Adult & Teen Summer Reading Challenge 2025

Week Two — Literary Florida

Florida has rich literary history. Many famous authors have called the state home, including Ernest Hemingway, Zora Neale Hurston, and James Patterson. Florida's diverse landscapes, unique history, and cultural quirks have made it a popular setting for novels, ranging from crime fiction to historical romance and even science fiction. Authors like Patrick D. Smith, Carl Hiaasen, and John D. MacDonald have successfully utilized Florida as a vibrant backdrop for their stories, capturing the state's essence and the experiences of its diverse population.

Looking for books set in Florida, or books about famous Florida authors? You've come to the right place:

Want to experience Literary Florida in person? There are plenty of landmarks that honor the authors that made Florida home:

The Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail commemorates the life and times of the world-renowned Harlem Renaissance author, anthropologist, storyteller, and dramatist in Fort Pierce during the final years of her life.

Cross Creek, Florida is a real town in southeast Alachua County, best known as the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park includes her house, which has been restored and is preserved as it was when she wrote her classic novels.

Many writers have called the Keys home, including Ernest Hemingway, who bought a beautiful Spanish colonial home at 907 Whitehead Street in 1931 and stayed eight years. Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's home include Hemingway's literary followers, historians, aficionados of the grounds and gardens, and the animal lovers who want to see the polydactyl cats, decedents of Hemingway's own polydactyl cat Snow White, who have free run of the property.

Some of the other writers who found inspiration in Key West include Tennessee Williams, Shel Silverstein, Elizabeth Bishop, and Robert Frost. Though most of their houses are now private residences, you can still experience author's former homes and favorite haunts via a literary walking tour.

Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage, lived in Jacksonville in his adult years, but there is not much to see of his life in Jacksonville now. So instead, you can visit Lilian Place Heritage Center in Daytona Beach. On December 31, 1896 Stephen Crane recuperated in the house after his boat "Commodore" sank off the shoreline of Daytona Beach. Lilian Place is also mentioned in his story The Open Boat.

Walter Farley, author of The Black Stallion (1941), and his wife Rosemary moved to Sarasota County in 1950 and never left. They were among the founders of the Friends of the Venice Public Library. The Venice Public Library, now the William H. Jervey, Jr. Venice Library, established the Walter Farley Literary Landmark, and a wing of the library is dedicated to Farley.

Laura Riding was a widely noted poet of the 20th century, and became the only female member of the southern literary group, “The Fugitives,” which included Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate and John Crowe Ransom. In 1925, she moved to Europe to collaborate with the English poet and writer Robert Graves (author of I, Claudius). In 1939, Laura married Time magazine poetry critic Schuyler B. Jackson. In 1943, Laura and Schuyler moved into their small frame home on 13 acres of citrus groves in Wabasso, Florida.