SALUTE TO THE MIAMI BOOK FAIR AND BOOKS & BOOKS TWO GREAT SUPPORTERS OF AUTHORS.

May 19, 2021

GEORGE L. ADDISON, JR.

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
― Oscar Wilde

I want to give a special thanks to the Miami Book Fair and its community partners, founded in 1984 it is a long time favorite of authors worldwide. I also want to give a shout out to their festival partner Books & Books which is one of the leading independent booksellers in America. Founded by Mitchell Kaplan in 1982, it has since expanded to eight locations, concentrated in the Miami area and also has branches in Grand Cayman and Westhampton Beach on Long Island, and now Key West.

Mitchell has been honored in the industry with the Presidency of the American Booksellers Association and was named Independent Bookseller of the Year in 2015. Each Books & Books location has its own flavor, from the sprawling 10,000 sq. ft. main store in Coral Gables to a tiny shop on Concourse D in the Miami Airport. But each shares a commitment to a deep and rich selection of great books, fined tuned to the interests and reading habits of its local community.

As a former working journalist and former news director who started my career in Miami, I was very proud to discover my book Moments in the Shadow of Greatness Volume One among the online selections being offered by them. If luck shines on me, I will be able to participate in this year’s event.

In my humble opinion the Miami Dade College – Miami Book Fair is the best annual literary festival in America and is perfectly suited for writers and avid book enthusiasts of all genres. The fair, which has become a model for other fairs across the country, brings hundreds of renowned national and international authors and exhibitors to a week long celebration of all things literary and includes pavilions for translation, comics, children, and young adults.

The highlight of the Street Fair is the Festival of Authors, with hundreds of authors reading and discussing their work, including the Latin American and Spanish authors who participate in the IberoAmerican Authors Program. When confronted by the pandemic they adapted seamlessly to provide programs, panel discussions, Q&A sessions with authors and much more.

If you are a reading enthusiast, you want to learn more about the Miami Book Fair and Books & Books.