A Darker Shade of Noir: 15 Women Authors Unveil New Body Horror

The collection, edited by Joyce Carol Oates, features Catholic University grad Elizabeth Hand, Margaret Atwood, and Oates, who use the supernatural to address women’s issues.

In the introduction of A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers, the anthology’s editor, Joyce Carol Oates, writes that women mythical figures such as “Scylla and Charybdis, Lamia, Chimera, Sphinx [are] nightmare creatures representing, to the affronted male gaze, the perversion of ‘femininity’: … the female who in her…

Author Sujata Massey Does Her Homework

The Baltimore-based mystery novelist will discuss the latest installment of her Perveen Mistry series, The Mistress of Bhatia House, on July 11, the same day the book hits shelves.

One shared element of historical fiction and mystery literature is that the author knows more than the characters do. Or, maybe more accurately, since that’s true in all fiction, we might agree it’s especially pronounced in these genres: The author, living in the present, knows about the potato famine to ensue, the oncoming stock market…

Local Author Mary Kay Zuravleff Tries On Historical Fiction in American Ending

For her fourth novel, Zuravleff pivoted from contemporary settings to write a story rooted in her own Russian Orthodox family history.

Risk-taking comes naturally for author Mary Kay Zuravleff. As the descendent of Russian Orthodox immigrants who mined coal, Zuravleff might say it’s in her blood. After writing three literary novels with contemporary settings, she pivoted and penned a work of historical fiction rooted in her own family’s story, American Ending.  Zuravleff’s previous work has garnered literary…

Secret Family Recipe: Michelle Brafman Talks Swimming with Ghosts

The local author and John Hopkins professor releases her third novel, a gripping family drama, on June 13, but first she’s talking at Politics and Prose on Saturday.

Ahead of the release of her third novel, Michelle Brafman discusses the gripping family drama at Politics and Prose June 3.

In Silent Tenants, Alberto Roblest Gives Voice to D.C’s Working-Class Latinx Community

Metro commutes and Columbia Heights residents inspired this poetry collection—a bilingual meditation on language, memory, and heritage.

This interview with Alberto Roblest was conducted in Spanish and translated into English by the writer. This story is also published in Spanish. Read it here. If Alberto Roblest knows that there is a Metro commute in his future, he comes prepared. That usually means tucking a small notebook into his pocket, though sometimes he’ll…

Folger Shakespeare Library Reopens November 17, 2023

The 12,000-square-foot public wing includes new exhibition halls—including Folger’s first permanent Shakespeare exhibit, a learning lab, collaborative research spaces, expansive outdoor gardens, a cafe, and more.

Save the date: November 17, 2023, is not just yours truly’s birthday but the day the Folger Shakespeare Library plans to reopen its doors after nearly four years of renovations.  The Capitol Hill landmark closed to the public in March of 2020, just before COVID caused everything else to close as well. But the $80.5 million…

D.C. Book Clubs: Spaces for More Than Reading

In America’s so-called loneliest city, reading groups provide spaces for adults to connect with like-minded and similarly identifying people to create community

In our lonely city, book clubs provide spaces to connect with like-minded and similarly-identifying people.

Author Katherine Heiny on How to Read the Room

The Maryland-based writer has a new collection of short stories, and while only some take place in the DMV, her book talk on April 22 is hyper local.

While only some of author Katherine Heiny are set in the DMV, her April 22 book talk is local.

Loading…

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.