PROGRAMS

The Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College promotes reading and writing throughout the year by consistently presenting high-quality literary activities open to all in South Florida.

The Center’s activities include:

• Visiting Writers: Established and emerging writers from Florida, the United States and abroad help students and members of the community to deepen their understanding of literature and sharpen their creative writing abilities. The Center works alongside Miami Dade College professors to choose writers whose books are appropriate for special topics classes. The Center then brings those visiting writers into the classrooms.

• The Center’s literacy-focused initiatives, StoryTime, One Picture Book, One Community, Spanish Authors in America and Current Voices in Literature encourage an appreciation for books with the goal of fostering dialogue in the community and enhancing the reading skills of children and adults.

• Non-Credit Creative Writing Courses are offered throughout the year to give everyone in our community the chance to polish the craft of writing and to share their work with a supportive, yet critical, community of writers, whose goal is continual development.

• Each May, the Writers Institute presents renowned authors who offer four days of intensive workshops on poetry, fiction, nonfiction, publishing and more. These are complemented by readings and festive gatherings.

• With the financial support of the James L. Knight Foundation, the Center coordinates Miami: City of Refuge to provide a safe haven for writers exiled under threat of death, imprisonment or persecution in their native countries.

• The largest and finest event of its kind in the U.S., Miami Book Fair International has taken place each fall for the past 26 years. More than 350 authors from all over the world present books every year. Thousands of books are sold during the Street Fair, and Children’s Alley presents book-centered fun for children

• The close relationship between theatre and literature prompted the Center to embrace Prometeo Theatre, a community theatre with the mission of preserving the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. Prometeo Theatre enjoys the distinction of being the only one of its kind in the nation to offer a quality theatre program in Spanish. Courses and workshops are offered throughout the year.