MDC’s Miami Book Fair to Host National Book Award Finalists

Miami, Nov. 14, 2016 – For the third year in a row, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) acclaimed Miami Book Fair, in partnership with the National Book Foundation, and with the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, welcomes the nominees and winners of the National Book Foundation’s National Book Awards.

“We want the world to see what we know, that Miami is a city of writers and readers who value the literary arts. Having the National Book Award winners here shines a national light on that fact,” said Victoria Rogers, vice president for arts at Knight Foundation.

More than 30 of the longlisted authors will be at the Book Fair during Street Fair weekend to participate in various programs:

Friday, Nov. 18, 10 a.m. – noon

National Book Foundation presents the Teen Press Conference at Miami Book Fair, Hosted by author George O’Connor

High school students from Miami-Dade County Public Schools act as journalists, posing questions to the Finalists for the 2016 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature.

6 p.m., at the Chapman, Room 3210 (Bldg. 3, Second Floor)

An Evening with the National Book Awards Nominees Sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Saturday, Nov. 19

Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees: Poetry, at 11 a.m., Room 3315

Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees: Young People’s Literature, at 12:30 p.m., Room 3315

Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees: Nonfiction, at 2 p.m., Room 3315

Award-Winning Readings: National Book Award Nominees: Fiction, at 3:30 p.m., Room 3315

 

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 16, at which the winners will be announced, all Winners and Finalists in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature will travel to Miami for this remarkable gathering of literary talent.

Below is a listing, by genre, of the visiting authors, who will participate in this year’s Miami Book Fair.

 

Nonfiction

Andrew J. Bacevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History

Patricia Bell-Scott, The Firebrand and the First Lady

Adam Cohen, Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck

Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning

Cathy O’Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction

Andres Resendez, The Other Slavery

Manisha Sinha, The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition

Heather Ann Thompson, Blood in the Water

 

Fiction

Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad

Adam Haslett, Imagine Me Gone

Jacqueline Woodson, Another Brooklyn

Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen

Karan Mahajan, The Association of Small Bombs

Chris Bachelder, The Throwback Special

 

Young People’s Literature

Kate DiCamillo, Raymie Nightingale

Anna-Marie McLemore, When the Moon was Ours

Caren Stelson, Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story

Nicola Yoon, The Sun is Also a Star

Andrew Aydin, March: Book Three

 

Poetry

Rita Dove, Collected Poems: 1974-2004

Peter Gizzi, Archeophonics

Jay Hopler, The Abridged History of Rainfall

Donika Kelly, Bestiary

Jane Mead, The World of Made and Unmade

Solmaz Sharif, Look

Monica Youn, Blackacre.

Kevin Young, Blue Laws

 

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.

 

Miami Book Fair

Widely recognized as the largest and finest literary gathering in the U.S., the Miami Book Fair’s eight-day festival features readings and conversations with the world’s most renowned authors and more than 200 booksellers and exhibitors across various genres and interests. Book lovers are also treated to culinary presentations, live music, dance and theater performances, interactive art projects, fun and educational activities for children, and more! In addition to the annual festival, the Miami Book Fair builds community and promotes reading and writing throughout the year with activities open to all, including creative writing courses taught by local and visiting authors, literary gatherings and happy hours and Read to Learn Books for Free, a partnership with The Children’s Trust that distributes more than 160,000 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; 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