Little Haiti Book Fest to explore gentrification and immigration

Miami Herald

01-05-2025

Miami's Little Haiti is known for the vibrancy of its pastel murals and the rhythmic sounds of music filling the air. On Sunday, May 4, during Haitian Heritage Month, a quieter expression of Haitian identity will take center stage: the written word. This year, the 11th edition of the Little Haiti Book Festival at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex will offer more than books; tightly woven into event programming are themes of community displacement and immigration instability.
Founded in 2014 by Jean-Marie Willer Denis—better known as Jean Mapou, owner of the bookstore Libreri Mapou—the book festival began after the Haitian poet and playwright took a trip to Haiti, where he discovered a book fair called 'Livres en folie' (Book Madness).' He got the idea to replicate the initiative in Miami under the Haitian Creole moniker 'Foli Liv nan Ti Ayiti (Book Madness in Little Haiti)' and the English designation 'Little Haiti Book Fair.'
'At the time, I was serving on the board of the Miami Book Fair International, and as I compared the two fairs—the one in Haiti and the one in Miami—I saw room for improvement. For example, I noticed that the Miami Book Fair could feature more Haitian authors to become truly international,' says Mapou.
At his urging, Mapou says, the Miami Book Fair added a section called ReadCaribbean that featured Caribbean and Haitian authors. Still, he believed a dedicated Haitian book fair was necessary. With the support of Sosyete Koukouy (Firefly Society), a cultural organization devoted to preserving Haitian culture in the United States, he launched his own.
'After three years, in 2017, Miami Book Fair joined us and supported us in terms of logistics, and we decided to rename it 'Little Haiti Book Festival' because of the festive aspect of it and because it was more than a book fair.'
The festival has grown in scope, attracting both local and diaspora authors and expanding its footprint through workshops, dance, music, and panel discussions. This year's edition reflects deeper anxieties about gentrification and immigration uncertainty.
'Little Haiti is shrinking more and more and we're becoming a small neighborhood sandwiched between the big developers' projects,' says Mapou. The concern over gentrification isn't new, but it's becoming more urgent. Luxury condos and high-end developments have accelerated property value hikes, slowly displacing the very community that gives Little Haiti its name.
This year, a panel titled 'The Future of Little Haiti' at noon on Sunday, May 4, is to tackle these tensions head-on. Organized in collaboration with the Miami Book Fair, the conversation explores how the neighborhood might preserve its character amid redevelopment.
'Community members will examine what preservation, policy, and place-making really mean,' says Michele Jessica ('M.J. Fievre') Logan, coordinator of ReadCaribbean and a representative of Miami Book Fair. 'It's less about adding for the sake of novelty and more about staying rooted while evolving.'
There's not a singular theme for this year's book festival, but if one idea should thread this year's programming together, it would be the concept of 'dwelling,' according to Logan. 'Dwelling, not only in a physical space, like Little Haiti, but in memory, in language, in cultural identity. How do we inhabit spaces that are constantly shifting? How do we carry tradition forward without making it rigid?'
Alongside gentrification, immigration policy looms over the event. The festival will respond with a panel titled 'Retounen Lakay (Going Back Home): Protected Status, Policy Shifts, And Deportation' featuring legal experts such as Ariol Eugene, Paul Christian Namphy, and Ira Kurzban, known for decades of advocacy on Haitian immigration issues.
'There is panic in Haiti and panic in the U.S.,' says Mapou. 'So, we invited experts who will talk about the consequences of the mass deportations on Haiti and the U.S., and their consequences on our social lives.'
The author of 'Happy, Okay,' a collection of poems about anxiety, depression, hope and survival, Logan says that poetry, dance and a mural project, in addition to the panel discussions, will all circle back to the same questions.
Despite some heavy topics, the atmosphere at the festival will remain lively and intergenerational, with an emphasis on youth programming.
'Children are not an afterthought at this festival—they are its pulse,' says Logan.
Mapou echoed the sentiment. 'The children's section is very important to us because our generation is gradually fading, and we want to pass on our culture to the new generation so that it doesn't disappear.'
To that end, Children's Alley will feature activities that blend tradition and learning: puzzles teaching about Haitian landmarks, traditional games being revived, and art projects inspired by cultural symbols like the turtle—a metaphor for migration and endurance—brought to life by Solanges Vivens, LHD, and artist Asser Saint-Val.
While international authors from Haiti are likely to remain largely absent—due to ongoing violence and limited air travel—U.S.-based authors will step in to fill the gap. Attendees can expect new or returning titles from writers such as Kiki Wainwright, Lyonel Gerdes, Irsa Vieux, Isabelle Camille, Pascal Millien, Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel, Michèle Jeanmarie, Lola Passe, Keneisha Harding, and Annick Duvivier.
More than 30 authors will be present at the Little Haiti Cultural Center and the Caribbean Marketplace (Mache Ayisyen) to showcase and sign their books. Among the authors feature first-time participants debuting children's books, poetry collections, and bilingual storytelling rooted in Haitian traditions.
'These authors represent a vibrant cross-section of Haitian and Haitian-American voices, many of whom are self-published or running independent presses. Their books appear in English, French, and Haitian Creole, reflecting the multilingual nature of our festival and community,' says Logan.
Throughout the day, workshops will offer creative outlets in dance, poetry, and drama. One will feature playwright Florence Jean-Louis Dupuy, who is known in Haiti for her Creole adaptation of Eve Ensler's 'The Vagina Monologues.' Another will be an ekphrastic poetry workshop, where participants will write poems inspired by visual art.
Dupuy, whose contributions to Haitian theater span decades, will co-lead at the festival an interactive theater workshop. 'Those who participate in the workshop can expect to have fun, to come out of themselves, to overcome their shyness and to be introduced to the theatrical discipline,' she says.
Amid the celebration, this year's festival will include tributes to recently deceased Haitian literary figures such as authors Frankétienne, Anthony Phelps, Max Manigat, and Alphonse Férère. 'We've lost some of the finest voices in Haitian literature,' says Mapou, author of 'DPM Kannte – The Plight of the Haitian Refugees.'
The Little Haiti Book Festival has evolved over the years. It grew from humble beginnings—when organizers borrowed folding chairs, passed around plates of food,—into a staple of the Haitian literary community that, as Mapou notes, has brought greater exposure to the Little Haiti neighborhood thanks to its association to the Miami Book Fair.
Beyond cultural pride, the festival also brings tangible benefits, says Mapou.
'Economically, the annual book festival helps a lot in terms of book sales. Some writers sell books for more than $700. The festival has a tangible impact among Haitian authors. They find a place to present their books to the Haitian community instead of putting them in places where no one cares.'
Logan highlights that the festival is not just a platform but a way of connecting.
'The festival is a bridge—between Little Haiti and the diaspora, between past and future, between Miami and the world.' She adds, 'We want stories to be remembered, rituals to be honored, and emerging voices to have room to grow. We aren't exporting culture, we're extending it.'
If you go:
WHAT: Little Haiti Book Festival 2025
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, May 4.
WHERE: Little Haiti Cultural Complex, 212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami
COST: Free
INFORMATION: 305-237-7258 or miamibookfair.com/littlehaiti.
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