Bibliophiles’ delight celebrates silver anniversary

October 31, 4:57 PMMiami Travel ExaminerGeorge Leposky

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Miami Travel Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Crowd ©2008 Miami Book
 Fair International

Every November, writers and readers of books converge on the auditoriums and streets of downtown Miami at the Miami Book Fair International, presented by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College.

This year’s fair, the 25th, runs from Sunday, Nov. 9, through Sunday, Nov. 16, culminating in a huge street fair from Friday, Nov. 14 through Sunday, Nov. 16.

Every night of Book Fair week, literary luminaries speak about their life and work in the always-insightful “Evenings With…” series. Among participants in the 2008 series are black intellectuals Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, novelist and playwright Gore Vidal, novelist Salmon Rushdie, and former U.S. Poet Laureates Billy Collins and Robert Haas.

Other highlights of the 2008 fair include:

• An inaugural performing-arts event with ballet, modern dance, opera, poetry, and theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center.
• An International Village highlighting the cultural and literary traditions of six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Spain, and the French-speaking countries.
• Special Children’s Alley programming for youthful readers, and the Tween/Teen Scene for young people aged 12 to 17 years.
• Creative writing workshops.

Billy Collins © 2008 Miami Book
 Fair International

The Miami Book Fair is the largest literary gathering in America.  It’s overwhelming. You can’t experience all of it.  You must pick and choose. To appreciate and enjoy the fair requires diligent advance planning.

To start, visit the fair’s Web site, then click on the Fairgoer’s Guide button (center column, third button down, or use the link below). You’ll open a page from which you can view or download in pdf format the complete Fairgoer’s Guide in English (44 pages) or Spanish (28 pages), weekend author grids, and complete day-by-day schedules.  Then see what fits your schedule – or rearrange your life to attend the scheduled events that interest you most.

Another way to plan, if you have favorite authors or topics, is to find them by using the computer’s search function. 

Gore Vidal © 2008 Miami Book
 Fair International

When you go downtown to the Book Fair, don’t bring a car.  Traffic will be fierce, and parking expensive. Ride Metrorail downtown. Then take the free light-rail Metromover to College Station, near the Miami-Dade College campus where much of the Book Fair take place.  The Metromover also will bring you to within a block or two of other Book Fair venue, including the Adrienne Arsht Center and the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.

Some events require tickets (available online beginning Wednesday, Nov. 5), and admission is charged for the street fair on Saturday and Sunday.