The Letters of Ernest Hemingway

FAIN: RQ-300209-24

Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA 16802-1503)
Sandra W. Spanier (Project Director: November 2023 to present)

Preparation for publication of volumes 7, 8, and 9 of a scholarly edition of the letters of American author Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) in print and online. (36 months)

The Letters of Ernest Hemingway is a comprehensive scholarly edition of the more than 6,000 surviving letters of Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), 85% previously unpublished, planned for 17 volumes. A 1954 Nobel Laureate, Hemingway made a profound impact on modern prose and still commands enormous popular and scholarly interest worldwide. The letters afford new insights into the life and work of this most influential American writer and narrate a running eyewitness history of the 20th century. With prior NEH support, Volumes 1-6 (1907-June 1936) have been published by Cambridge University Press (2011-2024). An electronic edition was launched in 2020: Vols. 1-5 (originally print only) were issued in digital form, and all subsequent volumes will be published simultaneously in print and electronically. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2046. We are requesting 3-year funding to publish Vol. 7, submit Vol. 8, and begin work on Vol. 9, together spanning July 1936 through 1943.

Media Coverage

Hemingway, After the Hurricane (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Verna Kale
Publication: The Conversation
Date: 10/18/2024
Abstract: Verna Kale's article about Hemingway's reaction to the devastating 1935 Labor Day Hurricane that hit Key West and surrounding areas for The Conversation. Also picked up and run by several other online media outlets, including Yahoo! News
URL: https://theconversation.com/hemingway-after-the-hurricane-241103

Episode 648: Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls (with Alex Vernon) / My Last Book with Sandra Spanier (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Sandra Spanier, Alex Vernon
Publication: The History of Literature Podcast
Date: 11/4/2024
Abstract: Podcast episode featuring an interview with Volume 7 co-editor Alex Vernon about Hemingway and For Whom the Bell Tolls as the first segment, and an interview with Sandra Spanier in a recurring feature of the podcast as the second segment
URL: https://www.historyofliterature.com/648-hemingways-for-whom-the-bell-tolls-with-alex-vernon-my-last-book-with-sandra-spanier/

A Farewell to Copyright Protection for Hemingway, Hammett – and Popeye (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: The Marketplace Morning Report from NPR
Date: 12/25/2024
Abstract: News segment on NPR's "The Marketplace Morning Report" about lapsing copyright protections for certain artists, including Hemingway and his The Sun Also Rises, featuring a short interview with Verna Kale
URL: https://www.marketplace.org/2024/12/25/public-domain-2025-heminway-farewell-to-arms-popeye/

El Nacimiento de "Fiesta": Los Dias Olvidados de Hemingway en Valencia (The Birth of "The Sun Also Rises": Hemingway's Forgotten Days in Valencia (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Scanlon, Eoin
Publication: Levante-EMV (El Mercantil Valenciano) (Spanish newspaper)
Date: 7/21/2025
Abstract: About the 100th anniversary of the writing of The Sun Also Rises; includes interviews with Sandra Spanier and Verna Kale
URL: http://www.levante-emv.com/cultura/2025/07/21/hemingway-en-valencia-nacimiento-fiesta-dias-olvidados-hemingway-119827376.html

Remembering the Last--And Perhaps Favorite--of Ernest Hemingway's Sons (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Putnam, Tom
Publication: WBUR (NPR Boston news website)
Date: 10/30/2025
Abstract: Memorial piece about recent death of Patrick Hemingway (1928-2025), the last surviving son of the author. Quotes Sandra Spanier on Patrick Hemingway.
URL: http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2025/10/30/ernest-hemingway-patrick-hemingway-pen-hemingway-award-tom-putnam

A Tribute to Patrick Hemingway with Sandra Spanier (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Interview with Mark Cirino and Michael Von Cannon
Publication: One True Podcast
Date: 9/10/2025
Abstract: from website: At One True Podcast we were sad to hear of the death of Patrick Hemingway, the middle son of Ernest, who died on September 2, 2025. Patrick Hemingway (1928-2025) lived a life that was truly Hemingwayesque: traveling like his father, living much of his life in Africa, hunting and fishing, and determined to maintain the legacy of his father’s literary work. We invited Sandra Spanier, General Editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, to share her memories of Patrick, including his contributions to the Letters Project, her visits with him, and a poignant interview with Patrick that was conducted just a few months ago. Our episode closes with a soundbite from that June 2025 interview.
URL: http://www.hemingwaysociety.org/tribute-patrick-hemingway-sandra-spanier

Jolly Old (Media Coverage)
Author(s): D.K. Higgins
Publication: State College Magazine (State College, PA)
Date: 10/1/2025
Abstract: Interview with Sandra Spanier about the career and legacy of Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) and her experiences with Gellhorn, writer and journalist who did not wish to be remembered as Hemingway's third wife. Spanier edited Gellhorn's and Virginia Cowles's 1946 World War II play Love Goes to Press, published for the first time in 1995 (revised ed. 2002); Gellhorn contributed an introduction and Spanier contributed an Afterword. The play was produced off-Broadway at the Mint Theater in 2012.
URL: http://www.statecollegemagazine.com/articles/jolly-old/

J. Gerald Kennedy and Valerie Hemingway on the 1957-1961 Letters (Media Coverage)
Publication: One True Podcast
Date: 10/9/2025
Abstract: Although Hemingway’s correspondence from 1957-1961 won’t be officially published for another couple of decades, the co-editors of the last volume of the Hemingway letters – J. Gerald Kennedy and Michael Von Cannon – along with their advisory editor, Valerie Hemingway, share insights about their work that covers Hemingway’s final days. We learn what was occupying Hemingway’s mind, his most frequent correspondents, the writing that consumed him, and how this last volume might reveal some of the health and psychological issues that plagued his later years.
URL: http://www.hemingwaysociety.org/j-gerald-kennedy-and-valerie-hemingway-1957-1961-letters

Remembering Patrick Hemingway (28 June 1928-2 September 2025) (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Spanier, Sandra
Publication: The Hemingway Review
Date: 11/15/2025
Abstract: Tribute to Patrick Hemingway, who originally conceived of and authorized the comprehensive scholarly edition of his father's collected letters. He was unfailingly supportive of the Hemingway Letters Project, generously answering questions and offering insights in multiple interviews with General Editor Sandra Spanier between 2004 and 2025.
URL: http://x.doi.org/10.1353/hem.2025.a975282

EH-EH: Ernest Hemingway and Euskal Herria / The Basque Country. 20th Biennial International Hemingway Conference (Media Coverage)
Author(s): White, Frederick H.
Publication: Literature of the Americas (Russian academic journal)
Date: 12/25/2024
Abstract: Article about 20th Biennial International Hemingway Conference held July 2024 in San Sebastian and Bilbao, Spain, reporting that "much attention was given to the three panels of the Hemingway Letters Project," which is "currently considered the leading (and most ambitious) academic endeavor of Hemingway scholarship. . . . The closing session was offered by Valerie Hemingway [an advisory editor to the Hemingway Letters Project], who worked as a secretary for the American author and is now one of the last people able to give a first-hand account of Hemingway’s life and literary works."
URL: http://litda.ru/images/2024-17/18-White.pdf