Writer and editor Steve Paul will be the featured speaker at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center's World War I Reading Retreat scheduled for Sept. 7-8 in Piggott.
Paul wrote the book Hemingway at Eighteen, published in 2017, about Hemingway's time as a beginning reporter in Kansas City, Mo., and how it affected Hemingway's writing style: simple, direct words; short sentences; and unadorned prose.
The event, part of the museum's commemoration of the centennial of World War I, will conclude with a screening of the movie A Farewell to Arms, based on Hemingway's 1929 novel, which uses the war as a backdrop, at the site of the original world premiere on the square in Piggott.
Hemingway was once married to a woman from Arkansas and he wrote parts of A Farewell to Arms and some short stories at his wife's family home in Piggott. The property, now called the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, is run by Arkansas State University. The site includes a restored barn studio where Hemingway wrote.
Paul worked for The Kansas City Star before retiring in 2016 to focus on other writing, photography and editing work. His newspaper career included coverage of local news and politics, as well as long-form features on culture, crime and food. He also was a book review editor, architecture writer and editorial page editor.
Retreat attendees will read three books ahead of time for discussion at the two-day event: Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos, The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings, and The Ambulance Drivers by James McGrath Morris.
Registration is $100 per person if made by Aug. 24. After that, a $25 late registration fee is added to the cost. The price includes light refreshments at a coffee house on Sept. 7, meals and snacks on Sept. 8, and all activities and cost of books, which will be sent to participants once registration is complete.
Partial refunds totaling $65 will be made if registration is canceled by Sept. 1. In addition, participants unable to attend the full retreat may register for the Sept. 8 events for $35.
Reservations can be made by calling (870) 598-3487 or emailing [email protected]. Completed registration forms can be mailed to 1021 W. Cherry St., Piggott, AR 72454.
More information is available at https://bit.ly/2MAjZCs
Metro on 08/17/2018