Poetry Foundation Partners with 2014 Miami Book Fair and O, Miami Poetry Festival

CHICAGO -- The Poetry Foundation has partnered with the Miami Book Fair International and O, Miami Poetry Festival to present one of the largest gatherings of contemporary American poets at this year’s Miami Book Fair, running Sunday, Nov 16 – Monday, Nov 24^th.  O, Miami Poetry Festival is programming jointly with the Fair and has created the Official Poetry Guide to the 2014 Miami Book Fair for all things poetry during the nine-day event.   

More than forty American and international poets in all stages of their careers will assemble and share their work, sign books and lead workshops, give interviews and celebrate their recent 2014 publications. NPR, C-SPAN and PBS will be covering events, including PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown. In a recent New York Times article, PBS stated that they "envision Olympic-style coverage" in their plan to live stream three days of the 2014 Miami Book Fair International beginning on Friday, November 21 at 3PM CST.  

Central to the partnership, the Poetry Foundation will present a public reading on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 11AM in Building 8, Room 8201 that celebrates Nathaniel Mackey, winner of the Poetry Foundation’s 2014 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and the five emerging poets who received the 2014 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships: Wendy Xu, Danez Smith, Ocean Vuong, Somaz Sharif and Hannah Gamble. Foundation president Robert Polito and Poetry magazine editor Don Share will preside over this event.

Other poetry programming includes:  

• Tribute to Pulitzer-prize winning poet and former US Laureate Mark Strand, in conversation with current US Laureate Charles Wright and Jorie Graham

• Panel chaired by poets Claudia Rankine and Elizabeth Alexander in tribute to James Baldwin and the politics of race in contemporary culture

• Reading by this year’s National Book Award finalists and winner in poetry

• Reading by this year’s winner of the Pulitzer prize in poetry, Vijay Sheshadri as well as readings by Erin Belieu, Mark Bibbins, CAConrad, Carolyn Forché, Kimiko Hahn, Tony Hoagland, Ed Hirsch, Fanny Howe, Saeed Jones, Jennifer Moxley, Carl Phillips, Stanley Plumly, Roger Reeves and many others

• Special offsite event at The Standard Hotel on Saturday evening from 10PM to 12AM featuring ten festival poets in partnership with O, Miami Poetry Festival

• Three-day poetry craft workshop with award-winning poet, Tony Hoagland, "Inclusion, Omission and Precision in Poetry"

•  Craft-building poetry “microworkshops” led by the 2014 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows

"The Miami Book Fair is known for having launched the work of many writers, including my own," said Poetry Foundation President Robert Polito, "so I know personally the many delights of the Fair, particularly the focus on assuring exceptional experiences for readers as well as writers, and the lively Miami audiences. The Poetry Foundation is excited to join the Fair’s new director Tom Healy and its longtime chairman Mitchell Kaplan, to deepen the presence of poetry, and what a stellar gathering of poets, emerging and established, you'll discover there this year." 

“Rimbaud famously wrote that he had ‘stormed unimaginable Floridas,’” said Tom Healy, the Fair’s new director. “With scores of poets taking Florida by storm this year, we’re going to hear some eloquent thunder. We are so thankful to the Poetry Foundation to helping bring such lyrical weather.” 

More than 600 authors from around the world in almost every genre will come together next week in Miami for the Book Fair, making it the largest and one of the most prestigious literary festivals in the country.

For a full list of participating poets in the 2014 Miami International Book Fair, please see our website. Look for Fair coverage before and after on the Poetry Foundation’s Harriet blog and on O, Miami’s website.

Check out Vulture.com's November 18 coverage of the Miami Book Fair.

Follow the Fair on Twitter @miamibookfair.com  @omiamifestival   #MBFI31

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About the Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit poetryfoundation.org.

Follow the Poetry Foundation and Poetry on Facebook at facebook.com/poetryfoundation or on Twitter @PoetryFound.


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