Miami Book Fair Hosts Annual Big Read Celebration To Promote Gratitude

Big Read Miami is back for its 18th year. The program will feature multiple artists and authors during nearly two months of activities planned by the Miami Book Fair and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This year’s edition focuses on gratitude and environmentalism, while also dissecting Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude—a poetry collection by New York Times best-selling poet Ross Gay. 

Gay, who is also a professor at Indiana University, won the 2021 PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award for his book-length poem, Be Holding, written in honor of Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving.

The Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which centers around Gay’s personal connections and appreciation to his family and community, won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.

“We want to unite everyone and celebrate what we’re grateful for,” said Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, the Miami Book Fair Program Coordinator and author of Hour of the Ox.

Big Read Miami kicked off on March 3 at the Books & Books in Coral Gables with an exhibit of Florida nature paintings by Penny Thurer, a local artist whose work has been featured in fine art galleries throughout the country.

Five days later, a virtual writing workshop was held to teach participants how to develop their free writing techniques. Jennifer Maritza McCauley, an acclaimed poet and author, guided the discussion. 

Starting on March 18, Big Read Miami will host 12 separate book discussions analyzing the Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. The events, which will center around appreciating life and connecting with Earth, will be held at local libraries throughout Miami-Dade County until April 26. 

Renowned young adult author John Green, known for The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, will participate in an in-person discussion showcasing his new book—The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet.

The discussion will be held at the Chapman Conference Center at Wolfson Campus on March 23 at 7 p.m. Tickets, which are $18 and include a pre-signed copy of Green’s new book, can be purchased here. 

Ross Gay will partake in a keynote event at Overtown’s Lyric Theater, 819 N.W.  2nd Ave., on March 30 at 7:30 p.m. The event will discuss the themes of the Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude and the importance of literature in our community. 

The event will also feature Patricia J. Braynon, chairperson for the board for the Black Archives and Historic Lyric Theater and Nicole Tallman, who serves as the Poetry Ambassador for Miami-Dade County. 

On April 1, Cuban-American artist Nicole Salcedo will lead a workshop at the Bakehouse Art Complex, 561 NW 32 St., in Wynwood at 11 a.m. The event will show attendees how to paint with materials such as leaves, tree branches and rocks. 

For health enthusiasts, there is a workshop on April 27 at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., in Coral Gables  at 7 p.m. that will discuss how herbs can support health and spirituality. The event will be hosted by Kristina Napoles, a herbalist dedicated to holistic healing methods. 

All events, except John Green’s in-person discussion, include a  copy of the Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude and are free and open to the public. 

“It’s good to get together, having people around you and to be able to get to know you and sort of become a closer-knit community,” said Lissette Mendez, the Miami Book Fair Director of Programs. “We see their humanity in a way that maybe reading alone at home would not.”

For a full itinerary of events, visit Big Read Miami’s website at https://bit.ly/3mn0tjL. 

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