died.
Hemingway developed abiding friendships among Wood River Valley residents, including the founders of The Community Library in Ketchum. His family has remained attached to the area, and themselves influenced events here. In fact, Hemingway’s late son, Jack, was instrumental in the protection of Silver Creek Preserve, a tour of which will be a part of the 11th annual Ernest Hemingway Festival.
“Hemingway and Nature” will be held Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 8-10. The annual Festival is an important part of The Community Library’s ongoing work to preserve and share Hemingway’s legacy in southcentral Idaho.
Scott Burton, programs manager at The Community Library, was attracted to the idea and double meaning of “Hemingway and Nature.”
“Hemingway used nature and recreation in his work; it echoes how he was as a person,” Burton said. “In a lot of ways his life was tumultuous – relationships, marriages and friends. But his relationship with the natural world was consistent and ever present and lasting. It was probably the only thing he didn’t alienate in his life. He always held it close to his heart, his life and his psyche, till the end. We’re celebrating his one true constant.”
Nature abounds in Hemingway’s work. If he isn’t leading readers into the woods in northern Michigan, he’s trodding over the hot fields of Spain in “The Sun Also Rises”; on the savannas and mountains of East Africa in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”; and, finally, onto the high seas in “The Old Man and the Sea.”
“Hemingway’s characters are often drawn to nature and yet also struggle against it,” Burton said.
Rick Bass, a writer with a similar bent, will be the keynote speaker for the Festival at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9, at the nexStage Theatre. Bass will focus on hunting and on the human relationship with non-hunted nature.
“Rick Bass is one of the most prolific and dynamic writers on nature today,” said Jenny Emery Davidson, executive director of The Community Library. “His writing has been compared to Hemingway’s for its strong, clear style, and he shares a passion for the landscape of the American West. He is a perfect fit for this year’s theme that explores the role of nature in Hemingway’s life and work.”
Bass, a prolific author and the winner of Pushcart prizes, O’Henry awards, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, is the author of such books as “The Book of Yaak,” “Colter” and, most recently, “All the Land to Hold Us.”
As well, a group of Boise State University professors will present a panel discussion of the Festival’s theme, and the program also will feature talks by University of Alaska professor Kevin Maier, College of Idaho professor Scott Knickerbocker and small-group discussions of Hemingway’s story, “Big Two-Hearted River.”
The Festival’s program includes cultural events regarding the rich history, literary heritage and natural vibrancy of the Wood River Valley, including a tour of the Sun Valley Museum of History and of Silver Creek Preserve in Picabo.
Registration for the conference includes the Rick Bass lecture, but there are also separate tickets available for the Rick Bass lecture For more information, visit www.comlib.org or hemingwayfestival@comlib.org.