For three days, November 20-22, PBS audiences across the country are invited to take part in one of the nation’s oldest and largest literary festivals—the 32nd annual Miami Book Fair at Miami Dade College (MDC), featuring interviews with dozens of authors, illustrators and celebrities. Coverage will be produced by Detroit Public Television (DPTV) for PBS and made possible thanks to the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The coverage will be hosted by Jeffrey Brown, Chief Correspondent for Arts, Culture, and Society for PBS NewHour and Book View Now host Rich Fahle.
Festival coverage includes a special Young Readers live stream presentation on Friday, Nov. 20 from 1-4 p.m. ET, and two full days of author interviews and special features on Saturday and Sunday, noon – 5 p.m. ET each day.
Live stream coverage will be available online via PBS.org and at www.BookViewNow.org, plus select PBS station websites, and the WORLDChannel.org. In addition, select segments will be archived and available for on-demand viewing on PBS.org, PBS station websites and all PBS video apps, including iPhone, iPad, Xbox, Roku and Apple TV, as well as YouTube. Coverage will also be available via online video player available to any individual or entities, including bookstores, publishers, blogs and media outlets wishing to share the stories, events and energy of the Miami Book Fair with their audiences.
Embed code instructions and additional information about coverage can be found at https://livestream.com/detroitpublictv/mbf15/embed.
“PBS is pleased to be bringing the experience of the Miami Book Fair to our audiences once again this year, and we thank the Knight Foundation, Miami Dade College, Detroit Public Television and Book View Now for helping to make it possible,” said Anne Bentley, Vice President, Corporate Communications, PBS. “Book View Now delivers on public media’s mission to open worlds of possibility for everyone and we’re delighted that book lovers from across the country will have the opportunity to experience this unique event.”
The lineup of authors to be interviewed includes:
- Pulitzer Prize Winning biographer Stacy Schiff The Witches: Salem 1692
- Essayist and humorist PJ O’Rourke
- Former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel
- Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey
- Congressman and Civil Rights pioneer—and now graphic novel author – Rep. John Lewis
- Humorist Dave Barry
- Melissa de la Cruz, #1 Bestselling young adult author
- Acclaimed novelist and memoirist Sandra Cisneros
- Bestselling author Mitch Albom
- NPR Weekend Edition host and memoirist Scott Simon
- Book club favorites Paula McClain (The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun) and Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants, At the Water’s Edge)
- National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Finalists Neal Shusterman, Ali Benjamin, Steve Sheinkin
- National Book Award Fiction finalists Angela Flournoy (The Turner House), Karen E. Bender (Refund: Stories), Lauren Groff-tentative (Fates and Furies) and Adam Johnson (Fortune Smiles: Stories)
- National Book Award Nonfiction finalists Sally Mann (Hold Still), Sy Montgomery (The Soul of an Octopus), and Carla Power (If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran)
- Actors Paul Giamatti and David David Strathairn
- Actors Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) and Jesse Eisenberg
- Actor and graphic novel memoirist John Leguizamo and Rosie Perez
“PBS’ coverage truly extends the reach of the Book Fair, which is so critically important,” said Dr. Eduardo J. Padron, Book Fair co-founder and president of Miami Dade College. “As an educational institution, we have a duty, along with our great partners, to bring reading and a love of books to as many people as possible. We are grateful for PBS’ efforts in accomplishing this.”
“When a reader gets to meet one of their favorite authors – or a newly discovered one – their words jump off the page and into one’s mind the way the author intended them to. It’s a wonderful experience, one that Detroit Public Television’s coverage of the Miami Book Fair will help bring to more people across the country,” said Victoria Rogers, vice president for arts at Knight Foundation.
This is the second year of comprehensive, multi-day PBS Book View Now coverage of the Miami Book Fair, which attracts more than 250,000 attendees and 600 authors annually.
In addition to The National Book Festival, PBS Book View Now has also covered the Miami Book Fair International, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Book Expo America, and BookCon.
The PBS partnership is one of several efforts Knight Foundation is supporting for this year’s Book Fair as a way to make Miami a year-round destination for writers and readers.