This year's Free Comic Book Day falls on May 4, noted Star Wars holiday (May the fourth be with you, etc.). But whether the force is with you or not—and no matter how you feel about J. J. Abrams—just about any flavor of nerd could probably get behind 50-plus free comics.
Local purveyors aren't messing around [...]
Literature and poetry readings can be a bore. Too many are sullied by bad wine, stale crackers, and an abundance of feelings—a nasty combination that could scare off even the most ardent lit lovers. But members of D.C.'s literary community want you to know it doesn't have to be that way. Readings—and the people who [...]
There's much to be said about the life of a twentysomething these days. Just ask Girls creator Lena Dunham or author Sheila Heti. Or, evidently, Kate Jenkins, the 26-year-old Columbia Heights resident behind D.C.'s new quarterly magazine, The Intentional.
After returning to the U.S. from Spain, where she earned her Master's degree in microfinance, Jenkins found herself [...]
Since launching in 2005, D.C. literary journal Barrelhouse has been publishing short stories, poems, and essays about all manner of human experiences. But where it's diverged from traditional literary magazines is in its outright celebration of pop culture—all of it, good and bad, silly and serious, widely revered and widely shunned.
This week, Barrelhouse expanded beyond its [...]
Noir fiction started as an American phenomenon, but it didn’t take long to cross the pond. French New Wave directors took plenty of inspiration from authors like David Goodis and James M. Cain, and today the genre arguably lives and breathes most intensely in Nordic countries—thanks especially to the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, whose [...]
in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies, by Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky
It took many years of feminist counter-programming for me to abandon my mistaken belief that Yoko Ono was a witch who broke up The Beatles. That doesn't mean I'm a fan of her [...]
in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and Historical Visions, by Jim Cullen
When I think of Jim Morrison, I don't think of Jim Morrison, but of Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors. And when I think of Justice Earl Warren, [...]
Ben Hatke actually lives in Front Royal, Va., but we'll call him local: He does book signings here, most recently at the Capicons convention and Big Planet Comics. The classically trained artist with an infectious grin works well with kids—at his Politics & Prose talk for his first book, he ended it with a backflip, [...]
in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. The Best of Punk Magazine, by John Holmstrom
Musical genres should have fight songs. You know, like sports teams. "The Ramones invented it, the English perfected it. The Stooges presaged it, Green Day reflected it. It's... punk! HOO-RAH. HOO-RAH. HOO-RAH. HOO-RAH."
2. Ship It Holla [...]
in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, by Lawrence Wright
People always want to talk about John Travolta's religious beliefs, sexuality, terrible hair plugs, terrible Christmas album with Olivia Newton-John, or comeback in Pulp Fiction, but never seem to mention that the [...]
