Mitchell Kaplan, the Coral Gables bookseller who has spent more than four decades championing independent literature from his flagship store at 265 Aragon Ave., will share a national anti-censorship award with former late-night host Stephen Colbert.
The Before Columbus Foundation announced the honor on Wednesday, July 29, as part of the 47th annual American Book Awards. The Oakland, California-based nonprofit, founded in 1976 by Pulitzer Prize finalist Ishmael Reed, recognizes literary achievement across the full spectrum of American writing.
"To be at all in the same sentence with Stephen Colbert was an extremely humbling feeling," Kaplan told WLRN on July 31.
The recognition arrives as Florida leads the nation in school book bans for a third straight year. PEN America recorded 2,304 instances of bans statewide during the 2024-25 school year, according to the organization's annual report. Texas ranked second with 1,781; Tennessee third with 1,622.
Kaplan opened Books & Books in 1982.
He co-founded the Miami Book Fair, served as president of the American Booksellers Association and sat on the board of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. The store earned Publishers Weekly's Bookstore of the Year honor in 2015, and Kaplan received the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award in 2011.
That advocacy has played out locally, too. In October 2023, Books & Books co-sponsored a "Walk for FREADOM" that started at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ and ended at the Aragon Avenue store with readings and a rally. The following year, the Books & Books Literary Foundation presented "Sing for FREADOM," a concert at the same church featuring Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Joanie Leeds, with readings from challenged children's books.
In the same WLRN interview, Kaplan said he accepts the award on behalf of booksellers nationwide who are fighting censorship, calling it something booksellers everywhere need to do right now.
The formal ceremony is set for Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1:30 p.m. at Alumni House on the University of California, Berkeley campus. Other honorees include Nicholas Boggs for his James Baldwin biography, John Fugelsang for "Separation of Church and Hate," poet Adela Najarro and novelist-playwright Karen Tei Yamashita, who received a lifetime achievement award.
Back home, Books & Books plans a South Florida celebration during Banned Books Week, Oct. 4-10. Residents can check booksandbooks.com for programming details as they are announced.
Coming up
- Saturday, Sept. 26: 47th American Book Awards ceremony, 1:30 p.m., Alumni House, UC Berkeley
- Sunday, Oct. 4, to Saturday, Oct. 10: Banned Books Week; Books & Books local celebration details forthcoming at booksandbooks.com
