Miami Motel Stories

YoungArts at The Betsy Writer’s Room Resident Artist Juan C. Sanchez (1986 YoungArts Winner in Theater) will present pieces from Miami Motel Stories, his series of short plays that take place in different neighborhoods throughout Miami, based on the real-life history of the city and drawing from newspaper articles, conversations and personal connections to its neighborhoods. Juan will be in conversation with fellow Miami writer Jen Karetnick to discuss his inspiration and process for creating these experiential fiction works based on nonfiction events and people.

Light refreshments will be served.

With the support of the City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council, and the Miami Beach Mayor and City Commissioners. Additional support from the Betsy Community Fund at The Miami Foundation.

About Juan C. Sanchez

Juan C. Sanchez is a Cuban-born Miami-based playwright dedicated to writing stories that explore the cultural diversity and social issues of Miami. He has written plays for a variety of platforms — from traditional theater stages to immersive, site-specific performances set in historical motels, virtual stages, climate-change themed productions, and radio plays. Plays include the immersive Miami Motel Stories series, set in Little Havana, MiMo, Wynwood, and North Beach — which transform historic Miami buildings into stages, revealing the stories and histories of each neighborhood. Recent projects include Apollo, a dance-theater piece by The Pioneer Winter Collective commissioned by Miami Light Project; The Presentation, a climate-themed short play commissioned by Climate Change Theatre Action and presented at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as in Germany, Kenya, and other venues; and Miami Bus Stop Stories: Tropical Dreams, an immersive production at HistoryMiami Museum. He is currently part of a collaborative commission with nine other national and international playwrights, working with The Arts & Climate Initiative, the City of Albuquerque Department of Arts & Culture, Theatre Without Borders, and the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The work will be presented in Sarasota in 2027.

About Jen Karetnick

Poet, writer, journalist, and teaching artist Jen Karetnick is the author of 22 books, 13 of which are poetry collections. Her most recent work is Inheritance with a High Error Rate, winner of the 2022 Cider Press Review Book Award, and she has two new collections forthcoming this fall: Organ Language (Lit Fox Books, September) and Domiciliary (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, October 2026). The winner of more than two dozen awards, grants, and fellowships, she has recent or forthcoming work in New Ohio Review, North American Review, Plume, South Dakota Review, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder and managing editor of the non-profit literary organization, SWWIM.

About The Betsy Writers' Room

The Betsy Writers' Room is a unique artist residency program at The Betsy - South Beach hotel in Miami Beach, providing a peaceful space for visiting writers and creatives to develop their work, with a special focus on poets, all while fostering community through arts and literary engagement. It is deeply involved in South Florida's cultural scene, hosting events, supporting local artists, and honoring the life and legacy of mid-century poet, Hyam Plutzik (1911-1962).

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