A BOOK LOVER'S FIRST TRIP TO THE MIAMI BOOK FAIR

The Miami Book Fair marked its 42nd year at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, as

Downtown Miami buzzed with authors, booksellers and live events. Staff Writer Victoria

Rivers shares her first-time experience at the event.

By Victoria Rivera

The Miami Book Fair is a bookworm’s dream. As someone who has collected books for almost five years, all the fair needed to sell me was its outdoor library. I’d seen the ads for the fair once or twice in the past, but the chance to really go hadn’t arisen until this year. Now that I’ve finally gotten the chance to attend, I’m beyond happy to announce that it lived up to expectations.

The biggest draw is the books, something I’m sure no one is surprised by. Obvious as it was that there’d be a great variety of sellers there, I was still blown away by just how many stalls there really were. As far as the eye could see were these vibrantly colored tents bustling with people. I was worried that I wouldn’t have much to do after half an hour of walking around, but —with two hours in— I still wasn’t finished scaling the entirety of the fair.

The blocks are long, each tent placed side by side without any gaps. You really would need an entire week if you wanted to give each individual tent their due attention. Thankfully, it wasn’t a maze to navigate either. The fair itself was expansive, but it was all incredibly linear. For the most part, you’re only going in straight lines to see all the different stalls. When you want to attend the author panels, every convergence point for the streets has a map. I found I always knew where to go, and when I got tired from all the walking, there was no shortage of places I could sit.

Victoria Rivera joined by two stilt-walking giants hailing from the iconic Children’s Alley. PHOTO COURTESY: VICTORIA RIVERA

It felt like every booth was its own individual bookstore tailored to any niche you could imagine. I was leaving with an arm filled with graphic novels, old comics and more detective books than my wallet is pleased with. The outdoor library they advertised was heaven, full of beautiful leather bound and vintage books that I wanted to carry out in a wheelbarrow. There was something for everyone there.

Even better to me was the fact that small authors got the chance to advertise their work. It would be one thing to simply have resellers that sold popular work or otherwise weren’t authors themselves. It was another to be able to speak to the creators of these stories personally, to hear their passion and all the effort that was put into the pages. I’d never heard of most of these writers before as someone who’s often stuck to classical literature; there was little more exciting than the chance to find stories I never would have heard about before.

It is so, so important to me that these authors had a space, considering how many of them were minorities who are sorely under-represented in the media. Many of these stories were self-published and, through the fair, they got the chance to put themselves out there when other American publishing companies may not have given them the chance.

Victoria Rivera posed before the ‘Miami Bull,’ just steps away from the Off the Shelf stage performance. PHOTO COURTESY: VICTORIA RIVERA

I also found the Children’s Alley was just as fun, too — I’m sure even funner for an actual child. There were little drones that acted like dogs for the kids to play with, as well as performers that the kids could interact with. They were exceedingly friendly with anyone who passed, including with me who they invited for a picture. In terms of the fair itself there were also tiny, cozy nooks where the kids could curl up to enjoy the books they bought.

I feel it would’ve been easy to skimp out on it entirely because it’s for children. They aren’t difficult to please, so giving them less would’ve been easy. For the short amount of time I stayed there, though — the extra effort they put into making that block ‘fun’ could very well be what flips the switch on for a kid and makes them begin to love reading.

Only a few steps away would also be the live musical performances for “Off the Shelf.” The only thing that disappointed me was the fact that I couldn’t find the artists’ songs afterward to listen back to them. On the day I went, they had a live jazz band. I gladly would’ve stayed for them with or without the rest of the event. You could hear the music for blocks. The atmosphere was nothing short of lively; I was surprised when I didn’t see anyone dancing, considering how energetic the music was.

As a whole I couldn’t have loved my experience more. When so many people are turning to anti-intellectualism, I appreciate these celebrations of literacy that much more. Reading should be accessible and fun, something that is often lost with the stress of academic life. The Miami Book Fair felt like a reminder of what reading should feel like. It’s proof to me that no matter how much times shift, the love of reading isn’t going away anytime soon.