Literary Arts
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month
In celebration of HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, 2022, we have curated a group of video interviews from the ArtSpeak archives with impactful Hispanics in the arts, who are connected to the Miami and South Florida areas.
read moreJulie K. Brown: In Pursuit of Justice
JULIE K. BROWN is an investigative journalist with the “Miami Herald,” best known for pursuing the sex trafficking story surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. She is the recipient of several awards including two George Polk Awards for Justice Reporting. Brown’s book, “Perversion of Justice,” based on her reporting on the Epstein case, was published by William Morrow and Company. The book served as the foundation for a limited series on HBO.
read moreJohn Okrent: Poet & Family Doctor
JOHN OKRENT (b.1981) is a poet and a family doctor. Okrent’s first book of poems, “This Costly Season,” about the covid pandemic in 2020, was recently published by Arrowsmith. One of the poems was first published on the front page of the “Seattle Times,” above the fold.
read moreFrannie Sheridan: Comedian, Author, Actress, Playwright
FRANNIE SHERIDAN is the daughter of Jewish Holocaust survivors but was brought up as a Catholic in Canada to protect her from imagined antisemitism. Her father was a successful ophthalmologist with three practices but was tormented by his experiences during the Holocaust. She has had careers as a successful playwright, comedian, author, and actress.
read moreSusan Orlean: Author + Staff Writer, The New Yorker
SUSAN ORLEAN is the author of 12 books, including “The Orchid Thief,” which was made into an Academy Award winning movie called “Adaptation,” starring Nicholas Cage, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean. Orlean is also a longtime staff writer for “The New Yorker” magazine.
read moreAuthor, Filmmaker Sebastian Junger — Still on Track
SEBASTIAN JUNGER is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, Fire, A Death in Belmont, War, Tribe, and Freedom. As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a special correspondent at ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world. Junger is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film “Restrepo” (co-directed with Tim Hetherington), was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
read moreAuthor / Journalist Bob Reiss: Living on the Border of Order & Anarchy
BOB REISS is a bestselling author of 23 books, as well as a journalist, a former Chicago Tribune reporter and former correspondent for Outside Magazine. His work has been published in The Washington Post Magazine, Smithsonian, Parade, Rolling Stone and other national publications. He has appeared on Good Morning America, Morning Joe, CNN, Charlie Rose, Al Jazeera and Dan Rather Reports.
read moreCOLLATERAL DAMAGE: How The Iraq War Effects Your Town
The Iraq War was in the news that morning, coming over car radios all over the country when Joe Dauffenbach died. For years local officials in Southern Minnesota had sought federal dollars to widen sections of Route 14, a road they call a death trap. But when they went to Washington, last March, hats in hand, “I’d talk about Route 14,” said Pat Hentges, city manager of Mankato. “But the Senators and Congressmen would switch the conversation to Iraq. The war was getting in the way.”
read moreThe Multi-Talented Jen Karetnick
Poet, writer, author, critic, and educator JEN KARETNICK is the author/co-author of 20 books, including five full-length poetry collections. She is co-founder/co-curator of the not-for-profit organization, SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami), and co-editor of the daily online literary journal, SWWIM Every Day. Jen worked as a dining critic and food editor for Miami New Times, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, South Florida Magazine, Las Olas Magazine, Lincoln Road Magazine, and MIAMI Magazine from 1992-2020.
read moreWriter Nicholas Garnett: “In the Pink”
In his late 40s, NICHOLAS GARNETT received his MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University (FIU), where he was a two-time recipient of the school’s literary award in nonfiction. He has taught creative writing at FIU, the Miami Book Fair International, and Writing Class Radio. Garnett is a freelance editor and co-producer of the Miami-based live storytelling series, Lip Service: True Stories Out Loud.
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