42nd annual Key West Literary Seminar — "Family"

The Key West Literary Seminar is a four-day literary celebration in a historic island city.

Each year we focus on a specific literary theme and build it out into a four-day festival of ideas. In 2025, we'll explore family, with a roster of celebrated authors including John Irving and Andre Dubus III. They'll discuss how a subject that has anchored literature since antiquity continues to enlighten, entertain, and outrage modern readers.

What links the stories of Adam and Eve, Odysseus and Penelope, and modern-day classics like Irving's World According to Garp and Dubus III's House of Sand and Fog? These and so many other great works are, at their heart, all about family.

At this year's Seminar, you'll also hear from Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Harding, whose Booker Prize-nominated novel This Other Eden is inspired by the true story of Malaga Island, an isolated enclave that became one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast. Bestselling author Nathan Hill will discuss his hilarious novel Wellness, which mines the absurdities of contemporary coupledom and has been praised as a "masterpiece" by NPR. Barbara Rae-Venter will share insights from her Edgar Award-winning book I Know Who You Are, which details her breakthrough use of Investigative Genetic Genealogy in solving cold cases including the Golden State Killer. Two-time Jewish Book Award winner Dani Shapiro will discuss her own staggering family secret, which inspired her to create the hit podcast Family Secrets. And acclaimed graphic artist Edel Rodriguez, known for his boldly satirical covers for TIME magazine, will discuss Worm, the graphic memoir of his family's flight from Cuba to America on the Mariel boatlift.

These and many more authors will be featured during the four-day Seminar, starting around sunset on January 9, 2025. When you register by November 15, you'll receive complete access to all onstage events; our lavish opening night reception, a farewell luncheon on the final day of the Seminar, and daily coffee service throughout; plus discounted rates at our partner hotels.

And that's not all — stay tuned for announcements about film screenings, our special musical guests, and the final additions to our roster of distinguished authors.

F eatured Authors Include:

• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Kristen Arnett
• Billy Collins
• S.A. Cosby
• Andre Dubus III
• Paul Harding
• Nathan Hill
• John Irving
• Jean Hanff Korelitz
• Victor LaValle
• Malinda Lo
• Ayana Mathis
• David McConnell
• Lydia Millet
• Rowan Ricardo Phillips
• Emily Raboteau
• Barbara Rae-Venter
• Edel Rodriguez
• Dani Shapiro
• Brando Skyhorse

Register before November 15 to receive the following value-added package.

• Access to all onstage events and signings ($825)
• Discounted rates at Partner Hotels, while supplies last ($200+)
• Food & Beverage Package: includes opening night reception, farewell lunch, & daily coffee service ($225)
• 20% off bicycle rentals with We-Cycle
• 20% off sunset sails aboard Argo Navis

Host or Publisher Key West Literary Seminar