The Sun Also Rises, but as it Sets Today Hemingway Fans Will Gather in Laguna

Upchurch-Brown Booksellers in Laguna Beach will host a “Hemingway Fest” today and Sunday, with readings and lectures by Hemingway scholars and aficionados.

Beginning at 7 this evening, guest speakers will include Noel Riley Fitch, author of “Literary Cafes of Paris” and the upcoming “Hemingway in Paris,” who will explore in slides and readings the night life, social events and living conditions of Paris in the ‘20s.

Also scheduled to speak are John Weld of Laguna Niguel, author of “Young Man in Paris,” who will talk about his life as part of the Paris literary scene in the ‘20s; Jim Hinkle, an expert on Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises.” Also: UC Irvine English literature professor John Rowe will read his second place winner in a recent Harry’s Bar and Grill Imitation Hemingway Competition, and Cal State Long Beach English literature professor David Peck will read his “losing” entry.

On Sunday, beginning at 7 p.m., Ellin Ringler-Henderson, a professor at Pitzer will discuss Hemingway’s heroines; Stuart Culver, associate professor at UCI, will lecture on “the American expatriate writer and how it colors his writings”; and Elyse Blankley, a Cal State Long Beach professor, will discuss “The Fantasy of Male Literary Expatriatism.” Also speaking: UCI professor Dickran Tashjian, Pitzer College professor Albert Wachtel and Irvine mystery writer Robert Ray, who will discuss “My Debt to Ernest Hemingway.”

Laguna Beach photographer Evelyn Munro also will exhibit her photographs featuring Parisian scenes reminiscent of Hemingway’s time and images of the city today.

For more information, call the bookstore (384 Forest Ave.) at (714) 497-8373.

Writing Tales--A 2-hour program, “Tips and Tales About Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Your Book,” will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday at Little Professor Book Center, 14370 Culver Drive, Irvine.

Authors who will discuss their writing experiences and answer questions are: Diana Azar (“Looking for the Worm”), Gordon McAlpine (“Joy in Mudville”), George P. Wright and Mike Madigan (“The Twisted Badge”), Mitchell Sam Rossi (“The Hong Kong Papers”), E.C. Ward (“A Nice Little Beach Town”), and Neal Shusterman (“Dissidents”).

Round Table--Biographer A. Scott Berg (“Goldwyn”), anti-smoking spokesman and tobacco heir Patrick Reynolds (“The Gilded Leaf”) and novelist Stephen Birmingham (“Shades of Fortune”) will speak at the Round Table West luncheon meeting at noon Tuesday at the Balboa Bay Club, 1221 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach. Cost: $25. For reservations, call (714) 548-1447.

Free Lance--Free-lance writer Dan Logan will discuss “Making a Living as a Free-lance Writer” at noon Monday at the Newport Beach Public Library, 856 San Clemente Drive. The library’s Brown Bag Series is free.

Book Signings--George P. Wright and Mike Madigan will sign “The Twisted Badge,” a look at political corruption and cover-ups in Orange County and elsewhere, from noon to 3 p.m. today at Waldenbooks in Laguna Hills Mall . . . Jerry and Lois Jacka, a husband and wife photography and writing team specializing in the study of American Indians and their art, will sign “Beyond Tradition,” from 2 to 7 p.m. today and 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday in Galeria Capistrano, 31681 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano . . . John Shirley will sign “Heatseeker,” a collection of his best short stories, from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Aladdin Books, 122 W. Commonwealth aAve., Fullerton . . . Arnold R. Beisser, a Santa Ana High School graduate who was stricken with polio in the ‘50s and is now a UCLA clinical professor of psychiatry, will sign “Flying Without Wings: Personal Reflections on Being Disabled” from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 27, at the UCI Bookstore in the Irvine Marketplace.

Writing Contest--Brighton & Lloyd of Costa Mesa, publisher of the children’s book “A Handful of Magic,” is sponsoring a writing contest for elementary school children in third through sixth grade. Six prizes, including two $50 cash prizes and four $25 gift certificates, will be awarded. Entrants must include name, address, phone number, age, current grade, teacher’s name and school. All entries must be received by June 30. Winners will be notified by Aug. 31 Original stories, 2,000 words or less (with or without illustrations), should be sent to Brighton & Lloyd, P.O. Box 2903, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92628.

For the Record--An incorrect phone number was listed last week for information on Orange Coast College writing instructor Raymond Obstfeld’s eighth annual Writing Retreat next month in Rancho Mirage. The correct number is (714) 786-4204.