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Miami Book Fair Returns With a Feast forVoracious ReadersLIZ TRACY | OCTOBER 5, 2018 | 8:30AM

Miami Book Fair's famous street fair. Courtesy of Miami Book Fair

In 1984, the crime-fighting duo of Crockett and Tubbs went face-to-face with

dangerous drug lords and other unsavory characters, making Miami famous for

cocaine, synths, and violence. While was lighting up every living room in

America in pastel shades, Miami Dade College was launching the Miami Book Fair, a

literary establishment that, unlike the TV show, continues to thrive 34 years later.

Miami Vice

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For eight days in November, the annual fair is headed by the staff at MDC and indie

bookseller Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books. It’s the hot ticket in town for literati

across the globe. While much of the world is shivering through the dark, late fall,

Miami is buzzing with heat and light.

But that’s not the only reason the fair brings the biggest names in writing to South

Florida. Featuring nonstop attractions and oddities, it truly is a gem in Miami's crown.

There’s the street-fair portion, November 16 through 18, with 250 publishers and

booksellers, which includes Children’s Alley and an antiquarians exhibit; the series

Evenings With…, presenting international superstar writers; and the Festival of

Authors, featuring 450 writers, including members of the IberoAmerican Author

Program.

Miami Book Fair’s director of programs, Lissette Mendez, says the current-events

programming is designed to represent the interests of locals. “We bring in dozens of

authors from the Caribbean and nearly a hundred authors for our Spanish-language

programs because this is who we are here — a beautiful mix of people with roots all

over the world, and specifically those regions,” she explains.

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor joins the Miami Book Fair 2018 lineup. Courtesy

This year, one of the most significant and relevant names you’ll see is U.S. Supreme

Court justice Sonia Sotomayor. She will be hosted in conversation with the first

Mexican-American Poet Laureate and author of , Juan Felipe

Herrera. Sotomayor's illustrated children's book telling the tale of her unusual life —

, or — is out in English and Spanish, as is

a version of her book , adapted for middle-schoolers as

.

Jabberwalking

Turning Pages: My Life Story Pasando Páginas

My Beloved World The Beloved

World of Sonia Sotomayor

Also featured will be actress and author Justine Bateman, Liane

Moriarty of , Pulitzer Prize winners Anna Quindlen and Lawrence

Wright, ' Tina Brown, and Barack Obama’s presidential

photographer, Pete Souza. You can also catch Tomi Adeyemi, author of the

Young Adult Hardcover best seller  creator of

comics and journalist Conor McCreery; and the

Pushcart Prize-winning author of , Celeste Ng.

Family Ties Fame

Big Little Lies

The Vanity Fair Diaries

New York

Times Children of Blood and Bone;

Adventure Time/Regular Show Wired

Little Fires Everywhere

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Mendez points out the fair is also a way to highlight Miami’s finest scribes. “We also

very much like to support our hometown talent,” she says. “Though we do not have a

dedicated Florida program, we always feature writers who live and work in Florida,

and we make an effort to cover Florida-specific issues.”

Local authors include Neil de la Flor of and P.

Scott Cunningham, a former  writer and editor who founded the

poetry festival O Miami and whose book of poetry, , was released this past

March. Miami’s favorite comedic force, Dave Barry, will tout his newest endeavor,

.

Reading Queer: Poetry in a Time of Chaos

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“There’s so much talent here!” exclaims Mendez, a proud Miamian.

Another of the fair’s highlights, this one after-hours, is the Porch. An outdoor tent and

entertainment area offers a stage for local musicians, performers, and

multidisciplinary artists to share their voices and visions. “It’s a really chill space with

a very Miami vibe,” she explains.

The Miami Book Fair elevates the 305's stories to national discourse and attracts the

best storytellers in the world to introduce this city to new ideas and perspectives. It's

a worthy endeavor that's certain to endure at least another three decades.

Miami Book Fair 2018. November 11 through 18 at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus,

600 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; .miamibookfair.com

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