Miami Book Fair presents the 39th annual Miami Book Fair November 13 through November 20. An eight-day celebration of, for, and by authors, books, and people who love them. The Fair features more than 400 authors and presenters from across the country and globe; nearly 150 in-person and on-demand programs delivered in English, Spanish (through the IberoAmerican Authors program), and Haitian Creole and French (through the ReadCaribbean program); the signature

Explore the human fascination with seashells and their ancient history as global currency, their use as religious and luxury objects, and the remarkable marine mollusks that make them in Ms. Barnett's engaging account of an aspect of nature and culture long hidden in plain sight. Barnett illuminates the beauty and wonder of seashells as well as human ingenuity and scientific solutions they represent for the warming world. No registration or

In 1998, the original Weird Florida posited that Florida was the wackiest of all. That much weirdness called for a second volume in 2006: Weird Florida II: In a State of Shock. Now, more than two decades later, who can argue otherwise? This presentation includes a whirlwind tour of 500 years of Florida history, capped with a strong argument for Florida's transplants to become Floridians. Registration is suggested but not

WGCU Public Media is hosting a screening and discussion of "With a Made Up Mind: the History of the Black Vote in Southwest Florida." From Jim Crow legislation at the turn of the century to today's push to return civil rights to citizens who have served their felony sentences, this short film examines the history of the fight for ballot access in Florida. WGCU will ask if there are other

The Aluna Art Foundation is hosting a talk with fiber artists Pip Brant, Aurora Molina, and Evelyn Politzer, moderated by Adriana Herrera, cofounder of Aluna Art Foundation. They will discuss politically-charged fiber arts and ways of exploring the relationship between gender, history, and fiber ancestral traditions and their relationship with contemporary textile art. The talk has been organized in partnership with Threading the City, a fusion of the Fiber Artist

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida International University is hosting lecture exploring women's roles with the Federal Civil Defense Administration in the 1950s. So-called traditional roles for women in the 1950s as housewives and mothers have been well documented. Yet millions of women took advantage of the opportunity to expand their roles by either being employed by or volunteering for civil defense agencies and organizations. The Federal Civil Defense

The Aluna Art Foundation is hosting a lecture by Dr. Adriana Herrera explaining current contemporary art created by Mayan artists from Guatemala. The title of the exhibition, "Tiempo Circular" (Circular Time), pays homage to this ancient culture of astronomers and to its prodigious textiles that-unlike the great architectural monuments that ceased to be built-have continued to incessantly weave millenary traditions and knowledge. Neither wars nor the oppression of the conquest

For those seeking fresh holiday entertainment, Thinking Cap Theatre (TCT), a Broward-based, professional nonprofit dedicated to innovative theatrical fare, may just have the freshest show in town. "O CHRISTMAS TREE" is an original holiday play with music co-written by TCT's Artistic and Managing Directors, Nicole Stodard and Bree-Anna Obst. "O CHRISTMAS TREE" tells the story of Frankie (Phillip Andrew Santiago), an 8-year old Hialeah boy of Cuban, Catholic, and Jewish