Miami Book Fair arrives once again from November 16-23, culminating in the street fair weekend with hundreds of author readings.

What follows is Rachael Tillman’s reportage from last year’s fair.

To get to Miami Book Fair, the Brightline carried me through cities and landscapes I’d never seen despite the ten-plus years living in Central Florida. Between looking out at the wild waterways, suburban backyards, and semi-industrial areas that comprise the southern end of our state, I made note of the authors I wanted to see, potentially advantageous lectures, and what I might say to those admired writers without sounding desperate, unintelligible, or both. I love train rides. They give one time to think.

I traveled there on behalf of The Drunken Odyssey: A Podcast About the Writing Life, which I’ve occasionally co-hosted for several years. 

I had never been to Miami until now. I know it has a rich creative history outside of its reputation for vibrant nightlife and fostered as many writers as it had party people. Underneath the glossier aspects of a famous book fair and the sparkle of its celebrated writers, Miami Book Fair is a truly exciting experience for any book lover.

My first day there, I arrived at Miami-Dade College’s downtown campus. Surrounding the buildings of the campus was the street fair, where I was met with rows upon rows of books on every conceivable subject. There were authors I recognized sitting next to more obscure ones stacked alongside photography books and guides to the supernatural. As the days went on, I saw tables emptied and refilled, some readers rushing to the next panel, book in hand, ready for an autograph. In this non-stop outdoor market, you saw the love of literature and the very act of writing in action. Often, such enthusiasm can be performative or an endless exercise in literary one-upmanship, but if it existed anywhere in Miami, it wasn’t here.

The panels can make one a little star-struck over the big names, melting into pools of admiration and envy. However, it was through these forums that you also met the flesh-and-blood behind the work and all the glory and frustration that comes with writing about everything from birding to mid-century fashion to the endless horror of war, even suicide, grief, and death. 

With Amy Tan, we explored local wildlife and the Zen and dedication that come with cultivating a space for wild and untamable nature.

Sloan Crosby and Edwidge Danticat touched on estrangement and transforming that loss into unexpected works of art. There was the common thread of professional disappointment and the crucial steps of finding one’s voice.

It was through Patti Smith that we heard of transforming social and personal upheaval into works of art, and how a lifelong love of reading shaped her as a lauded writer and musician. 

There was actor and now memoirist Griffin Dunne, who—while familiar with fame and creative recognition—found telling his own family’s story more wild a challenge than expected. (As a member of The Drunken Odyssey, I got to see Dunne discuss his work up close during his interview.)

There is something about spending several days immersed in the work of others, of hearing firsthand how multifaceted the writing process really is and what demands it makes from those devoted to the craft. Miami Book Fair can also be daunting, looking at rows and rows of published authors, wondering if there is room for one more, if what you have to say is relevant in an era of constant overexposure. I read over my notes on the talks I had attended and thought about what it means to be a reader in a time of waning concentration, and why all of this still matters. My experience in Miami, and the readers and writers gathered there, gave me reason for hope.

Rachael Tillman (episodes 516, 520, 528, 533, 535, 560, 565, 576, 580, 604, 616, 632, 634, 663, 677, 684, and 685) has lent her voice and talent to the Canned Meat Comedy Podcast and All the Line Theatre Screenplay Series. Her educational background is in theatre and communication. After living in the Czech Republic for six years, she moved to Central Florida, where she has worked for start-ups, non-profits, retail, a local museum, and the Orange County Environmental Protection Division.