Presented and produced by Miami Dade College
Miami Book Fair runs Nov. 12-19
Miami, Nov. 9, 2017 – The 34th edition of the Miami Book Fair (MBF), the nation’s finest and largest literary gathering at Miami Dade College (MDC), presents vibrant and diverse literature by and for the LGBTQ community, which features a series of important readings and panel discussions.
LGBTQ discussions and readings @ MBF events:
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 6:30 p.m.
Paris is Still Burning
Olympia Theater, 174 E. Flagler St.
Inspired by the legendary documentary film Paris is Burning and the queer counterculture it documents, Paris is Still Burning, showcases some of the most prominent contemporary queer poets of color whose work reveals and explores various forms of social, racial, and economic injustice: sam sax, t’ai freedom ford, Yrsa Daley-Ward, and Chen Chen. The reading will be followed by a mini “ball”— a mix between a drag pageant and a queer performance competition — featuring members of South Florida’s own ballroom scene.
Saturday, Nov. 18, 10:30 a.m.
Queer Perspectives
MDC Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 8302 (Building 8, 3rd Floor)
James Allen Hall‘s collection of essays, I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well, recounts his journey to queerness, which persisted despite a youth marred by violence, addiction, and homophobia.
Saturday, Nov. 18, 2:30 p.m.
Reading Queer Presents: Four Groundbreaking Queer Poets
MDC Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 6100 (Building 6, 1st Floor)
Chen Chen’s poetry collection, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, winner of the 2016 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, investigates inherited forms of love and family—all from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives. Danez Smith’s Don’t Call Us Dead is an astonishing collection of poetry, one that confronts America— where every day is too often a funeral and not often enough a miracle. Harvard English professor Stephen Burt (who also goes by Steph and Stephanie) presents a brilliant and candid exploration of gender and identity in his latest poetry collection, Advice from the Lights. t’ai freedom ford’s debut collection, how to get over, is part instruction manual, part prayer, and part testimony.
Sunday, Nov. 19, 1:30 p.m.
Eileen Myles on the Pleasure and Pain of Pets
MDC Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 2106 (Building 2, 1st Floor)
Following the death of Eileen Myles’s beloved pit-bull Rosie, Myles launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet-owner, in Afterglow (a dog memoir).
For a complete list of authors, please visit www.miamibookfair.com, call 305-237-3528, or email wbookfair@mdc.edu.
Find the Book Fair on social media at:
https://twitter.com/miamibookfair
https://www.facebook.com/MiamiBookFair
http://instagram.com/miamibookfair
Visit MiamiReads.com for complete schedule and more information. #MiamiReads
About Miami Book Fair
Founded in 1984 by Miami Dade College and partners, Miami Book Fair engages the community through inclusive, accessible programs that promote reading and support writers year round. The annual eight-day festival has grown into the largest and most comprehensive community-rooted literary gathering in the United States. The Fair features readings and discussions with the world’s most renowned authors, generating discourse on contemporary literature and current issues of international importance. The Fair also include culinary presentations; live music and interdisciplinary performances; interactive, educational activities for children; and more than 200 booksellers and publishers during the Street Fair. Events take place in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and French. In addition to the annual festival, the Miami Book Fair responds to community needs with a year-round schedule of activities, including The Little Haiti Book Festival, highlighting Haiti’s literary acumen; creative writing and publishing workshops; author presentations; reading campaigns; and Read to Learn Books for Free, a partnership with The Children’s Trust that distributes more than 150,000 free books a year to children in Miami-Dade County.
Miami Book Fair is made possible through the generous support of the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Miami; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Miami Downtown Development Authority; and the Friends of the Fair; as well as many corporate partners. Miami Book Fair: Building community, one reader at a time.
Miami Book Fair media contacts: Lisa Palley, 305-642-3132 lpalley@bellsouth.net, or Deyanira Navarrette, 305-495-7168, deyanavarrette@gmail.com