Sarah Lawson

Charlottesville native Darnell Lamont Walker is a death doula whose debut book, Never Can Say Goodbye: The Life of a Death Doula and the Art of a Peaceful End, publishes on February 10. Equal parts memoir and death primer, the book shares stories from Walker’s work and offers guidance and perspective on topics from writing […]

Those of us who come from people whose past has been deemed unworthy have often found ourselves fighting for preservation in order to be counted,” writes Imani Perry in Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People. She continues, “Our preservation commitments insist upon fuller and often more accurate stories than […]

Soundscape Architecture, a new book co-authored by former UVA School of Architecture Dean Karen Van Lengen, explores how architecture and art can enhance listening as a social and political act. “When we listen, we begin the first act of engagement and communication with others,” writes Van Lengen. “Listening is also critical when we consider our […]

As the year wraps up, we often look to best-of lists for books, movies, and music that stood out over the past 12 months—the so-called greatest the year had to offer. The understood suggestion of such lists is that we have something of a shared taste in what we read, watch, and listen to, and […]