For many years, The Hook ran a writing contest in conjunction with the Virginia Festival of the Book that was judged by John Grisham. With the newspaper’s closure last summer, it looked like local writers were out of luck if they wanted to compete for cash and readers. But WriterHouse, the local nonprofit dedicated to […]
For many years, The Hook ran a writing contest in conjunction with the Virginia Festival of the Book that was judged by John Grisham. With the newspaper’s closure last summer, it looked like local writers were out of luck if they wanted to compete for cash and readers. But WriterHouse, the local nonprofit dedicated to […]
The Virginia Festival of the Book began in a world with no Kindles, no iPads, and no online self-publishing. Barnes & Noble recently had arrived in Charlottesville and the death knell for independent bookstores promptly sounded. It was 1994, and a company called Amazon had just started selling books over the Internet. Two decades later, […]
The ink on their college diplomas is not dry, but the nine members of Major and the Monbacks are already making a splash in the Central Virginia music scene. Defying genres, these energetic artists combine Motown, Ska, and Southern rock with the self-proclaimed “Eastern Seaboard’s Horniest Horn Section.” Their songs are pure celebration, a tribute […]
Each March, visiting and local literati of all ages and reading preferences fill Charlottesville for the annual Virginia Festival of the Book. History buffs and romance readers mingle with self-published writers and award-winning authors including John Grisham, Lois Lowry, and John Lewis. Attendees have lots of choices to make during the five-day festival (March 19-23). […]
They call it “adventure rock,” but there’s really no defining the eclectic sound of We Are Star Children. Born in 2010 from a humble duo, the group now boasts seven members and an instrumental range that spans across the full breadth of musical style. Their first album, titled Love to the Wicked, blends playful trumpets […]
A claw-like spaceship hovers above a cityscape as electronic dance music begins to build. The heavy bass finally drops, and a claw releases fiery bombs syncopated with the beat, leveling the city with sound and displayed by the Executioner, a 420 square foot video stage featuring 3D animation. Housed in the center of the behemoth, Canadian DJ […]
Prepare for St. Patrick’s Day with an evening of traditional Irish song and dance as former Riverdance members and a number of other talented dancers make up the Women of Ireland. The all-female lineup performs iconic steps to enchanting Celtic vocals by a sisterly trio from County Kerry, Ireland. Special guest Anthony Fallon, a four-time world champion […]
When FIREFISH Gallery co-curators Araxe Hajian and Sigrid Eilertson brainstormed concepts for their next collaborative project, they decided to flip the script. Rather than host a visual art show that invited verbal interpretation, they decided to ask visual artists to interpret Hajian’s short story “This is How You Open a Pomegranate.” “I didn’t see this […]
Need for Speed is a movie in need of two reviews. In fact, I read somewhere that its original title was Need for Speed: Judge Us On Our Merits, Not On Yours. And I either made that original title up or the movie is so subversive it planted that title in my head. But whatever. […]
If you’re looking for a mid-century, backwoods throwback, join Kathryn Caine & The Small Band to celebrate the release of a new studio album. Sometimes twangy, sometimes bluesy, Caine’s vocals evoke ’60s folk darlings Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry on this self-titled collection of wide-ranging Americana. The lifelong singer-songwriter’s lyrics drive tunes featuring guitar work […]