Word Fest

The Miami Book Fair is obviously the 800-pound gorilla in the local literary scene, but did you know that Miami-Dade College also puts on a pretty awesome little writer's conference at the end of every Spring? This year's Writer's Institute, organized by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts, features four days of workshops (some of which are already sold out, FYI), lectures, and readings.

Visiting faculty include the Miami New Times' own alumnus Steve Almond, poet Mark Doty, memoirist Esmeralda Santiago, and fiction writers Lynne Barrett, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and Percival Everett, among others. There's also a panel on why you need an editor with twenty-year veteran in the publishing business, Emily Heckman; a panel with literary agent Joelle Delbourgo; and one with local writers Anjanette Delgado and Andrea Askowitz on the post-publication experience.

For the complete schedule, visit the website.
May 6-9, 2009