Miami Book Fair Makes Its Annual Trip To Downtown Miami
By Sabrina Toro and Nikole Valiente
GianMarco Morgado-Valverde learned life lessons listening to his mom’s bedtime stories.
One tale featured a child whose curiosity and disobedience led to him getting lost in the woods.
The fable inspired the 10-year-old to publish his first short story, Hudson and the Gnome, this year, in a book entitled El Cuento De Los Cien Niños (The Story of the One Hundred Children). It features short stories written by one hundred children from across the world.
“I wrote a story and it really impacted me,” Morgado-Valverde said. “That’s why I decided to write this wonderful story, to present it with all the kids that are participating in this [project].”
Last week, Morgado-Valverde’s tale was featured alongside the work of more than 400 authors who attended Wolfson Campus’ 41st installation of the Miami Book Fair.
The celebration, which ran from Nov. 17-24, kicked-off with a FUNKBOX NYC block party, featuring DJs such as Tony Touch, Hector Romero and Tedd Patterson, who lit up the campus with old-school hip-hop jams.
The Fair’s annual Evenings With series returned on Nov. 17, featuring intimate conversations with renowned authors such as television journalist Don Lemon, who discussed his memoir, I Once Was Lost, which touches upon his struggle with faith as a gay man.
On Nov. 20, CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward presented her latest book, On All Fronts: The Education Of A Journalist, where she recounts her experiences from the world’s most dangerous conflict zones, including Syria, Gaza and Afghanistan.
“The caliber of authors that I’ve seen come here, it’s a gold mine,” said 76-year-old Paul Fletcher, who has been attending the Book Fair for nearly 20 years.
Festivities culminated at the MBF’s staple weekend event—the Street Fair—under bright blue skies with crisp, cool weather.
Colorful tents decorated the streets of Wolfson Campus with vendors selling books, records, jewelry and pastries. Food trucks seasoned the air with hot dishes, from beef skewers, burgers and birria tacos to churros and funnel cakes.
On Nov. 23, bookworms had the opportunity to hear from authors like Zara Chowdhary, who discussed her memoir The Lucky Ones, where she recounts her testimony as a survivor of anti-Muslim violence in India.
“This book is just my way of holding someone’s hand right now, because it feels like we’re entering an even darker time where it’s going to be harder to get legal justice,” Chowdhary said. “But I think believing that there’s a greater, universal justice that comes from the people, we can only do that if we each tell our story and raise our voice[s] for each other.”
Saturday also featured discussion panels like Punk Under The Sun: Punk and New Wave in South Florida, where authors and musicians like Joey Seeman and Chris Potash conversed about the history of the underground punk scene in Miami.
“When I was growing up, I looked to folks who were a little bit older than me to help me create the things I wanted to create,” said Emile Milgrim, member of Las Nubes, a Miami-based rock band who participated in the panel. “I think it’s important, now that I’m older, to serve as a supporter to younger folks who are trying to do the same things.”
That night, The Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock/blues literary band composed of renowned authors such as Dave Barry, Stephen King and Mitch Albom, performed at the MBF’s Off The Shelf mini music fest.
Attendees huddled around the Wolfson Campus Plaza, bopping to hits like La Bamba, Wild Thing, Stand By Me and These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, accompanied by colorful lights, drum beats and harmonica grooves.
“It brings back my youth,” said Lauren Cohen, an avid fan of the band who has been attending the MBF for 30 years. “It’s very uplifting; I get to see my favorite authors perform.”
The fair concluded on Nov. 24 with writers such as physician-geneticist Francis S. Collins, who discussed his book, The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust, that addresses issues such as racism, climate change and social distrust in public health.
Journalist and screenwriter Pablo Vierci spoke about his memoir, Society of the Snow, which recounts his experience aboard Flight 571 that crashed into the Andes mountains in 1972 while carrying a Uruguayan rugby team.
“We don’t appreciate how profound it is to have a culture that values literacy, reading, learning, and we take it for granted. But if [it] weren’t perpetuated, things would fall apart quickly,” said North Campus philosophy professor Darrell Arnold, who was promoting his book Portraits of The Blues. “Teachers of reading are like sacred people who are helping to create the conditions [to] preserve culture.”
Some of the interviews in this story were conducted in Spanish. Staff writers Naya Escandon and Isabella Arce contributed to this report.
