PBS To Provide Three Days of Live Online Coverage of 32nd Annual Miami Book Fair At Miami Dade College

MIAMI, Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 32^nd 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.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.

About the Miami Book Fair:
Widely considered the largest and finest literary event in the U.S., The Miami Book Fair International is the premier event of The Center for Writing and Literature @ Miami Dade College, a part of MDCulture, the Cultural Affairs Department of the College. The Center promotes reading, writing and theater at locations throughout South Florida by consistently presenting activities open to all. Its Generation Genius programs for children and teens promote literacy and learning. Its creative writing program has national appeal, and courses are taught by local and visiting authors. In 2012, the Center celebrated its tenth year with a renewed commitment to the advancement of literary and theater arts.

About Detroit Public Television:
Detroit Public Television (DPTV)-WTVS-TV is the non-commercial, viewer-supported PBS member station serving the nation's 11th largest television market, with 1.5 million weekly viewers in Southeast Michigan and 1.2 million weekly viewers across Canada. DPTV is a leader in programming related to health and the environment, public affairs, arts and culture and children. It is also a leading national producer and distributor of programming for Public Television, and winner of a 2012 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Award, as well as the only dual PBS licensee / entertainment label in the country, operating as DPTV Media.  For more information, visit www.dptv.org

About PBS
PBS, with its over 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 109 million people through television and over 28 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS' broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry's most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS' premier children's TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents' and teachers' most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS PressRoom on Twitter

Contacts:
Della Cassia, Detroit Public Television, 248-320-5680, [email protected] 
Jennifer Byrne, PBS, 703-739-5487, [email protected] 
Juan Mendieta, Miami-Dade College; 305-237-7611, [email protected] 
Marika Lynch, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677 [email protected]

SOURCE Detroit Public Television

Related Links

http://www.dptv.org