Category: News

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center will sponsor its Fourth Annual Short Story Contest. This is a state-wide competition open to all undergraduate students currently enrolled in an Arkansas college or university, regardless of major. The only stipulations are that the submitted material must be an unpublished fictional short story on any subject matter no more than 2500 words in length. All submissions are due to the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum no later than April 3, 2017. Winners will be notified by May 1. They will receive a free spot in this June’s Writers’ Retreat and will be invited to give a public reading at the museum.

This year’s contest will be judged by Andrea Hollander, the author of four full-length poetry collections: Landscape with Female Figure: New & Selected Poems, a finalist for the Oregon Book Award; Woman in the Painting; The Other Life; and House Without a Dreamer, which won the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Other honors include an Oregon Literary Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes (in poetry and prose memoir), the D. H. Lawrence Fellowship, the Runes Poetry Prize, two poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and two from the Arkansas Arts Council. Her poems and essays have appeared in numerous anthologies, college textbooks, and literary journals. For twenty-two years she served as the Writer-in-Residence at Lyon College, where she was awarded the Lamar Williamson Prize for Excellence in Teaching. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she teaches workshops at the Attic Institute and Mountain Writers Series.

Students interested in the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Short Story Contest should contact the museum.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum & Educational Center is taking a very unique trip to Cuba in May 2017. This Friends of the Pfeiffers trip will follow Hemingway’s footsteps from his novel Islands in the Stream. This small, guided trip is open to the public and will visit the beautiful and virgin cayos (keys) along pristine central coast, along with sites associated with Hemingway’s time in Cuba and other traditional sites in Havana.

Ernest Hemingway lived in Cuba for 21 years. He wrote The Old Man and the Sea (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize) at the home he called Finca Vigía or “lookout farm,” which is located nine miles outside of Havana.

This 8-day/7-night trip will have two exciting parts. First, we will travel to Havana to enjoy the art, music, dance and architecture of the city. Travelers will enjoy a private reception with the Curator of Finca Vigía, explore Old Havana (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and see the amazing architecture in Central Havana. We will stop at many of Hemingway’s favorite places: Hotel Ambos Mundos, La Bodeguita del Medio, El Floridita, and Sloppy Joe’s. In addition to sites specifically associated with Hemingway, travelers will also get to enjoy some of the Cuban classics: a visit to the Rum Museum, a ride in a classic American car, and a visit to a cigar factory. Part two will be an amazing exploration of the keys off the central coast, Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, which provided the backdrop for Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream. Guests will have an opportunity to interact with the locals for optional activities including fishing, diving, snorkeling, hiking, bird watching, or just exchanging ideas with other Hemingway lovers.

This is the museum’s second trip to Cuba. Thirty-four travelers from ten states joined the museum for a trip in 2014. To register for the trip, or to get pricing or other information, contact the museum.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum & Educational Center recently held a Writing Retreat for Military Veterans. This weekend retreat was funded through a partnership with the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over the course of the weekend, nine talented writers came together to hone their skills and to form a community in Northeast Arkansas at the site where Ernest Hemingway penned much of his iconic war novel A Farewell to Arms.

Dr. Rob Lamm of Arkansas State University served as mentor for the retreat. Lamm, a mentor at other retreats at HPMEC, said, “These are very special people–veterans from many branches of service who share a love of literature. Ernest Hemingway would have been impressed by their writing talents. Even more, he would admire their courage as some chose to revisit the drama and trauma of their experiences by writing memoirs, fiction, and poetry.” Lamm continued, “Courage was the unstated yet ever-present theme of the Retreat. Some writers recalled battles that we associate with war. Others wrote of battles for social acceptance and struggles with personal demons.”

Writers began each day with exercises to get them started, often looking at samples of Hemingway’s writing as models for their own. They enjoyed lunch together at the Educational Center and ended the afternoon with a group meeting to reflect, share, and discuss the processes used by each writer. Between formal meetings, the writers had time to work individually, often in the same rooms where Hemingway wrote. The format allowed writers time to focus on their own creative interests, to receive feedback on their work, and to form relationships with other writers.

Writers’ Retreats for general audiences are held twice annually at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott. The next retreat is scheduled for Nov. 7-11, 2016, with Andrea Hollander of Portland, OR, serving as mentor. Click here for more information.

Earlier this month, a new version of Hemingway’s 1935 Green Hills of Africa was released in celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the book.  Green Hills of Africa is Hemingway’s semi-autobiographical account of his 1933-34 safari.  His wife Pauline accompanied him on this safari.  In fact, Pauline’s uncle Gus Pfeiffer funded it.

The new edition, edited by Ernest’s grandson Sean, features an appendix of documents which give context to the book itself.  Among these is Pauline’s previously unpublished journal from the African trip.  This is a rare example of Pauline’s writing in print and will be of great interest to those wanting to know more about Pauline and her relationship with Ernest.

To learn more, read the full story here.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum & Educational Center recently held a Writing Retreat for Military Veterans. This weekend retreat was funded through a partnership with the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over the course of the weekend, thirteen talented writers came together to hone their skills and to form a community in Northeast Arkansas at the site where Ernest Hemingway penned much of his iconic war novel A Farewell to Arms.

Dr. Rob Lamm of Arkansas State University served as mentor for the retreat. Lamm, a mentor at other retreats at HPMEC, said, “This was our first retreat attended exclusively by veterans.” He continued, “All of the writers had works in progress, so some chose to continue those works. Many wrote on their experiences in the service: boot camp, deployments (including Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay), and missions almost anywhere in the world. Others were interested in other creative genres.” Asked what he took away from the retreat, Lamm replied, “I learned about experiences unique to those who have served their country and sometimes risked their lives doing so. I shared the synergy of the group as we inspired each other to write better and more.”

Writers began each day with exercises to get them started, often looking at samples of Hemingway’s writing as models for their own. They enjoyed lunch together at the Educational Center and ended the afternoon with a group meeting to reflect, share, and discuss the processes used by each writer. Between formal meetings, the writers had time to work individually, often in the same rooms where Hemingway wrote. The format allowed writers time to focus on their own creative interests, to receive feedback on their work, and to form relationships with other writers.

Writers’ Retreats for general audiences are held twice annually at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott. The next retreat is scheduled for Nov. 2-6, 2015, with Pat Carr of Fayetteville serving as mentor. This is the museum’s first retreat specifically for military veterans, though they are looking into the possibility of having another in the future. Click here for more information.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum announced a new policy for professional photographers this week. Professional photographers are asked to contact the museum to take photos during regular business hours, Monday-Saturday from 9-5. Professional photographers taking pictures during business hours may be subject to a fee. The grounds remain free and open to professional photographers outside of business hours.

Of the new policy, museum director Adam Long says, “Thanks to all those in the community who take pride in this house and want to use it as a background for photos. We hope you’ll keep doing so. We also want to make sure our guests on tours have an uninterrupted experience and leave Piggott with the best impression. To make this possible, we hope you’ll join us in making sure we are being conscientious during business hours.”

Please contact us with questions about the policy.