Inside Out
Where the Griots Gather
Each year in November, there is much fanfare at the start of the Miami Book Fair International. An opening night punctuated with a rainfall of confetti. A parade of beloved children’s book characters. Music. Food and drinks.
But the griots always reign supreme.
The griots are the “time-binders” in West African tribal culture, the keepers of history who pass tradition from one generation to the next through the telling of stories. Their modern-day counterparts are the men and women who chronicle love, loss, jubilation and criticism in the pages of books.
Take, for example, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo, who introduced his new book, Bridge of Sighs, to the fairgoers who gathered at the Chapman Conference Center. Russo read two passages from the book and captivated the audience with his charming oratory performance. He broke into song, he smiled, he cajoled, and laughs and nods of approval regularly broke out among the devoted literati.
“I’m often asked about my characters seeming extraordinary despite their ordinary circumstances,” he said. “Repetition is what takes the miraculous out of life. I believe that even the most ordinary can be seen as extraordinary when we slow down and actually look.”
And the Emmy-winning comedian Rosie O’Donnell presented Celebrity Detox: (The Fame Game), a recounting of a rise to stardom that she described as exhilarating but ultimately addictive and detrimental to her sense of balance and well-being.
“I’ve never been to a book fair, so I didn’t know what to expect,” O’Donnell said. “I thought maybe there would be rides, cotton candy. ... Turns out it’s a bunch of smart people talking about books.”
The essayist, poet and Virginia Tech professor Nikki Giovanni talked politics, love and life when she introduced her latest collection, Acolytes, to a packed audience.
“Miami Book Fair is the important book fair,” Giovanni said. “And Miami is important because it’s international, and it needs to stay that way.”
With that, Giovanni let loose – on racism, on Bill Cosby, on Condoleezza Rice. She spoke of the year she lost her mother, her sister and her friend Rosa Parks in death, the same year she and her son had a falling out.
There was also humor, as when she recalled one of her last conversations with Parks, the subject of a children’s book Giovanni had written. “She said, ‘You wrote that I fiddled for a dime while I waited for a bus. I’ve never fiddled in my life,’” Giovanni recalled.
For President George W. Bush’s daughter, Jenna, the story belonged to Ana, an HIV-positive teenage mother whom she met while an intern for the United Nation’s Children’s Fund.
“Ana’s story represents the 2.3 million children around the world living with HIV and the millions more that suffer abuse in their homes, schools and communities,” said Bush, author of Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope.
More than 300 authors presented their latest works. Among them were National Book Award finalist Edwidge Danticat, activist and politician Ralph Nader, MDC professor and author Geoffrey Philp, acclaimed Chinese author Ha Jin, poet and playwright Amiri Baraka, local favorite Dave Barry, and TV personality Padma Lakshmi.
It was, as books editor Chauncey Mabe wrote in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a “celebration of books and reading, writers and readers, played on a grand scale.”
Fairgoers also had an opportunity to sample the art, music and traditions of other countries at the International Pavilions, where the language and literature of Brazil, Spain and the French-speaking countries of the world were celebrated.
Soon, the Fair will celebrate its 25th anniversary.
And as in years past, the roster of scribes will surely be impressive. Organizers have already begun the long process of scheduling readings, signings, lectures and workshops that will consume most of the week of activities.
— Gariot P. Louima, Katherine Joss and Christopher C. Gregory-Guider