This mini-course meets over four sessions: 1/3, 1/10, 1/17, and 1/24.
The first two weeks with Kathleen Dixon Donnelly explore the summer of 1923 and two important writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Although Fitzgerald and Hemingway had not yet met in the summer of 1923, their common literary friendships would affect their future careers and personal lives. The many writers and artists who were “such friends” in America and Europe during the 1920s influenced each other.
Weeks three and four with David Walton tracks the emergence of Ernest Hemingway’s distinctive prose and narrative style in half a dozen stories from his first collection, published in 1923 and 1925. The framework will be Hemingway’s formative experiences and friendships, and our focus will be on how these influences shaped his literary character.