Other Fun Stuff

Join us to hear Daisy Hernández discuss her book, “The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation's Neglect of a Deadly Disease,” the 2024-2025 One Book, One U selection for the University of Miami. Named by Time magazine as a top 10 best nonfiction book of 2021, and selected as a Finalist for the New American Voices Award and for the National Book Foundation’s Science + Literature program, “The Kissing Bug” was inspired by Hernández’s own family story. Growing up in a New Jersey factory town in the 1980s, Hernández believed that her aunt had become deathly ill from eating an apple. No one in her family, in either the United States or Colombia, spoke of infectious diseases. Even into her thirties, she only knew that her aunt had died of Chagas, a rare and devastating illness that affects the heart and digestive system. But as Hernández dug deeper, she discovered that Chagas—or the kissing bug disease—is more prevalent in the United States than the Zika virus. Through unsparing, gripping, and humane portraits, Hernández chronicles a story vast in scope and urgent in its implications, exposing how poverty, racism, and public policies have conspired to keep this disease hidden. A riveting and nuanced investigation into racial politics and for-profit healthcare in the United States, “The Kissing Bug” reveals the intimate history of a marginalized disease and connects us to the lives at the center of it all. A question and answer session will follow the presentation, and the author will be available to sign the book at the conclusion of the event.

Enjoy the next Family Picnic de Libros Presented by Koubek Center and Miami Book Fair. Picnic de Libros is a multidisciplinary, bilingual, and free event that aims to bring children closer to literature and the arts through stories, poems, crafts, tongue twisters, riddles, music, and more. There will also be picnic baskets full of books to read and enjoy. The next Picnic will feature: • Puppet craft workshop led by actress Danly Arango. • Storytelling by actor Saul Mendoza. • Flamenco class with Irene “La chiqui” Lozano • Creative Stage Productions and its funny characters

Join us for an evening of poetry and conversation with Alafia Nicole Sessions and Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello. Hosted by SWWIM as part of an ongoing series.

Join us for a poetry reading with Krysten Hill and Denise Duhamel, and special guest Julie Marie Wade, at The Betsy Hotel. Hosted by SWWIM as part of an ongoing series.

Join us as we celebrate the launch of Iván Acosta's latest book, “Fuacatapám: La India Agripina.” The author will be joined by the book's editors, Lic. Luis Leonel León and Dr. Rolando Pérez, for an engaging conversation. A masterful blend of storytelling, magical realism, and biting political satire, the story of “Fuacatapám” follows La India Agripina and her companion Don Liborio—symbolizing the Cuban spirit—on a surreal journey through post-revolutionary Cuba. They encounter iconic historical figures like José Martí, Antonio Maceo, and Félix Varela, yet La India's sharp wit and irreverent humor flip expectations on their heads. With echoes of Lydia Cabrera’s Afro-Cuban magic and the choteo humor so intrinsic to Cuban culture, this whimsical yet poignant satire reflects on political repression and the complex legacy of revolution. Don’t miss this vibrant exploration of imagination and identity! This event will be presented in both English and Spanish languages.

Patton Oswalt has a brand-new hour of his signature apocalyptic, pop culture comedy. He’s older, way less wise and going through some stuff. Come see the hilarious train wreck. He’ll be dead in 30 or 40 years, so this might be your last chance to catch him.

The nation’s most exceptional young writers come to Miami for a special, one-night reading of their works.

Join us for a poetry reading with Nicole Cooley and Caroline Cabrera at The Betsy-South Beach Library. Hosted by SWWIM as part of an ongoing series. ABOUT NICOLE COOLEY: Nicole Cooley grew up in New Orleans and is the author of seven books of poems, most recently Of Marriage (Alice James Books 2018) and Girl after Girl after Girl (LSU Press 2017), as well as the forthcoming Mother Water Ash (LSU Press 2024). She has also published two chapbooks and a novel. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, a fellowship from The American Antiquarian Society and the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. Her poems have appeared most recently in Poetry, DIODE, and Scoundrel Time . She is working on a new collection of poems titled Trash . She teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation at Queens College, The City University of New York. ABOUT CAROLINE CABRERA: Caroline Cabrera is the author of the lyric essay collection, (lack begins as a tiny rumble) from Tinderbox Editions, as well as three poetry collections, Saint X (winner of the Hudson Prize from Black Lawrence Press), The Bicycle Year, and Flood Bloom , and two chapbooks, The Coma of the Comet (winner of the Burnside Review chapbook contest) and Dear Sensitive Beard (Dancing Girl Press). She holds an MFA in Poetry from The University of Massachusetts. She serves as Artistic Director for O, Miami.

The 41st edition of the nation’s largest and finest literary gathering, Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College, will take place November 17-24, at the college’s Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. The famed Street Fair runs Friday, November 22, through Sunday, November 24, and will host close to 500 presenting authors, as well as 150 exhibitors from around the world.

Get ready for a groundbreaking collaboration between FilmGate Miami and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science that delves into the convergence of science, technology, and art. Immerse yourself in awe-inspiring dome experiences in the Frost Planetarium, a fusion of cutting-edge tech and mind-blowing artistry that breaks down barriers, welcoming everyone to join in and learn.