If there was a book out this year titled “Perseverance,” it would be authored by Lois Cahall, founder of the Palm Beach Book Festival and a former newspaper reporter. Hitting its 10-year milestone, the festival, scheduled for Saturday, March 16, at Florida Atlantic University, brings New York Times-bestselling authors to South Florida and has endured, despite challenges. … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival to be virtual, features Saunders, Loftis, Harmel
The Palm Beach Book Festival, now in its seventh year, returns for the second year as a virtual event later this month. New York Times bestselling authors Larry Loftis, Kristin Harmel and George Saunders are in the lineup for the festival, which is set for March 19 and 20. Added last week was another guest, Keisha N. Blain, co-editor with Ibram X. Kendi of Four Hundred … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2020-21: Book, literary fests go virtual
Despite the dearth of live events during the winter of COVID-19, there are enough virtual literary events to keep one’s mind engaged. From poetry to fiction to children’s literature and books with local themes and authors, this year’s offerings, while reduced, offer enough stimulation and diversion to almost make you forget our altered state of collective reality. Palm … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival, at FAU this weekend, features Albom, Orlean
Everything good that’s ever happened to Mitch Albom happened in Detroit. Or so the best-selling author of books like Tuesdays With Morrie says. He’s likely to talk about that next month at Florida Atlantic University, when he joins the lineup for the fifth annual Palm Beach Books Festival. The one-day festival, set for March 16 at FAU’s University Theatre, will feature … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2018-19: Books
South Florida has a perhaps surprisingly strong books culture, and not just because it has been home to major writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Zora Neale Hurston. It also is home to Books & Books, a remarkably successful Miami-based chain of independent bookstores, and as the Miami Book Fair it helped found has grown, newer players have appeared on the scene to celebrate … [Read more...]
Rather reports on state of nation, and it’s grim
By Myles Ludwig Veteran newsman Dan Rather took the stage at the Palm Beach Convention Center to a standing ovation at the Palm Beach Book Festival on April 14. He was being honored as the Festival’s book of the year awardee for his current What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism, a collection of essays about what Rather believes it means to be an American. It was … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival offers ‘Oscars’ of literary world
By Georgio Valentino Every spring, a hand-picked selection of the country’s most celebrated writers descend on the Palm Beaches for a boutique book festival of chart-topping proportions. Among the headliners of this fourth annual edition of the Palm Beach Book Festival are multiple award-winning authors Dan Rather and Kwame Alexander. The event is the brainchild of … [Read more...]
Arts Preview 2017-18: The season in books
Not so long ago, Palm Beach County readers had no choice, if they wanted to enjoy a book festival, but to drive to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. That’s no longer true. While events like Miami Book Fair International or the Literary Feast in Fort Lauderdale remain powerhouse attractions, Palm Beach County has a pair of well-established book and events right here: the Palm Beach … [Read more...]
2016-17 Season Preview: Books
If you want to see Trevor Noah, or Alan Cumming, or any of the celebrities at this year’s star-studded Miami Book Fair International, now is the time to make your plans and get your tickets. Because they are going fast. Really though, Hollywood and literary glitterati notwithstanding, the biggest star at the fair is sure to be Bernie Sanders. In post-election mode, Sanders … [Read more...]