Arts

Today, Miami poet Richard Blanco will recite the poem he has composed for President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony.

All this week, we're bringing you stories from the Key West Literary Seminar which runs through this weekend. Cara Cannella originally posted this piece on the KWLS blog.

As a child, Aaron Lebos was given a choice of two musical instruments: piano or violin. He chose the piano and spent the next six years dedicated to the instrument, winning five state-wide competitions.

But at the age of 11, he picked up the guitar.

More than a decade later he's still strumming it.

You can hear Aaron’s music in this week’s WLRN story "Piñata," a work of fiction by Jeremy Glazer. You can listen to "Rita" and "Pravda" below:

The following is original fiction by Jeremy Glazer. Jeremy is a regular WLRN contributor. 

Every year, on his birthday, for the last twenty-three years, Robert Simmons called the number.

856-3543.

But no one had ever answered before.

“Hello, Robert’s Western Wear,” the voice says, in mock cowboy accent dissolving into a cascade of giggles.

When Richard Blanco takes the stage Monday at President Barack Obama's second inauguration, the poetry community of South Florida will be paying especially close attention.

Blanco was born to Cuban parents in Spain. The family immigrated to the United States and settled in Miami when Blanco was a toddler. He trained to be a civil engineer but a class at Florida International University later launched his poetry career.

Blanco's poetry is full of images from a childhood in South Florida and a Cuban-American household. 

All this week, we're bringing you stories from the Key West Literary Seminar which runs through this weekend. Shayne Benowitz originally posted this piece on the KWLS blog.

Reading Pico Iyer’s The Man Within My Head is one way to get under the influence of Graham Greene. Another is by sampling the cocktails at this year’s seminar.