Shining a light

Growing up, Tony Keith Jr. felt the boogeyman was always chasing down his internal monologues—his Blackness, his desire for higher education, and his feelings for boys over girls. His YA memoir, How the Boogeyman Became a Poet, details his battle through poverty, racism, and homophobia to become an openly gay first-generation college student. Keith will […]

Write here: A year in books from Charlottesville authors

It was a prolific year for local authors. Popular favorites like Rita Mae Brown, John Grisham, and Ann Beattie added new titles to their extensive catalogs. Several UVA professors published in-depth explorations of their expertise—from tracing the history of Jefferson’s university, to defining the basis of a scientific claim, to analyzing politics’ impact on the […]

Stefan Bechtel’s new book inspects the Conan Doyle conundrum

For Charlottesville-based author Stefan Bechtel, mystery is the essence of life. “I grew up in Chicago, in the white-bread suburbs where every lawn was perfect. But way out on the edge of town there was a swamp. Lincoln Swamp,” Bechtel says. “We would ride our bikes all the way out to Lincoln Swamp, and we […]