Miami is sometimes stereotyped as being a literary desert. The success of the Miami  Book Fair International  attracting over 250,000 people has helped to dispel this notion as have the general efforts of Mitch Kaplan and his Books & Books. What is not widely known is the number  of literary societies and book clubs, and all are alive and thriving and combine reading and socializing. And to wear to the book club,  check out this fab new trench coat with a literary bent. At the Coral Gables Books & Books they list no fewer than 11 book clubs that meet there ranging from a Spanish reading group and “books and beer” to “international views” and “murder mondays”. In Coconut Grove there’s a “Meet Up” at The Bookstore in the Grove. Here is a list of some of the major literary societies and what they say about themselves,  and I welcome your sharing your comments with other readers about others I may have missed:

Prologue Society

Taking its name from Shakespeare’s famous quote, “What is past is prologue,” The Prologue Society is a not-for-profit organization sponsored in part by Northern Trust, Miami Today, Books & Books, and The Hyatt Regency Coral Gables. Bringing together diverse members of the community who share a love of history, The Prologue Society hosts approximately eight luncheons each “season” to hear writers and historians of local, national, and international stature. Great effort is made to provide topics spanning many different cultures, geographic locations, and time periods. Dues are $275 per year per person or $425 per couple in the same household. Luncheons are an additional $45 per person. For the season’s schedule and more information  contact Debbie Hirshson at theprologuesociety@gmail.com or 305-323-1154.

Brickell Avenue Literary Society

Brickell Avenue Literary Society is a not-for-profit  membership organization of avid readers that hosts notable authors at nine luncheon meetings each year. Members and their guests enjoy the author’s talk, a question and answer dialogue in an intimate setting. The Society has hosted more than 200 authors–novelists, historians, memoirists, journalists, poets, and playwrights—ranging from seasoned veterans to bright young talents. The most recent season included Salman Rushdie, winner of the Mann Booker Prize, National Book Award and a Pulitzer; Adam Johnson who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2013; and George Saunders, who claimed the PEN/Malamud Award, the Folio Prize, and a MacArthur “Genius Grant.” Dues are $250 a person per year or $400 for a couple and luncheons are $50 which includes a signed copy of the book and parking. Meetings are in the Wolfson Auditorium at Temple Israel, located at 137 N.E. 19th Street. For more information contact Priscilla, 786-691-4521 or contact@brickellliterary.org.

All those who are members of a book club Miami,
they can enjoy special discounts offered by the Miami Book Fair.

And if you like the trench coat, it’s by Burberry Prorsum in crepe de chine. Price? $2995.