This week on a special edition of The Florida Roundup at the Miami Book Fair, WLRN's Tom Hudson spoke with a panel of authors about the changing political and cultural landscape of South Florida.
National Book Award finalist and MacArthur finalist Edwidge Danticat, host of NPR's Full Disclosure Roben Farzad and Dr. Andrew Frank, professor of history at Florida State University took to the stage to discuss everything from uncertainty over immigration to the slow expansion of medical marijuana and the backlash against Confederate symbols scattered across the state.
We also asked our audience to share what South Florida story would you tell in a book. Here are some of our favorite responses:
- Alex Kuk, Hollywood: “How my family was one of I think three Chinese restaurants that started in Miami and are still around 51 years later.”
- Katie Carlson, Palm City: "The story of the goliath grouper nearing extinction, the population increase and the fight to keep them protected."
- Eddie Sierra, Coconut Grove: "How sea level rise is an impending danger and will change our landscape."
- Shifra Lipson, Palmetto Bay: "The story of the patrons who stop by my local cafeteria window. Their interactions, and their individual stories: the Cuban contractor, the white middle-class transplant from the frigid Midwest, the recovering drug addict who works the Salvation Army donation truck, the Colombian empanada maker who was a model and an accountant in her country, the Slovak gymnastics teacher from across the street, the Vietnamese nail technician from down the street, the black tile salesman. The cafeteria window is a microcosm of Miami!