Arts Culture

Kathryn Scanlan discusses the uncanny in real life

Known for her honed and exacting prose, Kathryn Scanlan is a writer of essays and novels, including Aug 9—Fog, The Dominant Animal, and Kick the Latch. From her tightly constructed short stories to novels informed by real-life stories and research, Scanlan is intensely dedicated to form and craft.  In her “Notes on Craft,” published in […]

Sarah Lawson | November 5, 2025

Culture

Page-to-screen highlights

Peter Hujar’s Day A film adaptation of the book recounting a real-life conversation that took place between photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz, this documentary stars Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall in an enthralling recreation of a single day in 1974 Manhattan. Hujar, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1987, was a leading figure […]

Sarah Lawson | October 22, 2025

Culture

Cozying up to the second annual Crozet Book Fest

If you think spring is the season of book festivals, think again. The Crozet Book Fest will take place on October 25, featuring free panel discussions and book signings with authors of fantasy, suspense, and romance, as well as middle grade and picture books. Now in its second year, the Crozet Book Fest is presented […]

Sarah Lawson | October 22, 2025

Culture

Local Mushroom Auntie writes it down

If you’ve ever foraged for mushrooms or berries locally, it’s possible you’ve encountered Gabrielle Cerberville. Also known as Chaotic Forager or the internet’s Mushroom Auntie, Cerberville is a foraging influencer on social media as well as a composer, community mycologist, and climate advocate. She recently published Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life, a […]

Sarah Lawson | October 22, 2025

Arts Culture

Karen Hao’s new book explores the impact of artificial intelligence

Whether you embrace artificial intelligence or not, it seems almost mystical in its abilities—despite the fact that it was created by humans. It can also feel unreal that asking ChatGPT to write an email actually reflects billions of dollars, millions of gallons of water daily, and countless jobs being streamlined out of existence. Award-winning journalist […]

Sarah Lawson | October 15, 2025

Arts Culture

Monica Ong’s ‘Planetaria’ asks us to look further

Monica Ong is a visual poet and author of the new book Planetaria. With a focus on family and diaspora as well as astronomy, the poems in Planetaria are tactile—not just visual but multidimensional. The book features a poem that takes the form of a wheel that’s viewed through a View-Master toy, a poem with […]

Sarah Lawson | October 8, 2025

Arts Culture

Writer Chet’la Sebree on poetry and chronic illness

Chet’la Sebree is the author of Blue Opening, a poetry collection published earlier this month, as well as Field Study, winner of the 2020 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and other work. She is an assistant professor at George Washington University and teaches in Randolph College’s low-residency MFA program. She spoke […]

Sarah Lawson | September 17, 2025

Culture Entertainment

Author Tochi Eze discusses ancestral curses and diasporic identity

Tochi Eze is a Nigerian fiction writer and scholar whose debut novel, This Kind of Trouble, explores the relationships between language and power through intergenerational identity, mental health, colonialism, and the African diaspora. Spanning a century and told through multiple perspectives in Nigeria and the United States, the plot follows how choices made by the […]

Sarah Lawson | September 3, 2025

Arts Culture

Author Lydi Conklin sets up camp in “Songs of No Provenance”

Lydi Conklin’s first novel, Songs of No Provenance, was published earlier this month, and tells the story of Joan, a disgraced New York musician seeking reinvention by teaching songwriting at a teen writing camp in rural Virginia. Conklin is also the author of Rainbow Rainbow, a story collection that was long-listed for The Story Prize […]

Sarah Lawson | June 18, 2025