M.J. Fievre’s memoir, A Sky the Color of Chaos (Beating Windward, 2015) will be featured at the Miami Book Fair International. The book chronicles M.J.’s childhood during the turbulent rise and fall of Haiti’s President-Priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide—a time of nightly shootings, home invasions, robberies, and the burning of former regime members in neighborhood streets. During the late 1980s and 90s, from when Fievre was eight-years-old to 18, Haiti’s government changed forms eight times; the Haitian people endured fraudulent elections, three military coups, a crippling embargo, and a United Nations occupation.

On Saturday, November 21st, and Sunday, November 22, you have six (6) opportunities to meet MJ in connection to the release of A Sky the Color of Chaos.

SATURDAY

Saturday, November 21 @ 10:15 am
On the radio

Interview with Neil Haley, host of Total Education Show, which is syndicated to 120+ terrestrial radio stations (Tampa, Las Vegas, Lancaster, Boulder, Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA, Montreal, Detroit, St. Pete, Baltimore, Orlando, and Kingston, Jamaica, among others), and internet radio networks around the world – in 180 countries – including Germany and the UK.(Going live from the Fair).

Saturday, November 21 @ 12:30 pm
Land of Upheaval: A Literary Journey Through Haiti’s Modern History
Room 8303 (Building 8, 3rd Floor)

After more than two centuries of political strife, successive coups d’état, authoritarian governments, international interventions, and natural disasters, President Duvalier’s pronouncement that “It is the destiny of the people of Haiti to suffer,” seems valid. Moderator Hector Duarte Jr. and Haitian authors M.J. Fievre, Fabienne Josaphat, and Katia D. Ulysse will discuss Haiti’s recent history, viewed through the prism of literature — from the days of Papa Doc Duvalier, to the tumultuous reign of President Aristide, to the earthquake that displaced more than 1.5 million people.

Saturday at 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Saved by the Sunshine State: Writers Share Their Stories of Finding Themselves in Florida
The Swamp

It’s rare to meet someone living in Florida who was actually born and raised in Florida. It’s such a transient state, and everyone has their own reasons for coming here – love, money, or simply the need for a fresh start. Several Florida-based authors will share their stories of what drew them to the Sunshine State. (In Collaboration with Wordier Than Thou)

Saturday, November 21 @ 3:00 pm
The World Over: Memoirs of Place
Room 8201 (Building 8, 2nd Floor)

In Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey, Mockett is guided through rituals of grief by a colorful cast of Zen priests and ordinary Japanese. M.J. Fievre’s coming-of-age memoir, A Sky the Color of Chaos, brings to life the horrors and the beauty of growing up in Aristide-era Haiti. Nikki Moustaki’s The Bird Market of Paris tells the story of the author’s love of birds, and her relationship with her grandfather, her mentor and dearest companion. Suki Kim presents a moving and rare glimpse of life in the world’s most unknowable country, in Without You, There Is No Us: My Time With the Sons of North Korea’s Elite.

SUNDAY

Sunday, November 22, 2016 @ 10:30 am
Meet and Greet @ The Miami Dade College’s booth

A booth will be available at the 2015 Book Fair International 32nd Anniversary edition to showcase published work by MDC faculty, administrators, and staff on November 20-22. I will greet visitors at the booth from 10:30 am to 11:45 am, and answer questions about A Sky the Color of Chaos.

Sunday, November 22, 2016 @ 3:30 pm
Sunday Salon with Orange Island Art Foundation
Prometeo (Building 1, 1st Floor, Room 1101)

Orange Island Arts Foundation hosts its Sunday Salon South Florida, your local installation of a nationwide monthly reading series featuring critically acclaimed writers of all literary genres.  This event will feature readings from Florida writers James Tabard, M.J. Fievre and Cecilia Fernandez published by the indie press Beating Windward Press.