Lissette Mendez is director of programs for Miami Book Fair International, which Knight Foundation supports. Image: ‘Somewhere.’ For Sweat Broadside Project II, artists and writers collaborated on pairing original artwork with poems.

The Swamp, a new event space at Miami Book Fair International sponsored by Knight Foundation, celebrates the writers, filmmakers, visual artists and musicians (and some who fall between those disciplines!) who are creating work and defining culture in the Sunshine State. Among those culture makers are the writers and visual artists who are part of Sweat Broadside Project II.

2014 MBFI Book Fair Guide (PDF, Issuu.com)

Florida-based writers and artists came together to form Word and Image Lab (WAIL), a group that encourages community conversation and opportunities for collaboration among writing and the visual and performing arts. For Sweat Broadside Project II, artist/writer duos created the broadsides, which feature their collaborative pairings of original artworks and poems. The printing processes vary widely and include letterpress, lithography, etching, silkscreen, woodcut and archival ink-jet printing. 

Poets who participated in Sweat Broadside Project II will read from the works at the Swamp on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 12:30 p.m. Want a broadside for your walls? Come to the the Swamp; Miami Book Fair has selected 10 broadsides from the collaboration for a limited-edition print run, and we’re giving thousands away for free throughout the week. (The originals are on display now through Nov. 14 at Miami Dade College’s Kendall Gallery.)

The Swamp also hosts the Miami Book Fair’s opening party on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 4 p.m. with a bocce ball tournament, music by DJ Lolo and live painting with Miami-based artist David LeBatard (LEBO). The Swamp will be open daily from 5 p.m.  to 10 p.m. (11 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21) throughout the week of the fair, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during Street Fair weekend, Nov. 22-23. For a full schedule of events at the Swamp, visit www.miamibookfair.com.

The Swamp is a pop-up lounge that explores the beauty and brains of the Sunshine State, so expect a mash-up of high and low, avant-garde and traditional. Expect a porch and cold beer. Expect to discover Florida anew.