Key West Literary Seminar

Books & Books @ The Studios of Key West is pleased to serve as the official bookstore of the Key West Literary Seminar. This year’s theme celebrates and interrogates the many meanings of the word “family,” and, as always, brings a stellar line up of writers to speak on the topic. Check the schedule for Sunday sessions open to the public, and learn more about the Seminar on their website.

Here are a few books by some of the authors attending (check the Seminar’s website for the full list of authors) to whet your appetite:

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Wellness by Nathan Hill. Read Judy Blume’s Sept. 2023 review of Wellness.

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby. Read Lori’s Oct. 2023 review of All the Sinners Bleed.

Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett. Read Robin’s 2019 review of Mostly Dead Things and look for Arnett’s new book, Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, out March 18.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

We Loved It All: A Memory of Life by Lydia Millet

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

Aimless Love by Billy Collins

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw (West Virginia University Press), picked by bookseller Lori

Bookseller Lori read a lot of books for the upcoming Key West Literary Seminar, Singing America: A Celebration of Black Literature, for which she is serving this year as chairperson, and one of the standouts was The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw.

Lori writes, “This book explores the passions, vulnerabilities, sensuality and raw emotions of four generations of black women who want – and desperately need- to be so much more than ‘good’ church women all their lives. It’s raw and very relatable to a former church girl like me.”

The award-winning collection is also currently in development for TV by HBO Max.