Ada Calhoun and Maud Newton on the Revelations We Gain From Writing

The Miami Book Fair began as a two-day event in November 1984, when a small group of determined individuals—including educators from Miami Dade College, independent booksellers, and librarians—founded Miami Book Fair International. In the nearly 40 years since, Miami Book Fair has grown into one of the most significant cultural events in the region, the most comprehensively programmed book fair in the nation, and an internationally recognized model of excellence.

In Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me, Ada Calhoun explores her relationship with her father, celebrated art critic Peter Schjeldahl, as she provides new insights into the life of O’Hara, one of our most important poets. The result is a meditation on parents and children, artistic ambition, and the complexities of what we leave behind.

Author Maud Newton‘s ancestors include an accused witch in Puritan-era Massachusetts, a killer, a grandfather who married 13 times, a well-educated father who celebrated slavery, and a mother who performed exorcisms. Fearing she would replicate their damage, Newton set out to research her genealogy. Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation speaks to the transformational possibilities that facing the legacy of our ancestors offers all of us.

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Watch this video and more from the 2022 Miami Book Fair at miamibookfair.com.

Ada Calhoun is the New York Times bestselling author of St. Marks Is Dead, Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give, and Why We Can’t Sleep. She has written for the New York Times, the New Republic, and the Washington Post.

Maud Newton has written for The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, The New York Times Book Review, and Oxford American. She grew up in Miami and graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in English and law.