Around 20 authors will visit NSU’s Alvin Sherman Library on March 16, as part of the Broward Public Library Foundation’s Lit!Liv, a free event from 11:30 am to 5 p.m. in which authors will discuss their books, the writing process and other literary topics with the public.
Authors will include John Grogan, who wrote the autobiographical novel “Marley & Me”; Robin Cook, whose medicine and thriller novels have sold nearly 100 million copies; and Rupert Holmes, a novelist, playwright, and singer-songwriter, who penned the book for the Broadway musical “Curtains” and the number one pop hit “Escape,” also known as “The Pina Colada Song.”
Although Lit!LIVE will last five-and-a-half hours, Dorothy Klein, executive director of the BPL Foundation, encourages busy students to consider attending, even if they only have limited time to spare.
“It’s perfect to sample Lit!LIVE,” she said. “Just come for an hour and then go off and do whatever else needs to be done on that Sunday.”
The first session will be in the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center with Arthur Agatston, the cardiologist who developed the South Beach Diet. He will discuss his newest book, “The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution.”
A few of the event’s hour-long sessions will feature just one author, and others will be panel talks with several authors. Each session will be moderated by literary critics and other professionals, including mystery columnist Oline Cogdill, book critic Chauncey Mabe and editor Mim Harrison.
Four professors of the Farquhar College of Arts and Science’s Division of Humanities — Charles Zelden, Barbara Broadman, Jim Doan and Marlisa Santos — will discuss their books in a 4 p.m. session in room 4009.
According to Klein, the authors will each speak about their books for five to 10 minutes, before responding to questions from the session’s moderator. In the last 15 minutes, event attendees will be invited to ask questions.
The authors will also sign their books, which will be sold in the library atrium.
The event’s co-chair, Joseph Goldstein, who serves as vice chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, thinks it will be excellent opportunity for book lovers.
“If you like books and you love reading, I guarantee that you’ll have a great time,” he said. “We have a more diverse group of A-listers, more so than we’ve had in recent years.”
Goldstein is particularly excited to speak with Brenda Wineapple, who authored the historical nonfiction book “Ecstatic Nation.”
“It’s a very interesting take on a period of time, the civil war and post-civil war period,” he said.
Wineapple will participate in a panel at 2:30 entitled “Exposed: America’s History,” with Chris Rahn, whose novel “Which Way Now?” tells the story of a young German diplomat during World War II, and T.D. Allman, author of the nonfiction historical “Finding Florida,” which Klein said she adores.
“It is fascinating,” Klein said. “It doesn’t read like a text book. It reads more like a very interesting novel about the many groups of people who have lived and died in the state of Florida.”
Goldstein said that the event’s organizers tried to recruit a diverse array of authors.
“We tried to get as many authors as possible with some type of a literary bent, but literary to one person means something completely different to another person,” he said. “So we tried to get a diverse crowd of fiction verses non-fiction and different genres, whether it be history or comedy.”
He also sees the event as a networking opportunity.
“Not only are you going to meet these authors, but you’re going to meet people in the community who are involved,” he said. “It’s a way, not only to have an entertaining day, but to begin your networking process. It’s a win-win, and I hope we can get a greater number of students out to match the number of public that comes.”
Lit!LIVE is part of the BPL Foundation’s annual Literary Festival, a three-day fundraising event that, since its start in 1988, has raised around $3 million to support literacy programs throughout the Broward library system, including computer instruction classes, SAT and ACT workshops and summer children’s reading programs. However, Goldstein stressed that Lit!Liv is completely free and open to anyone who wishes to attend.
“Literary Feast is our major yearly fundraiser. We’re raising money so we can insure that the library, which is underfunded from the government, has sufficient money to present programs to the public,” Goldstein said.
“Lit!LIVE is a component of that fundraising, but it’s a program that’s available for free as a service to the public, almost as a thank you to the whole community for their support of the library foundation.”
Literary Feast 2014 will begin on March 15 with “A Night of Literary Feasts,” in which community members and authors will mingle at a cocktail party and silent auction. After, participants will head to a dinner of their choice, out of 13 that will each feature one or two authors at nearby restaurants and homes. Tickets are $175 each.
Klein said, “It’s a wonderful opportunity to have this intimate, intellectually stimulating event with an author — to speak with either an author you know well or someone you are discovering for the first time.”
On March 17, authors will visit high schools throughout Broward, including The University School of NSU, to engage students in discussion, as part of the BPL Foundation’s Novel Day for Students. John T. Shaw, author of “JFK in the Senate: Pathway to the Presidency” will visit the NSU class “History of Immigration,” taught by David Kilroy, associate professor in the Farquhar’s Division of Humanities.
Klein estimated that Literary Feast’s featured authors will speak to around 3,500 people over the course of the three days, including 400 to 450 Lit!LIVE attendees.
Lit!LIVE has been held at the Alvin Sherman Library, which is part of the Broward County Library system, since 2002.
For more information on Literary Feast, including the full schedule of Lit!LIVE, visit literaryfeastonline.org. Registration is required to attend A Night of Literary Feasts, but not Lit!LIVE.
“Just show up and enjoy the discussions,” said Klein.
