CATEGORIES
فئات
VAL,QUEEN OF SCOTS
ONE OF THE LIVING LEGENDS OF MYSTERY WRITING, VAL McDERMID HAS ENTERTAINED READERS AND DRIVEN THE GENRE FORWARD FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS, BUT SHE WAS NO OVERNIGHT SUCCESS
THE BEAUTIFUL DARK
Barry Gifford and the Noir Revival
the Hook
Intriguing First Lines
IVY POCHODA
It may seem odd to equate Greek drama and athletics with contemporary mysteries. But author Ivy Pochoda sees a logical intersection with the violence, structure, and drive inherent in these subjects.
PUSHING WATER
Write what you know” is the hoariest piece of writing advice, as well as the one most often misapplied. As Stephen King said in his outstanding book On Writing, what if you want to write about serial killers or intergalactic space flight?
Grand Dame Guignol
Sometimes over the top, other times way over the top, Grand Dame Guignol was grisly, memorable entertainment buoyed by the sort of movie stars they no longer make: actresses whose talent, intensity, and willingness to take risks with their images made the wildly melodramatic seem frighteningly real.
EDITH MAXWELL aka MADDIE DAY
Cozies certainly provide solace from many of the dark edges of the actual world,” says Edith Maxwell.
AN OATH AND A TERRORIST
It was the late 2000s and the United States government was engaged in a global hunt for Osama bin Laden.
When Anime Becomes a Refuge For Patriotism
In addition to entertainment, China’s Bilibili offers nationalism to its young audience
The Fast and the Curious
Pro wrestling, raunchy comedy, children’s books, action flicks.... There’s not much that John Cena won’t try. And at age 43, he’s just getting started.
The Old Man Who Lives Two Floors Below
Down the first twist of stairs and Josie hears she is not alone, like hearing a tree in the wind beyond her bedroom window. The old man: splay-legged before his door like a failing easel, he moves slow as death.
Our Nations, Ourselves
A Conversation with Robin Hemley
Translating History
A Conversation with Isabel Fargo Cole
The Pregnant Woman from Zamboanga
In this story by an indigenous writer from the southern Philippines, a crime continues to haunt a local’s thoughts.
CONVERSATIONS ON THE FUTURE OF TRANSLATION
Good Storytelling Still Trending - An Interview with Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Cheating / Death
A girl learns her first lessons about cheating and death at her grandparents’ house, playing cards and Scrabble and listening to them read from the obituaries in the Detroit Jewish News.
Tokyo's Mukōjima Hyakkaen Garden
NEAR THE HEART of old Tokyo, surrounded by the largest metro area in the world, the Mukōjima-Hyakkaen Garden provides a respite from the bustle of the city with a traditional and lush corner of peace and quiet. For more than two centuries, the garden has been a haven for the city’s writers and artists as well as anyone who desires a temporary escape from urban life into the subtle tranquility of nature.
Race, History, and the Body
Humanity on Display
Of Comics and Bipolar Disorder - A Conversation with Rachel Lindsay
Rachel Lindsay is a cartoonist based in Vermont and the author of a graphic memoir, RX, that was published in 2018 by Grand Central Publishing. RX explores the powerful interplay of word and image that resists biomedical prescriptivism and espouses the political potential of sharing subjective experiences of living with bipolar disorder through comics. Her comic strip “Rachel Lives Here Now” appears weekly in Seven Days, an alternative newspaper in Vermont. In our conversation with Lindsay, we discuss the pertinent issues surrounding mental health and the role of graphic memoirs in reclaiming the identity of the patient in a hierarchical biomedical system, specifically in the context of her recent memoir, RX.
LIT TRENDS - 3 Online Book Clubs with a Global Perspective
ONE OF LIFE’S GREAT pleasures is sharing a favorite book with a community of bright, engaging friends, wine in hand and the fireplace crackling. In a perfect world, the host of your local book club is charming, the introverts are cozy and the extroverts gregarious, the conversation is brilliant and never lags, and the serving board groans under the weight of everyone’s best-loved dishes.
‘Wonder Woman 1984,' ‘In The Heights' Postponed Due To Virus
Warner Bros. delayed the summer release of “Wonder Woman 1984” and removed the adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” from its schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chart Busters
Hal Leonard still making sheet music and beating the digital band.
Hot Plots Preview!
What will Happen
No Adults in the Room: From Election to The Politician
The recent release of Ryan Murphy’s series The Politician on Netflix has inspired endless comparisons to Alexander Payne’s 1999 film Election.
Indie Rock's 10-Year Anniversary
New Orleans rock artists have always been a part of the city’s music scene.
THE ICEMEN COMETH
THE ICEMAN SPECIAL MAKES MUSICAL MAGIC WITH A CROSS-GENERATIONAL COLLABORATION AND FAMILY TIES
Christone ‘‘Kingfish'' Ingram talks back
A native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram comes from the land of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Skip James. Just turned 21, this young man with the blues respects his music’s past even as he shapes its future.
Mr. Z
Matthew Zarba is Upbeat Academy’s unflappable rap principal.
When Hollywood Came East Of The Mountains
The phone rang, it was my son James. “Hey Dad, I just had a call from the Apple Commission, there are some movie guys who are looking for good locations to shoot a film up here. Is it okay with you if we let them visit the Keystone (our family orchard in Entiat) and take some pictures?”
PHILLIP MARGOLIN
If asked to account for his career(s) in crime, Phillip Margolin would probably offer evidence that it was inevitable. “I have been a voracious reader starting in elementary school and I tore through Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason novels and the Ellery Queen mysteries,” he says. “By the seventh grade, I had decided that the only thing I wanted to do was try murder cases.”