HPMEC Sets Dates for ‘Green Hills of Africa’ Reading Retreat
PIGGOTT — A Green Hills of Africa weekend retreat that offers a chance to explore writings about Africa by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway and his contemporaries is set for Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center (HPMEC) in Piggott.
Upon registration, participants will receive copies of three novels to read at their convenience. The titles include Hemingway’s Green Hills of Africa (including wife Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway’s African journal), Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa and Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between. The three novels focus on the Hemingways’ two-month 1933-34 safari near Nairobi, Kenya.
The Green Hills of Africa and Pauline’s journal include photographs, illustrations, early drafts and deleted passages. It captures Ernest’s fascination with big-game hunting. Out of Africa is a contemporary memoir providing an account of author Dinesen’s life in Kenya, andThe River Between is a novel about the clash of cultures in Kenya.
After reading the novels, participants will come together at the museum for a weekend of meaningful discussion and fun activities.
Discussion about the books will be led by experts in the field. In addition to these discussions, there will be a film screening of 1985’s Out of Africa, starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The weekend concludes with a safari-themed cocktail party on Saturday evening.
The cost of the retreat is $100, which includes copies of the three books, meals throughout the weekend and a ticket to the party. For more information about the retreat, including the full schedule, contact the museum at 870-598-3487 or email adamlong@AState.edu.
HPMEC is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site at 1021 W. Cherry Street, Piggott. Tours are on the hour Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
