Finding Ernest Annual Hemingway Weekend returns to Petoskey
By Kristi Kates 9/28/09
Plenty of local places in Petoskey and Northern Michigan are often noted as “Hemingway hangouts,” including a rooming house that Hemingway stayed in in 1919 at 602 State Street in Petoskey; the Perry Hotel, also in Petoskey; the Sturgeon and Pigeon Rivers, where Hemingway is said to have fished; the Windemere cottage on Walloon Lake; the Harbor Springs Train Station; and several locations in Horton Bay, including the Red Fox Inn and the Horton Bay General Store. A variety of websites offer resources and links with directions to many of these Michigan sites. But perhaps the best way to connect with this local favorite and legendary author is via The Michigan Hemingway Society and its Hemingway Weekend, happening October 16 through the 18th in Petoskey.
NATIONAL ATTENDEES The Hemingway Weekend is an “outgrowth of Hemingway-themed weekends sponsored by the Perry Hotel in Petoskey,” according to Michigan Hemingway Society President Mike Federspiel, and it is, in turn, an enjoyable product of the MHS. “A group of regular attendees decided it would be appropriate for there to be a more formal group, and the MHS was born in the early 1990s,” he explains. “Since then, we have hosted an annual conference focused on a Hemingway related theme, and supported state-wide initiatives, including the Great Michigan Read program when it chose Hemingway’s The Nick Adams Stories in 2007.” With the MHS goal to create an awareness of and appreciation for the work of author Ernest Hemingway – long known for his many connections to the Northern Michigan region – The special annual conference draws participants from all over the country. This year’s Hemingway Weekend, set to take place at the Odawa Casino Resort, also in Petoskey, offers a range of lectures and activities for Hemingway aficionados, something like the famed Key West Hemingway event (held on Hemingway’s birthday in July), but unique in its Michigan location and Hemingway association. “I have never attended the Key West event,” Federspiel says, “but I can say that the Michigan event focuses on Michigan – both Hemingway’s personal experiences here and his stories that are set here. Unlike other Hemingway festivals or events, the Michigan one is able to take advantage of places described in Hemingway stories; most of the Nick Adams stories were set here, as were other short stories and his novel The Torrents of Spring.”
ACCLAIMED SPEAKERS Attendees must register for the full weekend in order to attend the events, but there are plenty of deals available through the Odawa Resort, and plenty of things that will draw Hemingway fans to the conference. This year’s theme is “Hemingway and Art.” During his lifetime, Hemingway reportedly acquired key paintings by a variety of twentieth-century artists, from Miro and Klee to Braque and Masson; the works he collected were often from painters he personally knew from Paris, Spain, and Cuba, according to accounts by Colette C. Hemingway, wife of Hemingway’s grandson, Seán. Colette Hemingway will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Hemingway weekend, in which she’ll discuss the art and Hemingway’s relationships with the artists themselves. Seán Hemingway will also be speaking at the event. He has edited a restored version of A Moveable Feast as his grandfather had prepared it; he’ll discuss the book and will be available for autographs at McLean and Eakin Booksellers of Petoskey, on Saturday afternoon. Northern Michigan artist Jerry Gates will speak from his perspective on what might have attracted Hemingway to the world of painting and his interpretations of the meaning behind Hemingway’s own art; and scholar and Hemingway nephew John Sanford will share his knowledge of grandmother Grace Hall Hemingway’s paintings.
PHOTOS AND HONORS In addition to these speakers, a photo exhibition that allows conference attendees to exhibit their own Hemingway-related photographs will take place (photo ops will also be available throughout the weekend at local Hemingway-related sites) and bookseller Steve Ruebelman will offer Hemingway-related books and magazines for sale, as well as his insight into collecting Hemingway first editions. “There will be opportunities for tours, as well,” Federspiel says. The Hemingway Weekend–and the Michigan Hemingway Society–have garnered such acclaim, they may also be in line for a special Hemingway honor that could be announced next year. “At the 2010 International Hemingway Society conference in Europe, the site for 2012 will be chosen and announced,” says Federspiel. “The Michigan Hemingway Society has submitted a proposal that was well received. We anticipate we will be chosen, but it is not official yet. If we are, over 200 Hemingway scholars and enthusiasts from around the world will gather in Michigan in June 2012 to have academic sessions and tours to Hemingway associated sites.”
The 2009 Hemingway Weekend will take place October 16 through the 18th at the Odawa Casino Resort in Petoskey, with special room rates available from Thursday, October 15 to Monday, October 19, so that participants may arrive early or stay late to “enjoy Hemingway country.” Call 1-877-442-6464 and mention the Michigan Hemingway Society for the special conference rate. Tickets to the conference may be purchased at www.michiganhemingwaysociety.org.
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