It’s a book fair right from your couch. Over the past month, the Little Haiti Book Festival has been connecting readers and authors online. The program director of the festival, MJ Fievre, spoke to NBC 6 anchor Sheli Muñiz.
Sheli: You’ve really made lemonade out of lemons by taking the book fair virtually.
Fievre: We had to, we had to adapt with everything that's going on and we're glad we did.
Sheli: What’s been the response from people about being able to do this from their couch?
Fievre: People love it, I mean, it’s not the same as people seeing each other, and in the Haitian culture, we're really warm. There's a lot of hugging usually, but people love that they're still able to be part of the festival to hear the authors, even interact.
Sheli: Talk to us about the last month with the Little Haiti Book Festival.
Fievre: It's been really, really busy. We've had activities every weekend. So for the adults, we've met every Sunday at 2 p.m. and we have discussions about the impact of COVID-19 on the community, for instance. On Saturday, we’re going to have an activity just for the children and we've been having that activity every other week the entire month of June. It's been just so inspiring for us.
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SHELI: This weekend, we are also celebrating three Haitian trailblazers.
Fievre: Three wonderful, wonderful women who have inspired me for the longest and that have inspired a lot of people a lot, for sure.
SHELI: We have to brag about you because you're inspiring people too. You're a bestselling author with an empowerment book for Black girls and young women?
Fievre: Yes, it's titled “Badass Black Girl” and I think the title is particularly relevant now with all of the racial tensions that we have felt everywhere all over the country.
You can join the Little Haiti Book Festival on Facebook Live under Miami Book Fair Facebook Page or the Sosyete Koukuy Facebook page.
