Celebrations of the printed word are taking place this month at literary extravaganzas in Salem, Massachusetts, and Miami, Florida.
SALEM LIT FEST
November 12-14 and 18
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff is slated to deliver the Lit Fest’s keynote address on November 13. She’ll discuss her new book, The Witches, Salem 1692, which delves into the dark history of this picturesque seaside town. The talk will take place in a storied locale, the East India Marine Hall, constructed in 1825 to showcase objects local sailors brought back from their global journeys. Salem native Nathaniel Hawthorne once showed the Hall (now part of the Peabody Essex Museum) to his writer friends Emerson, Thoreau, and Longfellow. Visit pem.org for information about admission costs and reservations.
Other events include a lecture by Salem resident and novelist Brunonia Barry on November 18 at the House of the Seven Gables, the dwelling featured in Hawthorne’s fictional tale and now a museum. Barry is the author of the contemporary novels The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places, her latest, both of which feature “an involving, intricately woven story and vivid descriptions of historic Salem” (Booklist). Visit 7gables.org for more information.
MIAMI BOOK FAIR
November 15-22
Among the week-long happenings at the Miami Book Fair are panels, readings, the Ibero-American Authors program in Spanish, a street fair showcasing hundreds of exhibiting publishers and booksellers, cooking demonstrations, musical performances, and even poets turning out impromptu verse.
If we were attending this year’s Fair, we would be sure to show up for “Tales of the 20th Century: New Fiction,” a panel on November 21 featuring four historical fiction authors: B. A. Shapiro (The Muralist), Sara Gruen (At the Water’s Edge), Mary Morris (The Jazz Palace), and Paula McLain, whose latest novel, Circling the Sun, centers on Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen penned the memoir Out of Africa.
Visit miamibookfair.com for ticketing details and other information. The street fair is free on Friday, November 20. On Saturday and Sunday, November 21 and 22, admission to the street fair is $8; ages 13-18 and over 62: $5.
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November 19, 2015 at 10:41 am
Gary Wyatt
Hey Girls….the Poe House in Baltimore are sellling pewter Raven bracelets for $14.99 , plus shipping….I am ordering 4 for Xmas. You might wanna feature that on your website…..they are needing funds to keep its doors open. Also being released in early 2016 the Twain houses will be selling silver and gold commemorative coins. The coins sold will help fund both the Twain houses in Hannibal,and Hartford,and I think others too. You might need to check with them on that, and release dates for the coins. Would be great if you featured both the bracelets and the coins. The bracelets would make great Xmas gifts for Poe fans,and the coins could be also purchased and set back for Xmas 2016. I plan to use them as stocking stuffers. Thanks!
November 25, 2015 at 1:53 pm
noveldestinations
Hi, Gary. Thank you so much for the heads up! A post is coming soon in which we mention the coins…and another with gift suggestions that will include the Raven bracelet. I’m sure the people you got them for will love them. Happy Thanksgiving!
November 25, 2015 at 10:35 pm
Gary
Thanks! Same to you!