Annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest begins in Florida Keys

Jul 21, 2022, 5:55 PM | Updated: 6:23 pm

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, "Papa" Hemingway look-alikes help staff of ...

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, "Papa" Hemingway look-alikes help staff of the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital carry "Papa," a 185-pound loggerhead sea turtle, to be released into the Atlantic Ocean off Marathon, Fla., Thursday, July 21, 2022. Named by its rescuer after being found entangled in fishing line, the reptile was treated at the Florida Keys-based hospital and cleared for release on the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway's birth. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

(Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — The annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest began in Key West Thursday, marking the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway’s July 21 birth.

This year’s competition attracted 135 portly, bearded men, who are endeavoring to prove their likeness to the famed American author. The contest is a highlight of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festivities, staged to celebrate the creative talent and colorful lifestyle of the man who lived and wrote on the island for most of the 1930s.

Thursday night’s entrants paraded across the stage at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Hemingway and his cohorts often met for drinks, before a judging panel of former contest winners.

Most had full beards and wore sportsman’s attire, seemingly emulating the “Papa” persona adopted by Hemingway in his later years.

On Thursday morning, a group of look-alikes helped release a 185-pound (83-kilogram) rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle, coincidentally dubbed “Papa” when it was rescued after being entangled in fishing line, off the Florida Keys’ Sombrero Beach in Marathon.

The look-alike contest’s second preliminary round is set for Friday, and the 2022 winner is set to be chosen Saturday night.

Late Wednesday, Nick Henke of St. Louis, Missouri, was named the winner of the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. His entry, “A Lot of Carrefours,” triumphed over 775 other American and international submissions, judged by Ernest Hemingway’s author granddaughter.

Hemingway Days continues through Sunday with events including an offbeat “Running of the Bulls” spoof and the Key West Marlin Tournament.

While living in Key West during most of the 1930s, Hemingway wrote classics including “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “To Have and Have Not.”

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              In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Wayne Collins, left, tries to impress the judges during the first round of the "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest Thursday, July 21, 2022, at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. The competition, that has attracted about 135 entrants, is a part of the subtropical island's annual Hemingway Days festival honoring Ernest Hemingway, who lived and wrote in Key West throughout most of the 1930s. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
            
              In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Tom Gizzard, center, the 2008 winner of the "Papa Hemingway Look-Alike Contest and other previous winners/judges examine contestants during the first round of the 2022 contest Thursday, July 21, 2022, at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. The competition, that has attracted about 135 entrants, is a part of the subtropical island's annual Hemingway Days festival honoring Ernest Hemingway, who lived and wrote in Key West throughout most of the 1930s. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
            
              In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Joe Maxey, the 2019 "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest winner, smashes birthday cake on the face of Zach Taylor, the 2021 winner, on the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway's birthday Thursday, July 21, 2022, at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. The antics preceded the first round of the 2022 Hemingway Look-Alike Contest that is a part of the subtropical island's annual Hemingway Days festival. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
            
              In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, "Papa" Hemingway look-alikes help staff of the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital carry "Papa," a 185-pound loggerhead sea turtle, to be released into the Atlantic Ocean off Marathon, Fla., Thursday, July 21, 2022. Named by its rescuer after being found entangled in fishing line, the reptile was treated at the Florida Keys-based hospital and cleared for release on the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway's birth.   (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

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Annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest begins in Florida Keys