Within The Nick Adams Stories readers can discover the profound influence Michigan’s northern woods had on a young Ernest Hemingway, and an exhibit at the Lorenzo Cultural Center in Clinton Township, May 21-23 and May 28-June 1, explores that connection through photos, letters and other artifacts in support of a statewide initiative.  

Up North with the Hemingways chronicles the author’s experiences at the family cottage on Walloon Lake, near Petoskey, where he hunted, fished and, of course, wrote, over the course of 22 summers. The exhibit is sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council in partnership with the Macomb County Library and the cultural center.  Visitors will view, among other things, family photographs seen by the public for the first time, an unpublished handwritten story Hemingway wrote in high school and a postcard he sent to his father in 1919 that inspired his famous short story Big Two Hearted River. The exhibit also features Ernest Hemingway: A Life in Michigan, a 30-minute documentary that will run continuously.

Visiting 28 communities before its run ends this summer, Up North with the Hemingways is a companion piece to the humanities council’s The Great Michigan Read.  Read is a yearlong effort being undertaken with the help of many cultural organizations and libraries to encourage Michiganians to rediscover literature by collectively picking up a copy of The Nick Adams Stories, considered by many to be an American classic. The nearly autobiographical coming-of-age account, featuring WWI Italy as well as Michigan’s northern woods, was written by Hemingway as a series of short stories that were published as a collection for the first time after his death.   

Up North with the Hemingways will be on exhibit at the Lorenzo Cultural Center on Macomb Community College’s Center Campus, Hall and Garfield roads in Clinton Township, through June 1.  The cultural center will be open Wednesday-Friday, May 21-23, and Wednesday-Saturday, May 28-31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sunday, June 1, from 1 to 4 p.m.  For more information on the Up North with the Hemingways exhibit, visit www.lorenzoculturalcenter.com.  For more information on The Great Michigan Read including a list of libraries offering related programming, visit www.greatmichiganread.org.    

The Lorenzo Cultural Center, Macomb County’s place for discovery, explores the influences and experiences that shape our community’s heritage, examining topics from a variety of perspectives and creating interactive opportunities for learning, celebration and entertainment.  Located on Macomb Community College’s Center Campus, Hall and Garfield roads in Clinton Township, the Lorenzo Cultural Center is adjacent to the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts. 

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Media contact: Mary Smith

586.445.7997

smithm@macomb.edu