Chris Colfer Brings a Night of Wonder to Miami-Dade

For seven years, Chris Colfer entertained America with his voice, singing into our living rooms through our television sets in the role of bullied gay student Kurt Hummel on the hit show Glee. Today, he enthralls our youth no longer through song, but with his literary works. In the time since Glee came to an end, Colfer became a bestselling author of both children and Young Adult literature.

On Friday, July 21, 2017, Colfer returned to Miami as part of his book tour, promoting the sixth and final novel in his The Land of Stories series, The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide. This event, in a way, closes a circle for Colfer, who had also presented the first novel of his The Land of Stories series, The Wishing Spell, at Books and Books back in July 2014.

Colfer’s event was held at the Miami Dade College Chapman Center, in conjunction with the Miami International Book Fair. The auditorium was filled to the brim with children of all ages, many of them, as well as their parents, decked out in homemade costumes of characters from the book series. To attend, fans had to buy a voucher from Books and Books before the actual event, which gained them each one raffle ticket and one pre-signed book. Fans who were in costume also received one additional raffle ticket. These raffle tickets entered them in a drawing in which five lucky people would win an exclusive VIP meet-and-greet with Chris immediately following the event. For all those in attendance, getting one of those five lucky numbers was like getting one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets.

Right from the get-go, it was clear that this was no typical author event. While some authors tend to simply read excerpts from their books, Chris put his skills as an entertainer to work, keeping the audience excited and involved, as it was clear that he wanted the audience to enjoy his presentation. As he read a short excerpt from his book, his audience howled with laughter as he described the misadventures of his main fairy-tale characters as they attempted to navigate the horrors of air travel. If you hadn’t known that you were listening to a fantasy story, you would have thought he was retelling an experience at an airport because it felt that real!

Next came the trivia contest which consisted of three parts. First, Chris asked the audience trivia questions from his novels, and members of the audience responded for the chance to win book merchandise. The second part was, in a way, a turning of the tables, as Colfer challenged the audience to ask him trivia questions that could stump him. Several audience members managed to get very close to stumping him on trivia knowledge from his books. Then, members of the audience were given the opportunity to ask Chris personal questions on his books and his life. 

When a fan asked what inspired him to write books, Chris responded, “When I was a kid, my mother used to read me fairy tales before bed. I always asked her so many questions that one day she finally said, ‘Christopher, why don’t you write your own fairy tale?’” And so he did!

Colfer also went into detail about how he began his earliest writings. “I would always play with my action figures, and give them very detailed storylines. At the end of every session, I’d write a cast list. The first story I ever wrote was called MagicLand, which was about Santa’s daughter, a sugar plum fairy who got kidnapped and had to be saved by Jack Frost.”

A true story-teller from the heart, Chris talked about his initial attempt to publish children’s books. “I was having conversations with two publishers, and I had to write the first 100 pages to prove that I could write myself, because everyone assumed I would be using a ghost writer to help me. But, it was really, really important that I write these books myself.”

During this Q and A format, Colfer confirmed that this book, The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide, was the last of The Land of Stories series, but he hinted that he was considering a prequel series.

Following the trivia sessions came the costume contest, which featured a wide array of creatively-costumed characters, from the twin protagonists, to the cover of the new novel, and even an entire family dressed as fairies. “We just wanted costumes that could work for a really big group, and we thought that this could be fun. It was! Plus, guys in fairy outfits are really hilarious,” said Sophia and Claire, two members of the fairy group.

Now, these costumes may not have cost hundreds of dollars, been forged through fire and metal, or won any prize at Comic-Con, but that wasn’t the point. One look at these costumes, and you could see the love and creativity that went into them. These were children and adults visually expressing something that they loved and admired. One could feel the lightness in the room. It was all just for fun. Ultimately, the winner was Hailey, a girl dressed as a map from the book, whose prize was an invitation for the personal meet-and-greet with Chris. “I was just really excited. I got to win because I worked really hard on the map. I’ll probably put my signed book into a glass box,” she said.

Chris wrapped up the event with the raffle drawing, having a volunteer read out the five lucky numbers, giving five attending guests their golden tickets to meet the man himself. Those who won the raffle looked as though they might have small breakdowns of pure happiness. Colfer then added a sixth person, informing the girl who had read the numbers that she would be included in the VIP meet-and-greet. She immediately had a meltdown of tears. And thus, for many, the event came to an end. Despite many fans not winning the raffle, they still felt like they had an amazing night.

“He’s amazing and an inspiration to almost everyone I know. I always talk about you, I love you,” stated Whitney Redmere, an attendee at the event.

Although this event may be over, the Miami Book Fair continues to host events and workshops all year round with the main Miami Book Fair taking place on November 12-19, 2017, hosting a full roster including former Vice President Joe Biden, Dan Rather, Armistead Maupin, Edwidge Danticat, Richard Blanco, Bill McKibben, Michael Eric Dyson, Lisa See, Min Jin Lee, Gene Yang, Robert Haas, Victor Hernandez Cruz and Pete Souza. For further information, please check the Miami Book Fair website.