In March, the second season of the series named LITERARY WEDNESDAYS will continue with the support of the Delegation of Florida of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE), Baquiana Literary Magazine, Baquiana Editions, and the Spanish Cultural Center of Miami (CCEMiami). In this occasion, we will have the presence of guest Aida Levitan, cultural promoter and protector of the arts, with the purpose to celebrate WOMEN’S MONTH.

The LITERARY WEDNESDAYS series invite different authors, in order to continue with the contribution to the cultural development of the community and the promotion of the language and literature in Spanish in the United States of America. The programs are coordinated and conducted by Maricel Mayor Marsán, president of the Florida Delegation of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE) and director of Baquiana Literary Magazine.

The event will take place through the digital platform ZOOM of the CCEMiami.

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

Hour: 7:00 PM

The event is FREE and it will be conducted in SPANISH.

In order to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87240013325

www.ccemiami.org | [email protected]

Information about our distinguished guest:

AIDA LEVITAN

She was born in Havana, Cuba and resides in the United States since she was very young. She has a Bachelor in Arts from the University of Miami and a Doctorate in Spanish Literature from Emory University in Georgia. She is passionate about reading and enjoys writing travel articles for El Nuevo Herald, the number one newspaper in Spanish in the U.S.A.

She belongs to the Board of Directors of the U.S. Century Bank, one of the community commercial banks more important of the nation. Since 2019 until December of 2022, she was the only woman president of a board of directors of a bank in Miami and possibly the only Cuban American woman to hold this position in the United States. In 2022, she was selected by Forbes magazine for the list of prominent women over fifty years old: FiftyoverFifty.

After being president of Bromley Communications until the year 2004, agency that she transformed into the number one Hispanic publicity agency in the U.S.A., Dr, Levitan founded The Levitan Group, Inc., a company of strategic marketing. Until 2019 she was the President of FACE (Facts about Cuban Exiles) and President of the Board of Friends of The Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami.

In 1995 she founded ArtesMiami, Inc., a non-profit organization that supports and promotes Hispanic artists and cultural activities mainly in Miami. Since then, she serves as its president and main donor. With the support of the agency Sánchez & Levitan and sponsors, the same year, the organization produced Absolut, the Fair of Seville in Miami and in 1997, the Fair of Spain in Miami, which was attended by 40,000 people in four days and 270 Spanish, Venezuelan, Cuban American and Puerto Rican artists. These fairs included a Rociera mass, gastronomic festivals, exhibits of crafts, VIP area, a gala for hundreds of people, and Sevillanas and Flamenco Shows.

Since 1996, she belongs to the Board of Directors of the Spanish Cultural Center of Miami (CCEMiami). In 2017, she was elected member of the Prestigious National Board of the Council of Foreign Relations and she is Emeritus Trustee of the Perez Art Museum in Miami. She participated as a Trustee from the 1990s until the 2017. In the year 2010, President Obama and the U.S. Congress nominated her as a member of the Commission to create a Smithsonian Museum of the North American Latino. Later on, she was elected the vice-director of the National Board of the Latino Center of the Smithsonian. She is still very active in the organization Friends of the Smithsonian North American Latino Museum, in order to obtain that the museum will be built in the National Mall of Washington, DC.

Among the prizes that she has been awarded are the following: Latina Pioneer of the Year, Latina Style Magazine, Broward County (2011); Distinguished women for the Community Service of Plaza Health Network (2016); Inter-American Institute for Democracy Award (2017); Prize Gold Medal from Miami Today and Recognition in the Book of Leaders (2018); Prize to Influential Business Women (South Florida Business Journal) and Luminary Award of the Chamber of Hispanic Commerce of South Florida (2019).

Information about the presenter:

MARICEL MAYOR MARSÁN

She was born in Santiago of Cuba. She is a poet, narrator, playwright, essayist, editor, literary critic, translator, director of the Editorial Board of Baquiana Literary Magazine, numerary member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE), and correspondent member of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). She has published more than twenty books in different literary genres. Her most recent books of poetry are: Rumores de Suburbios (2009) and Miami / poemas de la ciudad – poems of the city (2015). In theater: Trilogía de Teatro Breve (2012) and Las Tocayas (2013). In essays, notes and literary reviews: Crónicas Hispanounidenses (2014). In children’s literature: Nunuk: El insecto amistoso – The friendly bug (2022). Her work has been partially translated into several languages, as well as published in magazines and anthologies in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and the USA. She has received some awards and acknowledgements in Chile, Spain and the United States. She participated in the writing of the first “Encyclopedia of Spanish in the United States” (Yearbook of the Cervantes Institute) in Madrid, Spain (Santillana, 2008). The publishing house Holt, Rinehart & Winston included her poetry in the text books: Exprésate (2006- 2010) and Cultura y Lenguaje (2007-2010), used in the study of Spanish in middle and high schools throughout the United States. In the year 2010, she was selected among the most outstanding 100 Latinos of Miami for her work and contribution to culture.