Miami, Nov. 2, 2018 – For the fifth year in a row, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) acclaimed Miami Book Fair (MBF), in partnership with the National Book Foundation, and with the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, welcomes the Finalists and Winners of the National Book Foundation’s National Book Awards.
“Great storytelling is at the heart of what attaches people to place and to each other,” said Victoria Rogers, Vice President for Arts at Knight Foundation. “The Miami Book Fair helps shed light on the best of new literature, connecting audiences with celebrated writers from around the world, and creating a forum for discussion and creativity.”
The National Book Foundation’s mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, expand its audience, and enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. The National Book Award is one of the nation’s most prestigious literary prizes and has a stellar record of identifying and rewarding quality writing.
Previous winners of the Award—including William Carlos Williams, Joyce Carol Oates, and William Faulkner—comprise a who’s who of American literature. Following the awards ceremony in New York City on November 14, at which the winners will be announced, all Winners and Finalists in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Young People’s Literature and Translated Literature will travel to Miami for this remarkable gathering of literary talent.
Following are some of the events in which the visiting authors will participate at this year’s Miami Book Fair:
Friday, Nov. 16, 10 a.m., National Book Foundation Presents the Teen Press Conference
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, Chapman Center, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 2106 (Building 2, First Floor)
High school students from Miami-Dade County Public Schools play the role of reporters as they direct questions to Nominees for the 2018 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. Students participating as citizen journalists have been pre-selected. Featured Authors: Vesper Stamper (What the Night Sings), Eugene Yelchin (The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge), and others. Sponsored by Meredyth Anne Dasburg Foundation.
Friday, Nov.16, 6 p.m., An Evening with The National Book Awards Winners and Finalists
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, Chapman Center, 300 N.E. Second Ave., (Building 3, Second Floor)
All finalists and winners attending the MBF will gather for short readings and a Q&A with National Book Foundation Executive Director Lisa Lucas.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 11 a.m., Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Finalists and Winners in Fiction
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 3314 (Building 3, Third Floor)
Celebrate the 2018 National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Fiction, in recognition of some of the most outstanding works of fiction published in the U.S. this year. The nominated authors include: Jamel Brinkley (A Lucky Man), Jennifer Clement (Gun Love), Daniel Gumbiner, (The Boatbuilder), Lauren Groff (Florida), Brandon Hobson (Where the Dead Sit Talking), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers), Sigrid Nunez (The Friend), Tommy Orange (There There), and Nafissa Thompson-Spires (Heads of the Colored People). Sponsored by Knight Foundation.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 12 p.m., Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Poetry
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 6100 (Building 6, First Floor)
Celebrate the 2018 National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Poetry, in recognition of some of the most outstanding poetry collections published in the U.S. this year. The nominated authors include: Rae Armantrout (Wobble), Jos Charles (Feeld), Forrest Gander (Be With), Terrance Hayes (American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin), J. Michael Martinez (Museum of the Americas), Diana Khoi Nguyen (Ghost of), Justin Phillip Reed (Indecency), Raquel Salas Rivera (Lo terciario / The Tertiary), Natasha Trethewey (Monument: New and Selected Poems), and Jenny Xie (Eye Level). Moderator: Denise Duhamel. Sponsored Knight Foundation.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 1:30 p.m., Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Young People’s Literature
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., MDC Live Arts (Building 1, First Floor)
Celebrate the 2018 National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Young People’s Literature, in recognition of some of the most outstanding middle-grade and young adult books published in the U.S. this year. The nominated authors include: Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X), Bryan Bliss (We’ll Fly Away), Leslie Connor (The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle), Christopher Paul Curtis (The Journey of Little Charlie), Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Hey, Kiddo), Tahereh Mafi (A Very Large Expanse of Sea), Joy McCullough (Blood Water Paint), Elizabeth Partridge (Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam), Vesper Stamper (What the Night Sings), and Eugene Yelchin (The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge). Sponsored Knight Foundation.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2 p.m., Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Nonfiction
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 3314 (Building 3, Third Floor)
Celebrate the 2018 National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Nonfiction, in recognition of some of the most outstanding works of nonfiction published in the U.S. this year. The nominated authors include: Carol Anderson (One Person, No Vote), Colin G. Calloway, (The Indian World of George Washington), Steve Coll, (Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan), Marwan Hisham & Molly Crabapple (Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War), Victoria Johnson (American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic), David Quammen (The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life), Sarah Smarsh (Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth), Rebecca Solnit (Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays)), Jeffrey C. Stewart (Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War), and Adam Winkler (We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights – Peter Miller). Sponsored by Knight Foundation.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 4:30 p.m., Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Translated Literature
MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 N.E. Second Ave., Room 3314 (Building 3, Third Floor)
Celebrate the 2018 National Book Award Nominees and Finalists in Translated Literature, in recognition of some of the most outstanding works of translated literature published in the U.S. this year. The nominated authors include: Négar Djavadi (Disoriental), Roque Larraquy (Comemadre), Dunya Mikhail (The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq), Perumal Murugan, (One Part Woman), Hanne Ørstavik (Love), Gunnhild Øyehaug, (Wait, Blink: A Perfect Picture of Inner Life), Domenico Starnone (Trick), Yoko Tawada (The Emissary), Olga Tokarczuk (Flights), and Tatyana Tolstaya (Aetherial Worlds). Sponsored by the Knight Foundation.
For more information, 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
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation’s mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America. The National Book Award is one of the nation’s most prestigious literary prizes and has a stellar record of identifying and rewarding quality writing. In 1950, William Carlos Williams was the first Winner in Poetry, the following year William Faulkner was honored in Fiction, and so on through the years. Many previous Winners of a National Book Award are now firmly established in the canon of American literature, such as Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Jonathan Franzen, Denis Johnson, Phil Klay, James McBride, Joyce Carol Oates, Adrienne Rich, and Jesmyn Ward.
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 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