English professor celebrates two book launches in October

Lynne Barrett, professor in the Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing program, celebrated the release of her second book this month, Tigertail, A South Florida Annual: Florida Flash, with a reception and reading that took place Oct. 17 at Books & Books in Coral Gables.

Barrett is the guest editor for the ninth print edition of Tigertail, A South Florida Annual. This year, she selected a “Flash Florida” theme with short prose poems, flash fiction and flash nonfiction from 54 different authors linked to South Florida. Each piece has a maximum word count of 305 in honor of Miami’s original area code.

“I love exotic languages and diversity. South Florida is a rich environment for writers to learn and grow. I’m from New Jersey, but I’ve been in Miami since 1987 and have raised a family here. You can say that I’ve become a Floridian since then,” Barrett said. “I wanted to pay homage to this great community and its roots with this year’s edition.”

Barrett was honored earlier this month with a reception and reading from her own publication, Magpies, also at the Books & Books in Coral Gables. This is her third published collection of short stories, after The Secret Names of Women and The Land of Go.

“I really enjoy live readings because they allow me to perform. It’s great to see, hear and feel the reactions of the audience – sometimes they laugh, other times you can hear a pin drop because they are concentrating on the story,” Barrett said. “I get a rush of adrenaline at every event because I know I will have the chance to meet new people and speak with them.”

As if she’s not busy enough, Barrett will take part in the 27^th annual FIU/Books & Books Writer’s Conference International Oct. 20-22 in Grand Cayman. FIU faculty provides hands-on workshops, discussions and individual editing sessions for students and non-students involved in all stages of writing.

Barrett will follow that up with radio interviews to promote the Miami Book Fair International Nov. 13-20. She will read stories from Magpies and Tigertail and moderate two panel discussions at the event. She is also scheduled to perform live readings in Massachusetts, North Carolina and California throughout the rest of the year.

“The fun in writing is that it challenges you to do new things. I am definitely looking forward to all of the new opportunities that my writings and collaborations bring me and the challenges that lie ahead,” Barrett said.