We may live in an increasingly digital age, one now further complicated by the rise of AI. But the printed word in books still exerts a powerful draw, as these festivals show:
Miami Book Fair International
The 41st Miami Book Fair — Nov. 17-24 — will feature a wide variety of authors in both fiction and nonfiction genres and celebrate the love of reading and love of books.
For the past 40 years, the Fair has brought in hundreds of authors from all over the world to downtown Miami to read from books in English, Spanish, French and Haitian Kreyol.
In addition to national names in fiction such as Lisa See (Lady Tan’s Circle of Women) and Jamie Quatro (Two-Step Devil), and non-fiction’s Carvell Wallace (Another Word for Love: A Memoir) and Ernesto Londono (Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics), this year’s edition brings more than a dozen pop-culture icons such as Marianne Williamson (The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love), Moon Unit Zappa (Earth to Moon: A Memoir), Patti Smith (A Book of Days) and Ray Suarez (We Are Home: Becoming American in the 21st Century: An Oral History).
Local Florida authors include Alex Segura (Alter Ego: A Novel), Edwidge Danticat (We’re Alone: Essays), former Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts (54 Miles), Paul George and Henry Green (Jewish Miami Beach) and Romina Garber’s Gothic romance Castle of the Cursed.
For more information about the Miami Book Fair 2024 please visit miamibookfair.com or follow MBF@miamibookfair #miamibookfair2024.
Festival of the Arts Boca — Authors & Ideas
The combination literary-music festival in the city’s downtown Mizner Park returns this year Feb. 28-March 9, bringing a selection of big-name guests and a musical celebration to the city’s centennial featuring the Festival Boca Jazz Orchestra.
“The Festival of the Arts Boca is committed to delivering exceptional and diverse programming,” says Cynthia Brown, director of the Authors & Ideas programming for the festival. “This year, we’re excited to continue that tradition with offerings that are inspirational, educational, topical and sometimes, just entertaining.”
The Authors & Ideas portion of the festival, which takes place this year along with live performances by the Dallas Brass Quintet and the 40th anniversary of the 1985 film, Back to the Future, accompanied by a live orchestra, features a return appearance by the eminent historian (and part-time Palm Beach County resident) Doris Kearns Goodwin, who last spoke at the festival in 2019.
Goodwin will discuss her book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, about her life and work with her husband, Richard Goodwin, who worked for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson as well as with Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Carl Hiaasen, the former Miami Herald columnist known for his crime fiction and satirical look at Florida life, will provide an inside look at Bad Monkey, a 10-part Apple TV+ series based on his 2013 novel of the same name.
Additionally, lawyer, art historian and author Amy Herman uses works of art to sharpen observation, analysis, and communication skills. She will discuss her method, Art of Perception, about how analyzing art can improve powers of observation, aid in decision-making and leadership and improve critical thinking.
She has taught this method to the New York City Police Department, the FBI and the State Department, among others.
Additional Authors & Ideas speakers to be announced at a later date.
For more information visit festivalboca.org.
Broward Public Library Foundation — Literary Feast
Established in 1988 to support public library literacy programs in Broward County, over the years this event has connected South Floridians with more than 500 renowned authors and raised $4.5 million for programs and services for children and teens.
Last year’s 35th annual feast featured 10 acclaimed authors, including James R. Benn, Alex DeMille, Kristin Harmel, Leah Lax, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Thomas Mallon, Aida Rodriguez, Jonathan Santlofer, Lisa Unger and Michelle Wildgen.
This year’s event kicks off in February 2025, with the 15th annual LitLUNCH!, a presentation by a best-selling woman author, with book sales and signings, a luncheon, raffle drawings and a live auction.
Past LitLUNCH! authors have included Victoria Christopher Murray, author of The First Ladies, Xochitl Gonzalez (Olga Dies Dreaming) and Fiona Davis, author of The Magnolia Palace.
This year’s author has not yet been announced.
LitLunch! Will be held Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lauderdale Yacht Club, 1725 SE 12th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316. Featured author TBD.
A Night of Literary Feasts will be held Saturday, March 29, 2025, at The Bahia Mar, Fort Lauderdale Beach. Welcome Reception 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Author Dinners 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Authors TBD.
To stay up-to-date on future events, sign up for its newsletter at the Broward Public Library Foundation (bplfoundation.org).
Florida Voices Book Talks at the Society of the Four Arts
The Society of the Four Arts hosts Florida Voices, a book discussion series that engages in dialogue with noted authors with a Florida connection.
This year’s line-up includes Thomas Swick (Falling into Place: A Story of Love, Poland and the Making of a Travel Writer) on Oct. 23; and Emily Franklin (The Lioness of Boston) on Nov. 13.
Swick, a resident of Fort Lauderdale and the former travel editor of the Sun-Sentinel, talks about this memoir and the love for his wife, Hania.
And, while not a Florida resident, Franklin, author of more than 20 books, will discuss Isabella Stewart Gardner’s life and journey and her special bond with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Maud Howe Elliott.
Elliott, one of the founders of The Society of the Four Arts, was the daughter of Julia Ward Howe, the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and known for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
“Rachel Schipper, director of libraries, wanted to highlight Maud Howe Elliott this season,” says Amanda Kiernan, programming librarian. “Emily’s book is quite popular, so we decided to have her speak within our Florida Voices author series,” she says.
Other authors with a Florida connection include: Leslie Kemp Poole (Tracing Florida Journeys: Explorers, Travelers, and Landscapes Then and Now), Dec. 18; Clay Henderson (Audubon’s Birds of Florida), Jan. 22; Flora Collins (Nanny Dearest and A Small Affair) Feb. 26; and Scott Eyman, former book editor at The Palm Beach Post (Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided) March 5, 2025; Keri Watson (Florida’s New Deal Parks and Post Office Murals), April 9, 2025; Kristy Woodson Harvey (A Happier Life), May 7, 2025; and Ann Leary (I’ve Tried Being Nice), May 14.
King Library, 101 Four Arts Plaza. Visit fourarts.org, call (561) 655-2766 or email kinglibrary@fourarts.org.
Key West Literary Seminar
With a mission to promote understanding and discussion of literary works and their authors; bring forth new voices in American literature and to preserve and promote Key West’s literary heritage, the Key West Literary Seminar returns Jan. 9-12, 2025.
With this year’s theme of “Family,” the 42nd Annual Key West Literary Seminar brings in a wide selection of notable authors, including Nathan Hill (Wellness); National Book Award winner John Irving; Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers, Enon and The Other Eden; New York Times bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz (The Plot), Victor La Valle, author of The Changeling; Malinda Lo, New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award winner for Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Ayana Mathis (The Unsettled).
Events include onstage presentations such as solo readings and lectures, one-on-one interviews and larger conversations with a group of authors.
Location: All onstage events and the opening night reception are held at the Coffee Butler Amphitheater, 21 Quay Road, Key West. Visit kwls.org.