Lit Crawl, a bar crawl with literary readings, officially began in San Francisco in 2006. But really it began thousands of years earlier when the first homo ergaster decided to crawl from cave to cave reading her poems about stone tools and drinking everyone’s beer.

Tonight the tradition of drinking and literature takes the next step in its evolution with the first-ever Lit Crawl Miami.

At 6 p.m. (sharp!), pick up your map & schedule at O, Miami host hotel, The Betsy-South Beach, and hear a special reading by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Russell Banks and Kingsley Tufts Award-winner Chase Twichell.

Then head out into South Beach for a “choose-your-own-literary-adventure” presented by Reading Queer, Mangrove Literary Journal, Rod Deal/Isis Miller, Miami Poetry Collective (That’s where M.J. will be!), Culture in the City/Famous Last Fridays, Spoken Soul, Next@19th, and Lip Service.

Miami Poetry Collective members will be holding a Poem Depot as part of O,Miami LitCrawl. The event will take place at Playwright Pub South Beach 1265 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139 . Poets M.J. Fievre,Roy Guzman, Cathleen Chambless, Leenie Mobbs, and Richard Ryal will be taking poetry requests from visitors and typing the poems on the spot (on old typewriters!).

Cheers!