- Jul 31, 2021

ESCRIBE AQUÍ/Write Here — The Betsy Hotel’s 7th Annual Celebration of IberoAmerican Artists

The Betsy Hotel (thebetsyhotel.com) along with publisher Suburbano Ediciones is proud to present the 7th annual Escribe Aqui 2021 (‘Write Here’), celebrating IberoAmerican writers and artists taking place from August 1-31, 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Ten Miami-based artists have been awarded residencies at The Betsy Hotel.
Works by three leading visual artists will be exhibited in Hotel Galleries.
Culminating events featuring participant work will take place on August 30 and 31, 2021.

The Betsy’s Escribe Aqui/Write Here, seed funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (in 2015), honors artists who ‘do their work’ at the intersection of culture, and gives a special nod to those working in Miami, where 70% of homes are bilingual. Yet, as is well documented, the challenges of living between two cultures can produce feelings of alienation and otherness that artists are able to explain and resolve — for themselves and others — through the power of their work. That is the mission of the project.

Visiting artists receive free room and board in The Betsy Writer’s Room (https://bit.ly/3x84DLX), a space that pays homage to the late poet Hyam Plutzik a 3-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (and father of Betsy hotel owner, Jonathan Plutzik). The Betsy Writers Room has hosted over 1000 visiting artists, including Poet Laureates, MacArthur Genius Winners, National Book Award Winners, Inaugural Poets, as well as other creatives who participate in Betsy community outreach programming during their stay.

Featured Artists

Cuban-born writer Grethel Delgado is the 2021 guest curator, and participated in selection of residency artists: Sergio Andricaín, Antonio Orlando Rodriguez, Rogelio Martinez, Juan Carlos Zaldivar, Roxana Amed, Alejandra Czarny, Legna Rodriguez Iglesias, Emilio Jose Serrano Loba, and Linda Pauwels.

Three Featured Exhibitions

Work by Spanish illustrator Ricardo Cavolo in The Betsy’s LightBox Gallery, Puerto Rican born multi-disciplinary master artist Carlos Betancourt in The Betsy Gallery and Colombian dog photographer Carlos Andres Cruz in The Underground Gallery. All works are for sale.

Culminating community events

Two programs will be live streamed on these dates: August 30 (in Espanol) and August 31 (in English). Program Hosts are writer Grethel Delgado Alvarez, and Deborah Briggs, VP Arts and Community Engagement at The Betsy. Co-hosting on August 30th is journalist Sergio Andricaín. RSVP artsandculture@thebetsyhotel.com for ZOOM link.

Community Partners

Cuban-American Young Adult writer Pablo Cartaya was the founding director of The Betsy’s ESCRIBE AQUÍ/Write Here, with Peruvian born writer Pedro Medina Leon, Founder and Editor in Chief at Miami-based publisher, Suburbano Ediciones. The project was established with seed funding from The Knight Foundation and continues under the auspices of The Betsy Hotel’s Arts and Culture program with support from The Betsy Community Fund at the Miami Foundation and the Plutzik Goldwasser Family Foundation.

BIOS of Artists participating in The Betsy’s Escribe Aquí / Write Here (2021)

Sergio Andricaín is a Cuban journalist, literary scholar, publisher, and author of children's books. He is also Director of Fundación Cuatrogatos. Sergio is the August 30 event co-host. (August 1-3)

Antonio Orlando Rodriguez is a Cuban writer, journalist and author of numerous books for children and young adults. He also writes literary fiction for grown-ups. (August 3-5)

Rogelio Martinez is a Cuban-American playwright who came to the USA from Cuba on the Mariel boatlift in 1980 — whose residency is presented with community partner, Miami New Drama. (August 7-14)

Juan Carlos Zaldivar (aka Violenta Flores) is a Cuban-born digital artist with an MFA from NYU Tisch School; he was a SUNDANCE Writers Lab fellow, and is exploring creativity in elder caregiving. (August 15-17)

Roxana Amed is an Argentinean-born jazz vocalist, recording artist, arranger, and songwriter considered to be one of the most important voices in Argentine music today. She will appear on August 19 to perform as part of The Betsy’s live jazz program with Israeli pianist, Tal Cohen. (August 17-20)

Alejandra Czarny is an Argentinean-born folk singer, arranger, and songwriter who performs in Yiddish, Spanish, Ladino, and English, to amplify Judeo-Spanish heritage. (August 22-24)

Legna Rodríguez Iglesias is a Cuban-born poet, playwright, and short story writer. Her work is characterized by absurdist humor and playfully perverse observations of life. (August 24-27)

Emilio Jose Serrano Loba, born in Spain, mixes passions for writing and science. He started as a fantasy writer, and is now exploring other genres, real and imagined. He is also a university biologist. (Aug 29-Sept 3)

Linda Pauwels is an Argentinean-born American Airlines pilot, and edits books on Haiku, written by pilots. Her newest book will feature work by women pilots. She grew up on South Beach. (August 30-31)

Grethel Delgado Alvarez is a Cuban-born writer, playwright and journalist. She is guest co-curator for the 2021 Escribe Aqui/Write Here residency program - and has a book coming out with Suburbano Ediciones in 2021/22. Grethel is lead host of the closing events on August 30 and 31. (August 29-Sept 3)

Ricardo Cavolo’s illustrations in The Betsy’s Lightbox Gallery, located via 1440 Ocean Dr., from, ‘101 Movies to Watch Before You Die/101 películas para ver antes de morir’, were inspired by folk art, tattoo culture, European religious imagery and the tribal arts. www.thebetsyhotel.com/ricardo-cavolo

Carlos Betancourt’s “Intimate Spirit: Collages and Other Works” are in The Betsy Gallery, located at 1433 Collins Ave, with cultural influences (Puerto Rico, Africa, Greece, Mexico), that exude joyful energy and a tapestry of memories gained from travel and life experience. www.thebetsyhotel.com/carlos-betancourt

Carlos Andres Cruz’ “Introducing Rosa” in the Underground Gallery immortalizes a chance beachfront meeting with Betsy’s Canine Executive Officers captured by a great dog photographer; he’s also working with ESCRIBE AQUÍ founding director, Pablo Cartaya, on a picture book called Remembering Katie. https://bit.ly/3xpxhs2

ABOUT THE BETSY HOTEL

The Betsy Hotel (thebetsyhotel.com) is a distinguished landmark hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach and an award-winning gathering place for community building and the arts. Exquisitely designed with expansive inside and outside spaces, the Hotel’s robust expressions of culture includes rotating exhibitions in 9 public galleries, live jazz 9 times a week, an artist residency program that has hosted over 1000 visiting creatives, classical music pop-ups, and literary programs that include a large property library. Other creative elements include an orb-shaped sky bridge hailed as a groundbreaking piece of Miami Beach public art, a sculptural Poetry Rail honoring local wordsmiths from Langston Hughes to Muhammad Ali, — and pacesetting special projects such as TransArt (LGBTQIA), Yiddish Salons, Jazz and A Cappella Festivals, and bi-lingual programs like ESCRIBE AQUÍ/Write Here. The Betsy Hotel is family owned and operated by the Plutzik Goldwasser Family, 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach — in the Art Deco District. www.thebetsyhotel.com @thebetsyhotel.

ABOUT SUBURBANO EDICIONES (SE)

suburbanoediciones.com is an independent publishing label established in 2009 by writer/entrepreneur Pedro Medina León with a digital magazine with 35,000 readers monthly and publishes Hispanic authors and literature in the USA. To date, SE has published 15 authors and released 18 new books. SE’s latest release in their new ‘Building Community’ imprint is 32 Poems/32 Poemas a bilingual (English/Spanish) translation of selected poems by the late poet and 3-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Hyam Plutzik, (hyamplutzikpoetry.com). 32 Poems/32 Poemas by Hyam Plutzik includes the work of 14 translators, representing a diverse Hispanic perspective, and honoring Suburbano's mission to create opportunities for writers and audiences to engage in cross-cultural dialogue with texts from different milieus. https://suburbanoediciones.com @suburbanoediciones.