Miami Book Fair 2017

 

I attended the 12:00 p.m. panel, Fantasy: Youth’s Portal to Reality

The panel discussion focused on getting an insight to the surreal tales where children grow up to be robots, toys come alive, and a surfboard carries friends into a supernatural mystery, and gods struggle with real desires. These top creators shared insight about why fantasy can be the best tool to teach kids about reality, with Janet Lee and Jim McCann (Return of the Dapper Men), Liniers (Good Night, Planet), George O’Connor (Olympians) and Kim Dwinell (Surfside Girls). Moderated by Martin Pierro.

I chose this panel because when I was looking at the Book fair panel schedule I thought it would be interesting to attend this panel, and because I was going to the Book fair early to avoid the crowds of people attending, I wanted to attend an early panel that I know I would learn from and gain insight on a topic that I find engaging.

The panel participants were Janet Lee and Jim McCann (Return of the Dapper Men), Liniers (Good Night, Planet), George O’Connor (Olympians) and Kim Dwinell (Surfside Girls). The panel was moderated by Martin Pierro. I had never hear of any of them before or seen their work before.

I was impressed how one of Janet Lee’s book’s got picked up quickly by a publishing company on the first time and how “Return of the Dapper Men” was created based on the artwork she had originally made and then Jim McCann created a story based on the artwork. I was also impressed how Liniers has been creating comic strips based on his daily life with his wife and three daughters and family for fifteen years. His daily comic strips are posted on the daily newspaper in Argentina.

What I was most impressed me about the panel discussion is how each artist went into brief detail about how their career launched and how they got to where they are today. They discussed their struggle, their concepts, how they started off within their field, publication companies publishing their books, conferences with their editor, and studying illustration, amination.

I visited the Inner Traditions Bear Company book stand where I was able to explore more books about dreams, healing, medicinal/holistic approaches, acupressure. I really enjoyed this book stand the most because I find that reading books about health and wellness with a natural approach is beneficial to me because I like learning new ways to improve my overall health. I visited the MDC magazine stand, had the magazines of the different campuses with artwork from various artists, and the comic books section. 

The Miami Book Fair altered my experience of Downtown Miami, because it felt a bit different from when I am driving to school I would usually just pass by the building, focus on my route to school and find parking. This time around I was able to familiarize myself with buildings and places I had never been to before and was able to walk around Wolfson campus for the first time and get to know where certain things are located at. I didn’t feel like the usual downtown that I am familiar with, going to the book fair helped me  explore and familiarize myself with my surroundings in downtown.