Articles

Life goes on in Charlie DeMott Wildey's apocalyptic novel 'Lightning Bolt'

• By Daniel J. Kushner
The Rochester writer-comedian's debut depicts artists who keep creating despite catastrophy.
• Tags: Literature

"High Yella" and Steve Majors’ search for identity

• By Jeff Spevak
The WNY native will speak about his 'modern family' memoir in Rochester on Wednesday.
• Tags: Literature

'100 Things to Do in Rochester Before You Die.' How many have you done?

• By Jeff Spevak
Robin L. Flanigan’s new book is “100 Things to Do in Rochester Before You Die.”
• Tags: Literature

Poetry and pistols

• By Daniel J. Kushner
Is the pen mightier than the gun? Poet Matt Donovan finds out in "The Dug-up Gun Museum."
• Tags: Literature, Matt Donovan, The Dug-up Gun Museum, BOA Editions, poetry

Yoga teacher Anderson Allen blends movement with writing at 'Scribe and Move'

• By Daniel J. Kushner
Yoga and creative writing go together in Anderson Allen's class at The Avenue Blackbox Theatre.
• Tags: Literature, Anderson Allen, Scribe and Move, yoga, creative writing

James Longenbach, U of R prof who wrote about poetry for the masses, dies at 62

• By Daniel J. Kushner
James Longenbach, a prominent poet and critic, was considered a giant in his field.
• Tags: Literature, James Longenbach, University of Rochester, poetry, obituary

Rochester Reads selection is one 'Hell of a Book'

• By Rebecca Rafferty
Jason Mott’s 2021 award-winning novel is a "page-turner" and "truly a book of our time."
• Tags: Literature, Jason Mott, Hell of a Book, Rochester Reads

Nine new books we’re excited to read this fall

• By Rachel Crawford
As we enter the curl-up-with-a-good-book months, these recommendations are ripe with intrigue, humor, and escape.
• Tags: Literature, new books, fall reading, Adrienne Maree Brown, AK Press, Mario Levrero, And Other Stories, Colson Whitehead, Derrick Austin, BOA Editions, Remigiusz Ryzinski, Open Letter Books, László Krasznahorkai, New Directions, Wolfgang Hilbig, Two Lines, Raymond Antrobus, Tin House, Rachel Cusk

Pop-up bookstores become indie lit's guide to survival

• By Veronica Volk
Indie booksellers such as Akimbo Books and The Secondhand Librarian are turning to pop-up events and web sales to reach readers.
• Tags: Literature, online booksellers, pop-up bookstores, Akimbo Books, Rachel Crawford, The Secondhand Librarian, Taylor Thomas, lindie literature

Hanif Abdurraqib, an emerging star, visits Writers & Books

• By Jeff Spevak
Poet Hanif Abdurraqib's poems have been called "unmitigated brilliance." He joins Writers & Books on April 15 for its Visiting Authors series.
• Tags: Literature

Poetry in times of strife

Bring on the bards

• By Daniel J. Kushner and Rebecca Rafferty
Three Rochester poets share how they perceived 2020 and how it inspired them.
• Tags: Literature, poetry, poets, Anderson Allen, Charles Coté, Albert Abonado, 2020, pandemic, Black Lives Matter, isolation, love, conspiracy theories

'Good Bones' poet Maggie Smith gives virtual reading

• By Rebecca Rafferty
Best selling poet and essayist Maggie Smith's work lends readers some hopeful pragmatism in dark times.
• Tags: Literature, Writers & Books, Maggie Smith, poetry, essays, "Good Bones", virtual reading, virtual discussion

Writers and artists celebrate while others hibernate

• By Rebecca Rafferty
Winter (doesn’t suck, you’ve just lost your sense of) wonderland.
• Tags: Literature, Winter, snow, poetry, prose, artwork, Lewis Carroll, Annie Dillard, Robert Frost, Charles Baudelaire, Memorial Art Gallery, Jessica Marten, Harold Weston, Ralph Avery, M. Louise Stowell

Gaelen McCormick and 'The Pandemic of Creation'

• By Jeff Spevak
Former RPO double bassist Gaelen McCormick's struggles with hearing loss inform her new book with Sraddha Prativadi, "The Pandemic of Creation: Recognizing freedom in Loss and Opportunity in the Void."
• Tags: Literature, Gaelen McCormick, Sraddha Prativadi, The Pandemic of Creation, book, Across the Universe, classical music, COVID-19, coronavirus, creativity, literature

Comedy writer Alan Zweibel talks television and the voices in our heads

• By Jeff Spevak
In advance of his online author talk on May 21, courtesy of JCC Rochester, comedy writer Alan Zweibel talks about the challenge of virtual audiences and the importance of pandemic-era television
• Tags: Literature, Alan Zweibel, comedy writing, books, Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester, Virtual JCC, Laugh Lines

Political disquiet

• By Rachel Crawford
This week, the University of Rochester’s Humanities Center Public Lecture Series examines the themes of community, morality, and current events with acclaimed author Valeria Luiselli.
• Tags: Literature

Dave Chisholm goes sci-fi in new comic book 'Canopus'

Deep space story

• By Daniel J. Kushner
In the new sci-fi comic book "Canopus," Rochester artist, writer, and musician Dave Chisholm tracks the dust of his personal history as he relies on the strength of fantastical storytelling.
• Tags: Literature, Dave Chisholm, Canopus, Scout Comics, Rochester comic book, graphic novel, Comics Etc

'Like Falling Through a Cloud' with Eugenia Zukerman

• By Jeff Spevak
There is no cure for Alzheimer's, just a better road to the end. World-renowned flutist Eugenia Zukerman on coping with her diagnosis.
• Tags: Literature, Eugenia Zuckerman, Alzheimer's

The Ladder Literary Conference returns for second year

• By Jessica Pavia
The Ladder aims to link writers at all levels with valuable resources. Presented by Writers & Books this weekend in downtown Rochester, the event will showcase authors, editors, and publishers who will discuss how to navigate the struggles that all writers face.
• Tags: Literature, The Ladder, literary conference, Writers & Books

Review: 'Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity'

• By Rebecca Rafferty
A new anthology about shrugging off gender conformity contains personal essays by 30 people spanning different ages, races, ethnicities, classes, abilities, and religions.
• Tags: Literature, Gender, "Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity"

Alison Meyers will lead Writers & Books

• By Rebecca Rafferty
Writers & Books has hired Alison Meyers, a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and fiction writer and a veteran non-profit leader, as its next executive director.
• Tags: Literature, Literature, Writers & Books, Alison Meyers

Interview: 'American War' author Omar El Akkad

Literature as 'weaponized empathy'

• By Rachel Crawford
Writers & Books' 2019 selection for its Rochester Reads series is "American War," the debut novel of Egyptian-Canadian investigative journalist Omar El Akkad. He'll be in town March 26 to March 29 for a series of readings, book signings, and book talks.
• Tags: Literature, Literature, Interview, Omar El Akkad, "American War", Rochester Reads, Writers & Books

Hnossa's storytelling brings folktales to life

• By Rebecca Rafferty
Armed with little more than a mic, an amp, and a loop station, Hnossa project's Didrik Söderström adapts and performs old stories in layered poetry, prose, and song. This week Hnossa will present its new work, "The Magician's Cape," at Writers & Books.
• Tags: Literature, Literature, Storytelling, Hnossa Project, "The Magician's Cape"

Brockport Writers Forum season wraps with memoir

• By Rachel Crawford
Anne Panning's memoir on the death of her mother, "Dragonfly Notes: On Distance and Loss," is written in brief fragments in which dragonflies operate as a vehicle that takes the reader through different places and moments in time.
• Tags: Literature, Literature, Book review, Anne Panning, Brockport Writers Forum, The College at Brockport

Rochester's role in translating worldwide women authors

• By Rachel Crawford
Reading contemporary women authors in translation gives us a perspective that diverges from the both European and male-dominated canon. We explore the world of international women writers and the Rochester-based translators and publishers who make their work accessible to an English-reading audience.
• Tags: Literature, Women in translation, international women authors, Open Letter Books, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, Sevinç Turkkan, Lytton Smith