Moscow to host fourth annual Hemingway Festival — Hemingway Festival celebrates more than literature

Slated to begin next week, the Hemingway Festival will bring students and community members together to celebrate both literature and Idaho heritage.

The University of Idaho will sponsor the fourth annual Hemingway Festival in downtown Moscow Sept. 4-6. UI will partner with local businesses and high schools to bring this three-day festival to the community.

Most of the events are free and open to the public, according to Molly McBride, assistant events coordinator.

“It has a really wide range of events that target different generations,” she said. “And you know, it all kind of goes back to Hemingway’s legacy and what he did for writing.”

Brandon Schrand, director of the Hemingway Festival, said one of the cool things about the festival is they get to bring in rising stars and put them in touch with high school students.

Teju Cole, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction, will speak on Thursday.

“These writers that win this prize go on to be very, very successful,” Schrand said. “Winning the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize–those sorts of accolades.”

Cole was born to Nigerian parents in the United States and raised in Nigeria. He is the author of two books, with his novel “Open City” winning the PEN/Hemingway Award. He will host an open reading from his novel on Sep. 4 at 7:30 at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center.

UI has been involved with the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society since the early 1990s when the first issue of The Hemingway Review was published by the English department, according to the university website. The festival used to be held in Sun Valley, but it moved to Moscow because of financial difficulties.

“It made sense (to move it here),” Schrand said. “We have this partnership and we have the review.”

Schrand said that this festival is not only a celebration of Hemingway, but also a celebration of what Hemingway loved — Idaho.

“A lot of people who live in Idaho, even if they don’t read Hemingway, they certainly share a lot of his loves,” he said. “Love of the outdoors, love of fishing, hunting  — he lived a very big lifestyle. This celebrating his love for Idaho reminds us why we love Idaho.”

Kaitlin Moroney can be reached at [email protected]

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