Key West Literary Seminar

10/07/2026

Happy to have you here Writer Cassandra Lewis and thanks for the kind words!

09/25/2026

The Elizabeth Bishop House has been FULL of young writers lately! Last week, we worked with local high school seniors to help them craft strong college admissions essays. This week, students from CFK Academy and Somerset Island Prep visited to learn about Elizabeth Bishop and her work in Key West. They also found inspiration in our garden to write their own versions of Bishop’s famous poem, “Florida.”

09/23/2026

John Padget was a huge force for good in our community. He will be dearly missed. May his good works live long and continue to benefit many.

With deep sadness, the Monroe County Education Foundation shares the passing of our former President, John R. Padget, on September 22, 2026, at age 89.

John was a tireless champion of students. As Superintendent of Monroe County Schools, Vice-Chair of the Florida State Board of Education, and a steadfast supporter of Take Stock in Children, he helped countless young people in the Keys build brighter futures.

We are grateful for his generosity, his vision, and his belief in what every student can become. Our thoughts are with all who loved him.

09/22/2026

Calling all readers: A new workshop with Pádraig Ó Tuama!

Irish writer Pádraig Ó Tuama is perhaps best known as host of the Poetry Unbound podcast, which has become beloved by readers around the world for its close and immersive readings of a single poem. Episodes draw on Ó Tuama's considerable insights as a theologian (he is professor at Yale Divinity School), his deep interests in issues of conflict and power (he is in residence at Columbia University's Conflict Resolution Center), and illuminate the layers of meaning and significance in single, short works by contemporary and classic authors.

We're thrilled to have Ó Tuama join the faculty for our Workshop Program this January with a unique offering that aims to teach participants not how to write, but rather, how to read. This Readers' Workshop is for anyone who is interested in paying close attention to single, small works of literature to better grasp the powers that they hold.

The workshop will take place January 4–7, 2027. Class size will be limited to 12 and additional details will be announced soon.

09/16/2026

Farewell to one of the greats. Annie Dillard was a longtime ally of the Seminar, a champion of young writers, and among the most powerful and clarifying voices of our time. She was also a good volleyball player, a fine painter, and a dear friend.

Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.

09/14/2026

In Key West, Florida, the entrance gate to a crisp white house with distinctive green shutters holds a plaque designating it a literary landmark, and for good reason: Acclaimed poet Elizabeth Bishop owned the property from 1938 to 1946.

Recently the Elizabeth Bishop House & Garden, built in 1889 and one of the few remaining vernacular eyebrow houses in Key West, was restored to the period of her residence.

“It was 50 years old already when Bishop bought it,” says Arlo Haskell, executive director of the Key West Literary Seminar, a nonprofit that acquired the home in 2019. “So we tried to capture that period of her ownership and keep the modifications she had made and get rid of anything that came after.”

Supported through a capital campaign that has raised $3.8 million for the building’s purchase, restoration, and maintenance, the project included restoring windows and louvered shutters, the two porches, and the house’s color palette.

The poet described its hues in her writing, including the dark green shutters and floors and the “heavenly pale blue” tongue-and-groove ceilings of the rear porch (above), which she added. “So much of what we have done here is rooted in Bishop’s writings about the house,” Haskell says.

This includes the garden, which is open to the public five days a week. The house serves as the nonprofit’s headquarters and will also be used for exhibitions, tours, and events that meet its mission of preserving local literary history. “It is an opportunity to see Key West through the eyes of Bishop,” Haskell says. “And to understand Bishop’s work in the context of Key West.”

Photo by Mark Hedden

09/11/2026

Key West this January: don't miss it. The 44th annual Seminar will gather some of the most celebrated poets of our time, along with translators, biographers, editors, and publishers who are building American literary culture before our eyes.

With Paul Muldoon, Natalie Diaz, Kevin Young, Patricia Smith, Billy Collins, Marie Howe, Danez Smith, Emily Wilson, and many more.

All in one place, under the sun on an island city with one of the richest literary heritages in the world. January 7–10, 2027. Registration is open now.

Join this once-in-a-lifetime weekend of mind-opening talks, readings, interviews, and lectures — plus films, exhibitions, and tours of the historic Elizabeth Bishop House & Garden.

08/14/2026

We recently spied a Short-tailed Hawk, one of the rarest birds in North America, taking a leisurely bath in the fountain at the Elizabeth Bishop Garden. Mark Hedden's latest column for Keys Weekly tells all about this unusual raptor, and the evidence that they are nesting in the Florida Keys.

Kids scream, and by kids I mean fledgling hawks trying to get their parents to feed them. And by scream I mean make a noise that sounds a lot like

08/06/2026

More national attention this week on our award-winning restoration of the Elizabeth Bishop House, where the celebrated poet lived and wrote in the 1930s and 1940s. Thank you to the National Trust for Historic Preservation for this spotlight, and to writer Joann Plockova and photographer Mark Hedden for telling this story. Unending gratitude to our preservation team: architect David Salay of Bender & Associates Architects; contractor Egan Built Inc.; and Craig Reynolds Landscape Architects. And deep appreciation to all those who are working to save the historic places that tell a full American story.

In Key West, Florida, the home of acclaimed poet Elizabeth Bishop now looks as it did when she lived there.

05/28/2026

Thank you to the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, Inc. for honoring our restoration of the Elizabeth Bishop House with a 2026 Preservation Award. The Bishop Garden is now open to the public, weekdays from 10–3, as a quiet place for private reading and reflection. This summer, the House & Garden will be the main campus for our Young Writers Studio. And this fall, we'll host regular field trips and learning expeditions for local students.

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation has announced Key West Literary Seminar’s Elizabeth Bishop House & Garden as a winner of its 2026 Florida Preservation Award.