© 2025 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Mastering the Art of Nonfiction

Season 1 Episode 2 | 3m 38s

Referring to himself as "Papa," Ernest Hemingway strived to be an expert on everything. This desire to be knowledgeable on all subjects was often reflected in his writing, especially as he sought to master nonfiction and hoped to pass forward his learnings to others. Studying Hemingway as a young writer, novelist Ralph Ellison once learned how to lead a bird from a hunting description in his work.

Corporate funding for HEMINGWAY was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by the Annenberg Foundation, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, and by ‘The Better Angels Society,’ and its members John & Leslie McQuown, the Elizabeth Ruth Wallace Living Trust, John & Catherine Debs, The Fullerton Family Charitable Trust, the Kissick Family Foundation, Gail M. Elden, Gilchrist & Amy Berg, Robert & Beverly Grappone, Mauree Jane & Mark Perry; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.
Extras
In 1946, Hemingway married Mary Welsh, a Time and Life correspondent he met during WWII.
In the summer of 1953, Ernest and Mary survived two plane crashes while in Africa.
Hemingway writes The Old Man and the Sea but is overcome by mental illness.
After a hurricane killed 259 veterans, Hemingway took aim at the Roosevelt administration.
Ernest Hemingway returned to Spain to report on the Spanish Civil War.
Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn reported alongside each other during the Spanish Civil War.
In 1939, Hemingway returned to Havana, Cuba and bought the Finca Vigía with Martha.
On Sept. 3, 1939, Ernest Hemingway told Pauline he was leaving her for Martha Gellhorn.
Senator John McCain discusses his hero Robert Jordan of "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
Hemingway, having achieved literary fame, goes to report on the Spanish Civil War.
Hemingway writes The Old Man and the Sea but is overcome by mental illness.
Hemingway, having achieved literary fame, goes to report on the Spanish Civil War.
Hemingway moves to Paris and finds success with his second novel, A Farewell to Arms.