Book Fair Returns To Downtown Miami For Its 41st Rendition

The Miami Book Fair will take over the streets of downtown Miami on Nov. 17-24 as it hosts more than 400 authors during its 41st rendition. 

Like last year, the Opening Day Block Party will signal the Book Fair’s official start on Nov. 17. 

The event, which hosted more than 2,000 people last year, will feature Funkbox NYC DJs Tony Touch, Hector Romero and Tedd Patterson and a live performance by New York-born singer Joi Cardwell at the Wolfson Campus Plaza.  It will kick off at 4 p.m. and run through 9 p.m.

An Evening With, a nighttime series of personal presentations from renowned authors, journalists and community leaders, will also begin on Nov. 17 and continue through Nov. 22.

Notable presenters will include television journalist Don Lemon, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward and trailblazing Asian-American journalist Connie Chung.

This year’s Book Fair will spotlight several current or former MDC employees such as Laura Drosdowech, Geoffrey Philp, Preston Allen and Nicole Talman, who is currently poet ambassador for Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

Drosdowech and Philp are showcasing their work at the Street Fair, which will take place Nov. 22-24 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Philp is a featured author of the ReadCaribbean program. His graphic novel, I Am Marcus, tells the story of Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey. Philp is using the medium as a path to share Garvey’s message to the youth.     

“There’s one thing that Garvey said: ‘with confidence you’ve won before you started.’ How can you not want to pass that on to children?” Philp said. 

Drosdowech, the grant compliance officer for Resource Development based at Wolfson Campus, will be found in the Children’s Alley, the plaza next to the 1000 building, promoting her first published book Magical Miami. 

It follows Zoe and Zen as they adventure through Miami’s most notable neighborhoods. 

“There’s a lot of wonderful, magical things out there in the world, and adventure can be really fun,” Drosdowech said. “I really wanted to convey that idea to the kids.” 

Admission to the Street Fair is free to the public on Nov. 22 and on all three days to MDC students, staff and faculty with a valid school ID. 

Off The Shelf, a music outdoor hangout billed as “a mini music festival with books” will offer art exhibitions, literary events and performances from Nov. 22-24, including a teen poetry open mic night on Nov. 22.  

Live Arts Miami will have two 8 p.m. shows—Nov. 22 and 23— at the Koubek Center, 2705 SW 3rd St., of Huang Yi & KUKA, a dance duet between a human ensemble and a robot “exploring the delicate balance between man and machine.” 

Tickets for the show can be purchased on https://tinyurl.com/tnbpc6s5. 

Miami-based artist GeoVanna Gonzalez’s Flowing Pathways, an exhibit that asks viewers to ruminate on their journey and how it shaped them, will be inaugurated at the Book Fair on Nov. 22.

It will be based at the third street entrance of Kyriakidis Plaza.  

Book Fair staple the Children’s Alley, entrenched in the heart of the Street Fair, will provide family friendly fun, including theatrical performances, interactive science activities and book readings.

“Reading is a very important way to learn when you’re little,” said Lissette Mendez, the Executive Director of the Book Fair. “It’s important that children are exposed to books and that they associate reading with fun.” 

For a detailed guide of all the Book Fair events, go here: https://bit.ly/3YaDcR7

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