Ed Park explores metafiction and the nature of reality

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park is a complex kaleidoscope of a book that explores Korean history and diasporic identity, the nature of reality and dreams, and the drive (and dry spells) that are inherent in creative and political work.  The book offers an imagined history that overlaps with […]

Firmament of referentiality

As a poet, Kiki Petrosino has published four collections, including most recently, White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia, and received the Pushcart Prize and the Rilke Prize, among other awards and fellowships. As a prose writer, her first full-length book, Bright: A Memoir, published in August, and she will give a reading from it on […]

Screw you: Comedian Lewis Black defies authority and rejects stupidity

When I reach politically enraged comedian Lewis Black by phone on an early February morning following the Iowa caucus, I expect he’ll be ready with one of his signature rants, and after a polite exchange of salutations, he does not disappoint. Black immediately unleashes a torrent of frustrations. Clearly he wants me to listen—which is […]

Playing through it: Derek Trucks talks perseverance after loss ahead of Lockn’ gig

There were moments, Derek Trucks admits, that he wondered how Tedeschi Trucks Band—the electrifying 12-piece Southern roots outfit he leads with his wife, powerhouse blues vocalist Susan Tedeschi—could continue. In February, the band’s keyboardist/flute player Kofi Burbridge passed away after battling heart disease, and a couple months prior, longstanding bassist Tim Lefebvre had left the […]

The way it is now: Bruce Hornsby on sonic evolution and collaboration

It’s hard to follow all of the creative turns in Bruce Hornsby’s lengthy career. The smooth-voiced innovator hit it big in the mid-’80s with “The Way It Is,” and his musical path since has been anything but predictable. He’s played in the Grateful Dead, ventured into jazz and bluegrass collaborations, and fostered a partnership with […]