STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Ernest Hemingway received a can’t-resist offer from Union Pacific in 1939:
Come to Sun Valley and let us take pictures of you to show the world the great time you’re having at Sun Valley Resort. And everything is on the house!
Hemingway, who was already famous for “The Sun Also Rises” and “A Farewell to Arms,” brought himself and his brood--his 9-year-old son Gregory famously charged more than $600 in one month.
And Papa labored over another seminal novel, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” while staying in Room 206 of the Sun Valley Lodge.
Hemingway Seminar 2019 will celebrate that history surrounding that seminal text, which explores love, loss, ideals and the human connection through the story of Robert Jordan as he and his Republican comrades as fight fascists near Segovia, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War.
And it will explore the local and regional connection to it Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 5-7, at Ketchum’s Community Library.
Guests include speakers from Boise State University, the JFK library in Boston, University of Utah and Hendrix College, said Martha Williams, the library’s new program director.
They will offer insights through lectures and discussions that will be augmented by film screenings and conversation over paella.
“Ernest Hemingway is himself a truly monumental figure,” said Williams. “His stories and personal life have captured the imaginations of generations around the world. Here in the Wood River Valley we have a special connection—to both this novel and its author. He worked on ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ while staying at the Sun Valley Lodge 80 years ago next month, and he and his wife Mary purchased his final home in Ketchum in 1959, two years before his death.”
Thursday, September 5
1:00-4:00 p.m. – Preconference Workshop, “Writing Like Hemingway” with Dr. Clyde Moneyhun (This workshop is SOLD OUT but Martha Williams at mwilliams@comlib.org is keeping a waitlist.)
5:00-6:00 p.m. – Opening Reception and Registration/Check-in (John A. and Carol O. Moran Lecture Hall)
6:00-7:30 p.m. – Opening remarks and Presentation by Dr. Hilary Justice of the Hemingway Archive, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Friday, September 6
10:00-11:30 a.m. – Boise State University (BSU) Panel Discussion on the Historical and Literary Context of the Spanish Civil War with Dr. Joanne Klein, Dr. Stacey Guill, and Dr. Clyde Moneyhun
11:30-11:45 a.m. – Break & BSU Student Poster Presentations
11:45-12:30 p.m. – Presentation on Hemingway and the Basque Country by Inaki Sagarna, The
Community Library Center for Regional History Hemingway Fellow
12:30-2:00 p.m. – Lunch on Your Own
2:00-3:30 p.m. – Book Discussion Groups (Led by Dr. Clyde Moneyhun of BSU, Brady Udall of BSU, Mitch Wieland of BSU, Phil Huss of The Community School, and Dr. Jenny Emery Davidson of The Community Library)
3:30-3:45 p.m. – Break & BSU Student Poster Presentations
3:45-4:15 p.m. – Introduction to The Spanish Earth film by Dr. Bill Siska, Professor Emeritus, Film & Media Arts, University of Utah
4:15-6:00 p.m. – Screening of The Spanish Earth
Saturday, September 7
10:00-10:30 a.m. – Review and Discussion of The Spanish Earth with Dr. Stacey Guill of BSU
10:30-11:30 a.m. – Conversation with Spanish artist Pilar Pobil (with Rob Wilson of Rowland Hall). Pobil will discuss her art and growing up during the Spanish Civil War
11:30-11:45 a.m. – Break & BSU Student Poster Presentations
11:45-12:30 a.m. – Overview of the new Hemingway Walking Tour TravelStorys App with Mary Tyson, Director of The Community Library Center for Regional History
12:30 -2:00 a.m. – Lunch on Your Own
2:00-3:30 p.m. – Lecture by Dr. Alex Vernon, Julia Mobley Odyssey Professor of English, Hendrix College
3:30-3:45 p.m. – Break
3:45-4:15 p.m. – Reading from the 2016 Spanish Civil War novel, El brigadista, authored by Catalan novelist Jordi Cantavella, presented by Dr. Clyde Moneyhun of BSU
4:15-4:30 p.m. – Closing remarks
4:30-6:00 p.m. – Closing reception with Basque paella
The conference fee is $75. To register visit www.comlib.org.