An In-Person Miami Book Fair Is Back

Miami FL

11 November, 2021

9:17 AM

Description

By Elisa Agostinho, Miami Times Contributor, the Miami Times Nov 9, 2021 After a pandemic-compelled switch to an all-virtual Miami Book Fair last year, this year's event is a hybrid experience of in-person, livestreaming and on-demand programs spanning eight days from Nov. 14-21. The popular Street Fair weekend is back from Nov. 19-21. "Live events may be fewer than in years past and things may be a little smaller, but this will still be the same Miami Book Fair that people expect and have grown to love," said Lissette Mendez, director of programs for Miami Book Fair. The three-day Street Fair event will feature in-person author events, live music, family-friendly edutainment at Children's Alley, and an open-air marketplace featuring booksellers. A robust schedule of on-demand digital programs will drop on specific dates throughout the week and remain available for viewing online indefinitely. Scheduled programs reflect critical issues and conversations taking place across the nation and in Miami. Many Black authors of note will be sharing their work and voices and a variety of Haitian-/Caribbean-specific presentations will be made through the Fair's ReadCaribbean initiative. The following are just a few to consider: Close 1 of 13 (Ecco) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Harper Perennial) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Simon & Schuster) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (W. W. Norton & Company) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Little, Brown and Company) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Grove Press) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (West Virginia University Press) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Crown) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Pantheon) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Tin House Books) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Milkweed Editions) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (Bold Type Books) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save (C3 Éditions) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Save Featured Books 1 of 13 (Ecco) (Harper Perennial) (Simon & Schuster) (W. W. Norton & Company) (Little, Brown and Company) (Grove Press) (West Virginia University Press) (Crown) (Pantheon) (Tin House Books) (Milkweed Editions) (Bold Type Books) (C3 Éditions) "The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker" Available on demand Nov. 15 @ 12 p.m. Spanning a century, this anthology edited by Jelani Cobb and David Remnick brings together contributions by writers such as James Baldwin, Elizabeth Alexander, Hilton Als, Vinson Cunningham, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Malcolm Gladwell. "The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto" Available on demand Nov. 15 @ 12 p.m. Drawing on both political observations and personal experience as a Black son of the South, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow heralds a call to action by which Black people can finally achieve equality, on their own terms. "Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood" Available on demand Nov. 15 @ 12 p.m. Dawn Turner's memoir about three Black women who have been friends since childhood – Turner, her younger sister Kim, and her best friend, Debra – examines their fates and offers an exploration of race, opportunity, friendship, sisterhood, and the forces that allow some to flourish but cause others to falter. "Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence" Available on demand Nov. 16 @ 12 p.m. In 1991, Anita F. Hill offered landmark testimony against soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as a sexual menace. Her Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence is part memoir, part law and social analysis, and a call to arms which addresses the origins and course of gender violence in our society. "Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems" In person Nov. 18 @ 8 p.m. Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove's first volume of new works in 12 years is an exploration of the wavering moral compass guiding America's and the world's experiments in democracy. "The Sweetness of Water: A Novel" Available on demand Nov. 18 @ 12 p.m. Nathan Harris shares the story of brothers Prentiss and Landry, freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in the waning days of the Civil War and seeking refuge – and the means to make their way north to reunite with the mother who was sold away when they were boys. "Milk Blood Heat: Stories" & "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies" In person Nov. 19 @ 6 p.m. Set in the cities and suburbs of Florida, the 11 short works in Dantiel W. Moniz's "Milk Blood Heat: Stories" delve into the ordinary worlds of young girls, women, and men who find themselves confronted by extraordinary moments of violent personal reckoning. Deesha Philyaw's "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies" explores some of the places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. "This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life" Available on demand Nov. 19 @ 12 p.m. Earlonne Woods – who was once incarcerated under California's Three Strikes Law – and Nigel Poor are the co-creators, co-hosts, and co-producers of the popular podcast Ear Hustle (the prison term for eavesdropping). Here they share how they came to meet at San Quentin, and how they created their podcast and present new stories. "Say It Loud!: On Race, Law, History, and Culture" Available on demand Nov. 19 @ 12 p.m. This collection of 29 essays from author and Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy explores key social justice issues of our time, from the murder of George Floyd to birtherism. "What Storm, What Thunder: A Novel" In person Nov. 20 @ 6 p.m. Myriam J. A. Chancy recounts the aftermath of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Port-au-Prince, delivering both a haunting record of heartbreaking trauma and a testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit. Afro-Caribbean Men: Stories of Triumph & Empowerment Part I Available on demand Nov. 21 @ 12 p.m. In his memoir "Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming," Antonio Michael Downing traces the arc, through loss and displacement, of his search for identity, from a boy in a tiny village in the tropical forests of Trinidad raised by his religious grandmother, to becoming a "Saga Boy" – a West Indian playboy archetype. As a 14-year-old, Marlon Peterson suffered terrible violence. At 19 he was involved in a violent crime himself and served seven years in prison as a result. His memoir, "Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song," demands a shift from punishment to healing, an end to prisons, and a new vision of justice. Getting Haiti Out of the Crisis Available on demand Nov. 21 @ 12 p.m. In "Electoral Battles and Political Crises in Haiti (1807-1957)," historian Victor "Master Ben" Benoît traces the political and social vulnerability of a country in the chokehold of political crises and electoral battles, starting with its independence in 1804 and ending with President François "Papa Doc" Duvalier's ascent to power in 1957. "In the Hell of Parliament," written by Jerry Tardieu – congressman for the district of Petion-Ville, Haiti, and the minority leader of the Haitian lower Chamber – he recounts his experience as a deputy representing his district in the last legislature. In Haitian Creole with English subtitles. For the full schedule of events and author presentations at Miami Dade College's Miami Book Fair, visit miamibookfair.com. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.