Friends of the Fair members receive early ticket access, priority seating and complimentary tickets to select programsFriends of the Fair members receive early ticket access, priority seating and complimentary tickets to select programs
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MIAMI (October, 8 2026) — Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Miami Book Fair today announced the first featured guests for its 2026 Evenings With series, bringing celebrated authors, actors, comedians and cultural figures to downtown Miami for intimate conversations about their newest books.
The lineup includes Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe winner Tony Shalhoub with his daughter, writer and producer Josie Adams; two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead; New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling romance author Elena Armas; actor, comedian and photographer Jeff Garlin; bestselling author, publisher and podcaster Zibby Owens; No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer; and NPR’s Alex Mayyasi and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, hosts of the award-winning Planet Money podcast.
The eight-day Miami Book Fair returns Nov. 15-22 at MDC Wolfson Campus, with the Street Fair taking place Nov. 20-22.
Friends of the Fair members have the first opportunity to reserve tickets for the popular Evenings With programs before sales open to the general public. Memberships begin at $125 and include early ticket access, priority seating, at least one complimentary Evenings With ticket and invitations to events throughout the year.
Friends of the Fair tickets will go on sale on Oct. 5/ General public ticket sales will be announced after that.
All evening author programs require a ticket, even if there is no cost for admission, and will take place at MDC Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave. For tickets, Friends of the Fair membership or more information, visit www.miamibookfair.com
2026 Evenings With program:
An Afternoon With Zibby Owens
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Bestselling author, award-winning podcaster and founder of Zibby Media, Zibby Owens returns with Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot, a funny, tender and unflinching collection of essays about reinvention, resilience and rewriting your story in the messy middle of life.
An Evening With Willie Perdomo & Mayra Santos-Febres
Sunday, November 15 | 4:30 PM | THIS IS A BILINGUAL EVENT
Willie Perdomo presents The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon, a collection of poems brought to new life through the vibrant Spanish translation by acclaimed writer Mayra Santos-Febres, who gives each word its own rhythm and melodic flavor. Perdomo, a key voice in the Nuyorican literary tradition, weaves a Caribbean and Puerto Rican epic in which each poem becomes part of a continuous story: the tragic life of a percussionist who shone during the golden age of salsa brava. Poetry that sounds, strikes, and stays with you.
An Evening With Planet Money’s Alex Mayyasi and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi
Sunday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Longtime Planet Money contributor Alex Mayyasi and co-host Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi discuss Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life, the first book from NPR’s award-winning economics podcast. Drawing on more than a decade of reporting, the book reveals the often-surprising economic forces behind work, technology, housing, relationships and everyday financial decisions.
An Evening With Tony Shalhoub and Josie Adams
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe winner Tony Shalhoub makes his literary debut with his daughter, writer and producer Josie Adams, in We Thought They’d Never Leave: Musings on Food and Family. The heartfelt memoir spans four generations of the Shalhoub family and explores the Lebanese American traditions, meals and stories that have brought more than 50 relatives together in Door County, Wisconsin, every summer for more than five decades. The book also features 20 treasured family recipes.
An Evening With Manny Diaz, Victor Dover, & Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk
Monday, Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Sponsored by the Office of the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT)
Former City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, urban designer Victor Dover, and architect and urban planner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk come together for a conversation about transit, Transit-Oriented Development and the future of South Florida. Drawing on their books and experience, including Diaz’s Miami Transformed: Rebuilding America One Neighborhood, One City at a Time, Dover’s Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns, and Plater-Zyberk’s Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, the panel will explore how transportation and thoughtful urban development can create more connected, walkable and livable communities.
An Evening with David Grutman
Tuesday, Nov 17 at 6:30 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Miami hospitality entrepreneur David Grutman, founder of Groot Hospitality, discusses Take It Personal: How to Succeed by Building Relationships and Playing the Long Game. His first book traces a path from nightlife promoter to one of the most recognizable names in American hospitality, and lays out the approach behind it: that relationships, not transactions, build lasting businesses. Drawing on decades of work with artists, chefs and entrepreneurs, Grutman makes the case for showing up, following through and playing for the long term.
An Evening With Jeff Garlin in conversation with Peter Mehlman
Tuesday, Nov 17 at 8 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Actor, comedian and photographer Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Goldbergs) shares a rarely seen side of his creative life in Best Seat in the House: Moments No One Asked Me to Capture … But I Did Anyway. His debut photography book brings together candid, never-before-seen images of comedy and entertainment figures including Larry David, Mel Brooks, Brad Pitt, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Silverman and Carl Reiner. Garlin is joined in conversation by author and original Seinfeld writer Peter Mehlman, the man who put “yada, yada, yada” into the pop culture lexicon.
An Evening With Rick Sopher and Marc David Baer
Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Authors Rick Sopher and Marc David Baer come together for a conversation exploring the long and complex relationship between Judaism and Islam through scripture and history. Sopher, a fellow of the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, England, discusses Illuminating Scriptural Connections: A Qur’anic Commentary on the Torah, co-authored with Abdulla Galadari, which examines the Torah’s 54 weekly portions through the lens of the Qur’an. Baer, professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science, presents Children of Abraham: The Story of Jewish-Muslim Relations, tracing 1,400 years of encounters between Jews and Muslims. Together, they explore the shared traditions, histories and evolving relationships between two faiths across centuries.
An Evening With Brad Meltzer and Brad Thor
Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Emmy-nominated and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer, known for his bestselling thrillers, historical nonfiction, the Ordinary People Change the World children’s series and the History Channel’s Brad Meltzer’s Decoded, discusses The Viper: A Zig & Nola Novel. The third thriller in the series draws Zig, Nola and Roddy into a dangerous investigation connected to the decades-old murder of Nola and Roddy’s mother. He is joined by No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor with Choke Point. When bombings in Bangkok kill scores of Americans, spy Scot Harvath uncovers a plot to trigger a military coup and hand China control of a narrow strip of land between two oceans, the ultimate geopolitical choke point.
An Evening With Elena Armas in conversation with Meg Cabot
Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Elena Armas, beloved for The Spanish Love Deception and The American Roommate Experiment, introduces readers to a darker romantic world in Alma Vampires, the first installment of her Icarus University series. The gothic romance follows an unsuspecting heiress who must seek protection from a powerful vampire after discovering that she has become a target. Armas will be joined by New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, whose books include The Princess Diaries series.
An Evening With Colson Whitehead
Thursday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. | MDC Wolfson Campus
No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead (The Underground Railroad, The Nickel Boys) returns to Ray Carney’s Harlem in Cool Machine, the third and final novel in his acclaimed Harlem Trilogy. Set in 1981, the story finds New York City emerging from financial ruin amid a real estate boom and Reagan-era Wall Street excess. When Carney takes on one final heist to help his wife open a travel agency, he becomes entangled with a legendary criminal mastermind.
Additional Evenings With guests and programs will be announced soon. Schedule and participants are subject to change. For the latest information, visit MiamiBookFair.com.
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 hosts an ongoing schedule of activities, including The Little Haiti Book Festival; the Stories We Share initiative celebrating Jewish voices; creative writing and publishing workshops; author presentations; reading campaigns; and 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. Follow Miami Book Fair on social media @miamibookfair #miamireads.
Miami Book Fair Media Contacts:
Rachel Pinzur, Pinzur Communications | 305-725-2875, rachel@pinzurPR.com
Cristina Fonseca, Pinzur Communications | 561-644-1726, cfonseca@pinzurPR.com