Miami Book Fair Shines

November 27, 2002

The latest Miami literary happening was a far cry from the theme of the community's city reads program of "One Book, One Community," launched in July. This month, from November 17 - 24, the city was flooded with 1 million books for sale, almost 300 well-known authors speaking and autographing, and representatives from scores of communities from South and Central America, the Caribbean Islands, North America, and Europe. The 19th annual Miami Book Fair International included a three-day street fair from November 22 - 24, attended this year by an estimated one-half million people. The fair is under the direction of the Florida Center for the Literary Arts, a cultural and academic initiative of Miami-Dade Community College.

Since Mexican-American author Sandra Cisneros' book The House on Mango Street (Vintage), was selected by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts for the "One Book, One Community" program, it was fitting that Cisneros returned to Miami for the opening event of the Miami Book Fair -- the first of the six-night "Evenings With…" series. Other authors, including Joan Didion, Nikki Giovanni, and Daniel Ellsberg, spoke to capacity crowds in the college's auditorium each night up to Friday, November 22.

Also appearing on November 17 was author and Noticiero Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos, presented by the Ibero-American Authors series. Ramos, winner of seven Emmy Awards and author of four books, spoke about his memoir, No Borders (Rayo), at one of the many Spanish-language events. Throughout the fair, there were events in English, Spanish, and Creole.

The final "Evenings With…" program, on November 22, featured former Pentagon analyst turned antiwar activist, Daniel Ellsberg. His presentation, in which he discussed his latest book, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (Penguin/Putnam), was delayed for 20 minutes while staff tried to hunt up more chairs. His passion and revelations of the secrets and lies that shaped U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam era resonated profoundly with the packed audience.

Kathie Klarreich, community member and chair of the board of the Women's Fund, sensed a politicization of the audiences this year. Not just at the Ellsberg talk, but "even in the non-political sessions there was discussion about where we [as a country] are heading. I did seek out fiction sessions that were slightly more political -- such as Tim O'Brien. But all over I found that people were engaged in a different way. There was much reflection on what's going on in the world -- people are starting to be more open to talking about it."

Mitchell Kaplan

Mitchell Kaplan, co-founder of the Miami Book Fair International, co-chair of the Miami Book Fair International board of directors, ABA vice-president, and owner of Books & Books in Coral Gables and Miami Beach, spoke to BTW after the exhausting week of the book fair: "We've been doing this for 19 years and each year changes based on the programming. This happened to be a remarkable year -- the crowds were thick and the weather was stupendous. Police estimated between 400,000 and 500,000 people passed through and C-SPAN was here with live coverage on Book TV. A lot of books were sold -- better than we've ever done before. It's such a thrill to see hundreds of thousands of people energized about books."

For the duration of the fair, the Miami-Dade Community College campus was transformed into an international bazaar, with nonstop music and performances, ethnic foods, interactive children's activities, and an antiquarian book annex. The four buildings of the community college were connected with lines of booths and attractions. Inside, nine rooms and two large halls -- including one auditorium -- provided the venues for all author events, according to Magda Vergara, executive director of the book fair. This year's fair marked Vergara's first as executive director for one of the first and largest of the nation's book fairs. Her response was extremely positive, "Great, wonderful … everything works because of all the preparation and the incredible number and caliber of all the authors." The fair is over but the work goes on. Vergara said, "Next year is the fair's 20th anniversary -- there will be special guests and special programming. C-SPAN is going to explore some ideas with us, like offering live chats. For now, we have to wrap up and ramp up."

Attendee Klarreich, who moved to Miami from Haiti with her young children several years ago, told BTW that discovering the book fair was one of the best things that could have happened, "My children couldn't believe the activities -- they stayed in the same place for hours. I was so grateful that Miami has this. It's a real gem and a tribute to the city that it hosts one of the premier book fairs in the country." -- Nomi Schwartz

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