literature

Flying Under The Radar With Six Hip South Florida Writers

Arielle Castillo — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Last month, we introduced you to nine acclaimed authors who call South Florida their home, at least part-time. But that was just a small sampling. South Florida boats a tribe of critically acclaimed scribes living anywhere from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach County. Below are seven folks who are building on the tradition of hometown heroes like Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen (who actually now lives just a little bit further north in Vero Beach.)

Popular Writer Debates His Own Kidnappers On Venezuelan Politics

Steve Inskeep — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:22:43 +0000

Earlier this week in Caracas, we were about to go to an interview when it had to be rescheduled. The man we were going to speak with was unavoidably detained — kidnapped, to be precise.

It took awhile after that for Laureano Marquez to free up his schedule and meet us in a coffee shop.

"I'm so sorry," he said when he finally arrived, as if it was his fault for being thrown into a car and driven off to the far reaches of town.

We'd been planning to talk with Marquez about Venezuela's presidential election this weekend, an election that opens a door on a changing Latin America.

Oil, Chavez And The Silent Rise Of The Venezuelan Novel

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:35:52 +0000

Marcela Valdes is the books editor of The Washington Examiner and a specialist in Latin American literature and culture.

For more than 40 years, the most important book prize in South America has been bankrolled by the region's most famous petro-nation: Venezuela. Yet Venezuelan novelists themselves rank among the least read and translated writers in the entire continent.

Eating Less Meat; Book Jacket Designer Chip Kidd

Joseph Cooper, Bonnie Berman, Paul Leary and Ariel Gonzalez — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

04/09/13 - Tuesday's Topical Currents

Nine Acclaimed Authors You Didn't Know Lived In South Florida

Arielle Castillo — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:00:00 +0000

South Florida may not exactly have the brainiest reputation -- but those of us in the area's intellectual trenches know that it's not all beach bimbos here. In fact, the pleasant weather and peaceful shoreline vistas may well be making the population collectively smarter.

Book Your Calendars For Booklegger's 'Library On The Run'

Allison Goodman — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Miami Beach is going literary, literally.
Thursday, local book enthusiasts can sit around, handcrafted cocktail in hand, and talk literature. Better yet, they can leave with a free book.
The event is put on by Bookleggers, a community mobile library often referred to as “a library on the run.”

Parallel Lives: Colm Tóibín on Henry James

Cara Cannella — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:30:28 +0000

Key West Literary Seminar: On Those Same Steps: Iyer on Greene

Laurel Tuohy — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:29:33 +0000

This post is featured thanks to our friends at the Key West Literary Seminar. R ead more of their material here.

FIU Was Literary Launchpad For Obama Poet Pick, Cuban-American Richard Blanco

Christine DiMattei — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:05:57 +0000

The announcement that a Miami-raised son of Cuban immigrants has been chosen as the inaugural poet for President Obama's swearing-in ceremony is causing a stir throughout South Florida. And nowhere more than in our region's literary community.
In 1993, a young civil engineer named Richard Blanco wanted to try his hand at writing poetry. So he took a class at Florida International University, led by English Professor Campbell McGrath.

Seven Observations About Miami From Author Tom Wolfe

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:46:27 +0000

More than a quarter of a century after Tom Wolfe's novel The Bonfire of the Vanities looked at race relations, class divisions, greed and ambition in New York City, the influential writer has shifted his focus to the Magic City.
On his recent trip to Miami, Wolfe sat down to chat with WLRN-Miami Herald News features editor Alicia Zuckerman about his new novel, Back to Blood.