Last weekend, Tigertail’s month-long FLA-FRA (Florida-France Festival) produced “Come to the Edge,” a 12-hour reading of the works of famed French writer Apollinaire at the ArtCenter/South Florida on South Beach. I was given the opportunity, along with 23 volunteers, to read from his collected works in a semi-cozy, unused artist studio to a small audience that would ebb and flow throughout the day.

Guillaume Apollinaire, “Poème Calligramme.”

What made the event interesting is that it gave me the chance to stop, sit and read for 30 uninterrupted minutes. This is something that I haven’t done in a long time without outside distraction. I also got to practice using my real voice rather than my texting voice. The event also did this: it gave me the idea that we (you/us) should create more of these spaces year-round throughout Miami-Dade for the general people to stop, sit and read for 30 interrupted minutes.

That’s the magic and genius of Mary Luft, executive director and founder of Tigertail. Her insight powers Miami’s culture grid. And it only just began with Apollinaire. For the entire month of April, the FLA-FRA Festival will host daily concerts, films and pop-up Culture Clicks throughout Miami that embraces the French spirit of joie de vivre.

Catch the next event before month end. Click here for the full schedule of events: http://www.tigertail.org/events_flafra.html.