During the 42nd annual Miami Book Fair happening from November 16 to 23 at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, Caribbean literature will again take its place among the festival’s most compelling offerings. 

Jamaican authors will again join over 400 authors from around the world who are participating in the myriad of events that comprise the book fair’s calendar.

As part of Greater Miami and Miami Beach’s celebration of literary excellence, Jamaican authors Diana McCaulay and Dwight Thompson will participate in the panel discussion “Cross Currents: Haiti, Jamaica & The Caribbean Imagination—Fiction & Nonfiction,” on Sunday, November 23, at 4:00 pm.

Joined by Haiti’s Edwidge Danticat and Fabienne Josaph, this discussion event brings together the four distinguished Caribbean writers whose works span genres from children’s literature to historical fiction. The panel, moderated by journalist Fabian Lyon, promises to illuminate the literary dialogue between the two cultures.

Diana McCaulay will present her latest intriguing novel A House for Miss Pauline which weaves supernatural elements into a story of secrets and reconciliation in rural Jamaica, while Dwight Thompson’s My Own Dear People confronts the lasting impact of witnessed violence and moral choices in Montego Bay. Edwidge Danticat will present Watch Out for Falling Iguanas, a children’s book that transforms a peculiar Miami weather phenomenon into an adventure of discovery. Fabienne Josaphat’s Kingdom of No Tomorrow transports readers to 1968 Oakland, where protagonist Nettie navigates love and revolution within the Black Panther movement. 

McCaulay is no stranger to the Miami Book Fair. “This will be my third time at the Miami Book Fair, and it is one of my favourite festivals. I’m looking forward to engaging with other Caribbean writers, particularly from Haiti and possibly even Cuba, as all three islands have just been devastated by Hurricane Melissa. I hope the power of the written word can bring our realities to a much wider audience at the Fair.”

Also participating at the Miami Book Fair is Olive Senior, Jamaica’s poet laureate from 2021 to 2024, whose book Paradise Once: A Novel speaks to the resiliency of the indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean. She will participate on a panel titled Reclaiming History: Power, Resistance & Cultural Memory—Fiction & Nonfiction, moderated by Chantalle F. Verna, associate professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University. Senior is joined for this conversation about revolutionary figures and marginalised voices by Marlene Daut, professor of French and African diaspora studies at Yale University and Julia Gaffield, associate professor of history at William & Mary.

The Miami Book Fair is a part of Greater Miami and Miami Beaches “Fall for the Arts” programme which a three-month cultural celebration that reinforces Greater Miami and Miami Beach’s role as one of the world’s leading destinations for art and culture. “The Miami Book Fair is just one of the many events that exemplify Greater Miami and Miami Beach’s unique position as a cultural crossroads where Caribbean heritage thrives year-round,” noted a spokesperson for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB). “These Caribbean voices contribute to the authentic multicultural tapestry that makes our destination so distinctive.”

The eight-day festival features over 550 authors participating in readings, panel discussions, and the popular three-day Street Fair (November 21-23), where more than 250 exhibitors transform downtown Miami into a literary marketplace. Programming spans English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, reflecting South Florida’s linguistic diversity.

Families can explore Children’s Alley with its interactive storytelling sessions and creative activities, while the “Evenings With” series offers intimate conversations with acclaimed authors across all genres. The Off the Shelf stage adds musical performances and poetry readings to the mix, creating a celebration that extends beyond the written word.