Miami, Nov. 12, 2021 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) acclaimed Miami Book Fair (MBF) has received a generous donation from The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation, as a part of this year’s CreARTE grants program. The grants, which total more than $3.2 million, will be distributed over the next two years and will support a total of 25 South Florida nonprofits in their efforts to cultivate a vibrant, connected, and culturally stimulating community.
The funds will be used for MBF’s Emerging Writer Fellowships program, which supports developing writers who demonstrate exceptional talent and promise by providing them with time, space, and an intellectually and culturally rich artistic community. The program actively supports writers who are working to complete a book-length project within a year and helps them launch their literary careers. Fellows are granted professional experience in arts administration, teaching creative writing, and other opportunities; a cost-of-living stipend; and strong literary community support to allow for 12 glorious months of uninterrupted time to craft their works.
“The program truly reflects our mission to seek out, encourage, and offer concrete resources to exciting new writers,” said Lissette Mendez, MBF’s director of programs. “Providing relevant tools and a platform to an inclusive group of creative thinkers – who have important things to share and teach us – is an embodiment of what Miami Book Fair does.”
MBF will select four recipients for a second cohort who will enjoy critical mentorship from a nationally established author in their respective genres, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry as well as a host of other strategic supports. This new cohort of emerging writers will include one writer who writes in Spanish, a recipient of the Paz Prize for Poetry, increasing the number of writers MBF supports in the creation of new work from three to four.
“MBF’s existing Paz Poetry Prize enables us to provide a platform for writers who write in Spanish,” said Delia Lopez, MBF’s director of Operations. “Adding a fellow to this new cohort will allow us to further support writers contributing to the diversification of the canon.”
Established in 2019, CreARTE aims to bridge gaps in key areas impacting the creative community most, including access to affordable workspaces, cultural equity, and education.
“The last 18 months have been incredibly trying for our local arts community, which is why, as a family, we wanted to honor the individuals and organizations who persevered in their mission,” said Jorge M. Pérez, family patriarch and prolific philanthropist. “We are fortunate to be able to double down on the program and continue to support the creatives who add such color and cultural richness to our city and region. We cannot wait to see what each grantee accomplishes in the coming months and years.”
To learn more about The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, its mission, and previous donations, visit jmperezfamilyfoundation.org.
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About The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation:
The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation fulfills the philanthropic vision of Jorge M. Pérez, chairman and CEO of The Related Group, and his family to develop South Florida as an exemplary world-class urban center. The family foundation promotes sustainable, inclusive, and just communities by supporting programs and organizations focused on arts and culture, health and well-being, education, environment, and economic development – with a particular preference for programs and organizations that could serve as models for other urban centers. For more information, please visit www.jmperezfamilyfoundation.org.
About the Miami Foundation:
The Miami Foundation builds the philanthropic, civic, and leadership backbone for Greater Miami. Since 1967, the Foundation has invested $485 million to strengthen our community with partnerships and contributions from more than 1000 fundholders and 35,000 donors. The Miami Foundation, which currently manages over $350 million in assets, mobilizes donors, nonprofits, leaders, and locals to set a bold vision for our community’s future and to invest in a stronger, more equitable, more resilient Greater Miami. For more information, please visit Miamifoundation.org.
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 generating discourse on contemporary literature and current issues of international importance. Throughout the rest of the year, Miami Book Fair responds hosts an ongoing schedule of activities, including The Little Haiti Book Festival; 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 programming is made possible through generous support from the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts; City of Miami; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; Miami Downtown Development Authority; and Friends of the Fair; as well as many corporate partners. Miami Book Fair: Building community, one reader at a time.
For more information about the Emerging Writer Fellowships program, visit https://www.miamibookfair.com/fellowships/.
For Miami Book Fair information, visit www.miamibookfair.com, or call 305-237-3528 or email wbookfair@mdc.edu.
Follow the Miami Book Fair on social media @miamibookfair.
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Miami Book Fair contact: Lisa Palley, Palley Promotes, 305-642-3132, lpalley@bellsouth.net.