{"id":427121,"date":"2026-10-14T00:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/427121\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T00:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T00:46:11","slug":"miami-book-fair-2026-spotlights-zibby-owens-jeff-garlin-and-judge-roy-altman-in-jewish-life-culture-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/427121\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Book Fair 2026 Spotlights Zibby Owens, Jeff Garlin and Judge Roy Altman in Jewish Life & Culture Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Media Kit: Access high-res photos, b-roll and press releases<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MIAMI (October 13, 2026) \u2013 Miami Dade College\u2019s (MDC) Miami Book Fair (MBF), the nation\u2019s longest-running literary festival, has announced its 2026 Jewish Life & Culture program, sponsored by the Stacey and Eric Mindich Fund for Jewish Studies and part of the annual Fair taking place Nov. 15-22 at Miami Dade College\u2019s Wolfson Campus. This year\u2019s lineup features bestselling authors, journalists, award-winning historians and cultural icons exploring themes of identity, faith, memory and contemporary Jewish life.<\/p>\n

\u201cJewish stories can be funny, personal, difficult and surprising, sometimes all at once,\u201d said Lissette Mendez, executive director of Miami Book Fair. \u201cI love that this lineup gives people so many ways into the conversation. You can come to hear an author you already know and leave having discovered someone new.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program opens Sunday, Nov. 15, with an Evenings With conversation between bestselling author, publisher and podcaster Zibby Owens, moderated by local author Rochelle B. Weinstein. Owens, founder of Zibby Media and editor of \u201cOn Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates,\u201d will discuss her new essay collection, \u201cBetween Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot.\u201d An Evenings With conversation follows Tuesday, Nov. 17, when comedian, actor and photographer Jeff Garlin (\u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm,\u201d \u201cThe Goldbergs\u201d) joins former \u201cSeinfeld\u201d writer Peter Mehlman to discuss his photography book, \u201cBest Seat in the House: Moments No One Asked Me to Capture\u2026 But I Did Anyway, featuring candid photographs and personal stories from his life on and offstage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lineup also includes an Evenings With conversation Wednesday, Nov. 18, featuring Rick Sopher, co-author of \u201cIlluminating Scriptural Connections: A Qur\u2019anic Commentary on the Torah,\u201d and historian Marc David Baer, author of \u201cChildren of Abraham: The 1,400-Year History of Jewish-Muslim Relations.\u201d The event is free, but a ticket is required.<\/p>\n

Several programs explore Israel, history and current events. Jerusalem-based journalist Matti Friedman (\u201cOut of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe\u201d) joins historian Simon Sebag Montefiore (\u201cThe Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East\u201d) In a separate conversation, sponsored by Tilia, Miami\u2019s own U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman discusses his New York Times bestseller \u201cIsrael on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law,\u201d joined by Brett McGurk, former White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa and author of \u201cBrink,\u201d an account of the negotiations to free hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

Other conversations bring together Israeli novelists Noa Yedlin (\u201cHouse Arrest\u201d) and Zeruya Shalev (\u201cFate\u201d) presented by Hadassah Magazine and moderated by Executive Editor Lisa Hostein; David Mazower (\u201cYiddish: A Global Culture: Bold Lives, Boundless Creativity\u201d) with the Yiddish Book Center\u2019s Lisa Newman and fellow panelist Mark Glanville; and Alicia Jo Rabins (\u201cWhen We\u2019re Born We Forget Everything\u201d), Zeeva Bukai (\u201cThe World Between\u201d), Portia Elan (\u201cHomebound\u201d), and local cartoonist Drew Lerman, who will do live illustrations, for a Jewish Book Council literary mixtape, moderated by JBC CEO Naomi Firestone-Teeter.<\/p>\n

Historian Steven J. Ross (\u201cThe Secret War Against Hate\u201d) and investigative journalist Eric Lichtblau (\u201cAmerican Reich\u201d) will discuss American antisemitism and extremism; and Catherine Ostler (\u201cThe Renoir Girls: A Hidden History of Art, War & Betrayal\u201d) and Doreen Carvajal (\u201cThe Girl in Blue: Renoir\u2019s Portrait of a Dynasty Erased\u201d) will explore the lives of a French Jewish family whose children were painted by Renoir, tracing their stories through war, persecution and the Nazi looting of art..<\/p>\n

Additional authors appearing throughout the Fair include Adam Mansbach (\u201cThe Wrong Body: A Golem of Brooklyn Novel\u201d), Ian Buruma (\u201cStay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945\u201d), Roz Chast and Jason Adam Katzenstein (\u201cThe Two Saddest Kitchens: A Comics Conversation\u201d), Annabelle Gurwitch (\u201cThe End of My Life is Killing Me\u201d), Galit Atlas (\u201cCome Closer\u201d), Hannah Lillith Assadi (\u201cParadiso 17\u201d) and Eliot Glazer (\u201cThe Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Gay\u201d).<\/p>\n

Also appearing are Jonathan Jakubowicz (\u201cThe Adventures of Juan Planchard\u201d), Jessica Brilliant Keener (\u201cEvening Begins the Day\u201d), and David Baerwald (\u201cThe Fire Agent\u201d). Jewish romance comes from Lauren Appelbaum (\u201cThe Holiday House Swap,\u201d a Hanukkah romance). Younger readers can meet Cuban-born, award-winning author Ruth Behar, who presents \u201cPicadillo for Paulina,\u201d co-written with her son, Gabriel Frye-Behar. Adam Mansbach and W. Kamau Bell bring their picture book, \u201cRock Paper Scissors Cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about these author events and the Jewish Life & Culture program, visit https:\/\/www.miamibookfair.com<\/a>, call 305-237-3258, or email wbookfair@mdc.edu. Follow @miamibookfair on social media. #MBF2026 #MiamiReads<\/p>\n

About Miami Book Fair<\/p>\n

Founded in 1984 by Miami Dade College and partners, Miami Book Fair engages the community through inclusive, accessible programs that promote reading and support writers year-round. The annual eight-day festival has grown into the largest and most comprehensive community-rooted literary gathering in the United States, generating discourse on contemporary literature and current issues of international importance. Year-round programming includes The Little Haiti Book Festival; creative writing and publishing workshops; author presentations; reading campaigns; and Books for Free, a partnership with The Children\u2019s Trust that distributes more than 150,000 free books annually to children in Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n

Miami Book Fair programming is made possible through generous support from the State of Florida, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Miami, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Miami Downtown Development Authority, and Friends of the Fair, as well as media and corporate partners.<\/p>\n

Miami Book Fair Media Contacts:
Rachel Pinzur, Pinzur Communications | 305.725.2875, rachel@pinzurPR.com
Cristina Fonseca, Pinzur Communications | 561.644.1726, cfonseca@pinzurPR.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Media Kit: Access high-res photos, b-roll and press releases. MIAMI (October 13, 2026) \u2013 Miami Dade College\u2019s (MDC)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-427121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}