The island city of Key West in the United States was made famous by its former resident, author Ernest Hemingway. The Florida city remembers the famed American every year on his birth anniversary in a unique way — with a Hemingway Look-Alike Contest. This year was no exception and the annual contest marked the 123rd birth anniversary of Ernest Hemingway, who was born on July 21, 1899. The event saw 135 participants, and an attorney was declared the winner Saturday night, news agency Associated Press reported.
The contest had started on Thursday, as part of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festivities, where the 135 portly and bearded men vied with each other to prove their likeliness to the writer, the report said.
Hemingway had lived in Key West for most of the 1930s, and wrote his classics ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘To Have and Have Not’, among others, during those days. The contest celebrates the creative talent of the author who was also known for his colourful lifestyle.
The annual event is organised at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Hemingway was said to have been a regular patron during his stay in Key West.
What Happens At Annual Hemingway Days In Key West
Besides the look-alike contest, the Hemingway Days festivities include a short story competition, an offbeat “Running of the Bulls” spoof, and the Key West Marlin Tournament, according to AP.
Nick Henke of St. Louis, Missouri, won the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition for his entry, ‘A Lot of Carrefours’. The contest saw over 775 other American and international submissions, AP said in a previous report.
The look-alike contest that started on Thursday saw men flocking to the venue dressed in fisherman’s sweaters or sportsmen’s attire. After a second preliminary round on Friday, the 2022 winner was chosen on Saturday night.
Judges picked Jon Auvil, who works as an attorney, for the title for the most resembling Hemingway, the AP report said Monday.
Auvil was quoted as saying that he shares the author’s passion for fishing, and has written some fiction too. “Every man wants to write like Hemingway,” he said.
The Hemingway Days festivities concluded on Sunday.