Cleopatra’s Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen
Cleopatra’s Daughter: From Roman Prisoner to African Queen
10182 results were found.
No Human Contact: Solitary Confinement, Maximum Security, and Two Inmates Who Changed the System
No Human Contact: Solitary Confinement, Maximum Security, and Two Inmates Who Changed the System
May has been a wild rollercoaster of a month. It began with the afterglow of wonderful news — I’d received tenure at the University of Baltimore — and the shadow of a new medical condition: I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Later in the month, my student loans from…
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma
Authors on Audio: Stephen F. Knott
A professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, Stephen F. Knott is also the author of several books, including The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal, Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth,…
David Von Drehle in Conversation with Rick Atkinson
When a veteran Washington journalist moved to Kansas, he met a new neighbor who was more than a century old. Little did he know that he was beginning a long friendship — and a profound lesson in the meaning of life. Charlie White was no ordinary neighbor. Born before radio,…
A Book that Says “the DMV” to Me…
Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia are often lumped together and shorthanded as “the capital region,” but each has its own singular literary feel. Here are several titles that uniquely capture the ethos of their particular corner of the DMV. Washington, DC Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the…
Ghost Girl, Banana: A Novel
Already one of America’s foremost biographers, Kitty Kelley is now among its premier supporters of the genre, too. Biographers International Organization announced yesterday that Kelley is granting it $1 million, to be given in $200,000 increments over five years. “We are immensely grateful for Kitty’s life-changing investment in BIO,” says…
The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession
The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession
Positive Vibrations
Join us for the launch event for Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by debut (and local!) author Sarah Adler! Sarah will discuss her book, answer questions, and sign books! Preorder a copy of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes here. This event is presented in partnership with Frederick County Public Libraries. Books will be available…
Wild by Design
Juno Loves Legs: A Novel
Cultural appropriation has become a big no-no in publishing, and no less a bestselling author than Richard North Patterson has taken to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to complain how his new novel, Trial, his first in nearly a decade, faced stiff opposition to getting published. Patterson, a…
Mothering. To mother. To need mothering. I always wonder at this word in English, how it almost transforms into smothering in my head, which exposes a diabolical patriarchal strain through the very bones of my native language. Or perhaps it’s merely our conditioning. I don’t know, but here’s what I…
Hestia Strikes a Match: A Novel
Hestia Strikes a Match: A Novel
The Gaithersburg Book Festival
Since its inception in 2010, the Gaithersburg Book Festival has been a celebration of the written word and its power to enrich the human experience. This year's lineup is truly stellar and includes bestselling authors from Dave Barry and Cory Doctorow to Ari Shapiro and Meg Medina! Read more about…
These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs ― and Wrecks ― America
These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs ― and Wrecks ― America
The word “magical” was mentioned several times during the Independent’s 10th annual Washington Writers Conference last Friday and Saturday. But the excellent panels, authors, networking opportunities, agent pitches, and building of the writing community were only part of the magic. As always, I want to start by thanking our volunteers.…
Bruno Schulz: An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History
Bruno Schulz: An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History
Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937), once a titan of American magazine publishing, is now most often remembered, if at all, as the driving force behind the epic four-volume Battles and Leaders of the Civil War series. But his relationship with famed naturalist John Muir has left an indelible mark on the…
Dog on Fire
I started reading Becky Chambers’ To Be Taught, If Fortunate with no expectations — the book had been a gift, and I knew almost nothing about it, but I wanted something short and sci-fi-oriented. Within 15 pages, I was riveted. After 30, I felt my hope for the future beginning…
I grew up on the unaffectionately termed “Slower Lower” Eastern Shore, where life definitely was slow and sparse. Though I wrote my first novel by 10, and co-authored a fantasy novel with my then-best friend by 13, poetry always felt like the untouchable artform, even more so when I transferred…
Anne Berest in Conversation with Michael Reynolds and Sarah Diligenti
Join Solid State Books and author Anne Berest in discussion with Michael Reynolds of Europa Press and Sarah Diligenti of the Alliance Francaise. Please register here. Berest’s The Postcard is among the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years. Luminous and gripping to the very last page, it…
Into the Inferno
Scoundrel
Double or Nothing: A Double O Novel
Double or Nothing: A Double O Novel
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Kathy Cannon Wiechman, winner of the inaugural Grateful American™ Book Prize for Like a River: A Civil War Novel: One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink…
The 2023 Washington Writers Conference!
Okay, we’ve been going on and on (and on) about the excellent, informative, collegial, and overall awesome 2023 Washington Writers Conference for months now. Well, believe it or not, the big event is finally here! This year’s conference happens this Friday and Saturday, May 12-13, and if you haven’t registered…
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Before email, when long-distance phone calls cost a bundle, my mother was queen of the postcard, loving to communicate but not to write. She kept USPS postcards, postage pre-printed, in her shoulder bag and wrote distant friends and family while waiting in lines or impatient with faculty meetings. Mom packed…
A writer and a lecturer at Howard University, Oline Eaton “writes about lives, stories, and representations of stories of lives in media and culture.” One such life is that of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the subject of Eaton’s first book, Finding Jackie: A Life Reinvented. Says New York Times bestselling biographer…
Y/N
Small Mercies: A Novel
I think it started with my father’s letters to me at camp. He could be a distant parent, fiercely cerebral and work-focused, not much interested in children between when they began to speak and when they had something to say. In the letters, I met a different man. On paper,…
Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain
Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain
Children’s Book Roundup: May 2023
The Bright Side by Chad Otis (Rocky Pond Books). “We live in an old school bus now. At least until we can get a normal house again.” Okay, so it’s not ideal, but the young boy is determined to make the best of it — and to look for the…
Back to the Prairie
The Unwritten Book
Meet Nicole Hackett and Christy Gibson
About The Perfect Ones: Two days after arriving in Iceland for a promotional trip, Instagram influencer Alabama Wood goes missing. With no leads, the Icelandic police start their investigation by focusing on the two influencers seemingly closest to Alabama on the trip: Celeste Reed, Alabama’s best friend of 10 years,…
May is my birthday month. Guess what I want for my big day? (You probably already know.) Yep, more books! Of course, I don’t need an actual reason to buy more books, right? A random Tuesday? That’s a good day to buy one. When it’s raining? Ditto. Beach vacation coming…
Wandering Souls: A Novel
Okay, we’ve been going on and on (and on) about the excellent, informative, collegial, and overall awesome 2023 Washington Writers Conference for months now. Well, believe it or not, the big event is finally here! This year’s conference happens this Friday and Saturday, May 12-13, and if you haven’t registered…
When the Smoke Cleared: The 1968 Rebellions and the Unfinished Battle for Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital
Authors on Audio: Philip Taubman
A lecturer at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, former journalist Philip Taubman is also the author of several books, including The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb, Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America’s Space Espionage, and now In…
Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature
Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature
Our 7 Most Favorable Reviews in April 2023
The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions by Art Taylor (Crippen & Landru). Reviewed by Mariko Hewer. “One of the most poignant stories in the collection, ‘Blue Plate Special,’ invokes magical mirrors that allow people to look into the past. To the uninitiated, of course, this…
Jesse Braddock is trapped in a tiny cabin deep in the Everglades with her infant daughter and her ex-boyfriend, a wannabe reality-TV star who turned out to be a lot prettier on the outside than on the inside. Broke and desperate for a way out, Jesse stumbles across a long-lost…
Losing Music: A Memoir
A Conversation with Laura Scalzo
Laura Scalzo lives in Washington, DC, and is the author of The Speed of Light in Air, Water, and Glass. Her new book, American Arcadia, which comes out today, has been praised as “a gorgeous riff of a New York City novel.” This lyrical tale of ambition and loss features…
Our 5 Most Popular Posts: April 2023
A Madman’s Will: John Randolph, 400 Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom by Gregory May (Liveright). Reviewed by Eugene L. Meyer. “Was John Randolph — the fiery and erratic U.S. senator from Virginia who sometimes believed in abolition and sometimes didn’t — a rational man? Or was he legally insane…
King: A Life
The Real World of College
Join us at C. Burr Artz Public Library as we celebrate local author Christine Grillo’s debut novel Hestia Strikes a Match, a slyly funny story of a woman looking for love and friendship in the midst of a new American civil war. Christine will talk about her novel, answer questions,…
Corporate Rock Sucks
A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South
A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South
Tomorrow’s Independent Bookstore Day
Show your favorite local indie some love — and feed your TBR stack in the process — by taking part in Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 29th! Visit one of the awesome DMV-area outfits below, or peruse the internet’s anti-Amazon, Bookshop.org! Bards Alley Busboys and Poets Charm City Books…
The Annapolis Book Festival is free to attend and open to all! Every year, thousands of people enjoy this community festival that celebrates the beauty, power, passion, and excitement of the written word. The festival will celebrate its 20th year in 2023, bringing nationally renowned authors to the community to…
Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn’t Enough
Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn’t Enough
April’s roundup finds me picking two collections that couldn’t be more different from each other except that they both, as wholly formed works from seasoned poets, captured my attention in what has been a month of howling gales and distractions, including the sudden passing of a mentor. While I love…
As you know, I believe that to write well, one must read. Everything. That’s why this column will be devoted to the nation’s dwindling universe of local papers. I started my journalistic career at the Staten Island Advance, a newspaper that once blanketed the “forgotten” borough with wedding announcements, accidents,…
Never Sleep: A Novel
Authors on Audio: Adam Brookes
Longtime BBC correspondent Adam Brookes is also the author of multiple books, including the novels Night Heron, Spy Games, and The Spy’s Daughter. His new work of nonfiction is Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China’s Forbidden City, which historian Simon Sebag Montefiore calls…
Meet Mia P. Manansala and Nikki Payne
Loyalty is delighted to welcome staff faves Mia P. Manansala and Nikki Payne for an IN-PERSON event celebrating Blackmail and Bibingka and Pride and Protest! Join us at Loyalty’s Petworth location for a discussion with these two fabulous authors, followed by a Q&A and a book-signing! This event is free…
An Interview with Alberto Roblest
In his forthcoming collection, Inquilinos Mudos/Silent Tenants, Mexican poet, multimedia artist, and professor Alberto Roblest celebrates the power of being bilingual. Divided into two sections comprising 19 poems printed in English and Spanish, the work takes readers on an exploration of the richness of language, playing with form and word…
Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300
Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300
We’re thrilled to announce the recipients of our first-ever BIPOC Scholarship Awards, a special initiative of the 2023 Washington Writers Conference! The honorees were selected by authors Tara Campbell and Melanie S. Hatter, along with conference planning-committee members Jennifer Bort Yacovissi and Caroline Bock. They’ll each receive full, free access…
There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History
There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History
Take My Hand
The Invisible Siege
Alexa Patrick is a singer and poet from Connecticut. She is a graduate of American University, where she studied Psychology, African-American and African Diaspora Studies, and Spanish. Alexa is a Cave Canem Fellow, and holds teaching positions through Split This Rock, the University of the District of Columbia, and the…
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America
The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie
The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie
Panel in the Spotlight: “Building Your Writing Community”
Putting words on the page is a solitary pursuit, but we can go farther when supported by fellow travelers! In “Building Your Writing Community,” one of the many excellent panels at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference, moderator/author Tara Campbell leads a conversation about finding such a community with Myna Chang,…
Judgment and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs
Judgment and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs
All Else Failed: The Unlikely Volunteers at the Heart of the Migrant Aid Crisis
All Else Failed: The Unlikely Volunteers at the Heart of the Migrant Aid Crisis
Tenkill
One gets an apocalyptic feeling reading D.H. Lawrence’s 1928 novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. What was characterized as a “dirty book,” banned for obscenity due to its graphic depiction of sex, is just as much a tale about the ills of progress. Lawrence thought automation, especially, was having calamitous impacts on…
Meet Maan Gabriel and Mona Shroff
With new books out this spring, Maan Gabriel and Mona Shroff visit One More Page on April 20th. Join the conversation! Our current capacity limit is 50 people, so please register for this FREE event to be sure you get in! Maan Gabriel is a mom, wife, dreamer, writer, and…
When I Sing, Mountains Dance
End of the World House
A Madman’s Will: John Randolph, 400 Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom
A Madman’s Will: John Randolph, 400 Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Michelle Coles, winner of the 2022 Grateful American Book Prize for her debut novel, Black Was the Ink: Homegoing: A Novel by Yaa Gyasi. “Thanks to [the author’s] instinctive storytelling…
New construction has completely changed the character of my neighborhood. You’ve probably seen it, too — developers buying up old houses in established neighborhoods and demolishing them, plowing up gardens, and putting outsized McMansions with three-car garages on the lots. Virginia’s environmental policies are among the most progressive in the…
The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape
The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape
The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
Authors on Audio: William Inboden
A professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a former longtime policymaker in Washington, DC, William Inboden is also the author, most recently, of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. It’s a book, says…
All of Us Together in the End
Panel in the Spotlight: “How to Pitch an Agent”
Freaking out about pitching your novel or nonfiction proposal at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference? Relax! During Friday evening’s “How to Pitch an Agent” panel, moderated by conference chair Laura Hazan, literary agents Jennifer Chen Tran, Sam Hiyate, Katharine Sands, and Max Sinsheimer — all of whom will be taking…
Children’s Book Roundup: April 2023
Gustav Is Missing!: A Tale of Friendship and Bravery by Andrea Zuill (Random House Studio). “Little Cap needed a safe place because, in his opinion, the world held too many surprises…and was filled with highly suspect individuals. Frankly, the outside world was chaos.” And that’s why the cozy, snuggly home…
The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery
The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery
David O. Stewart in Conversation with Eugenia Kim
About The Burning Land: In 1861, Henry and Katie have found love on the rugged Maine coast. He builds boats. She wants to teach school whenever her family duties relent. Their hearts are light and the future looks bright. Then America explodes in civil war. At first surprised by Katie's…
Sea of Tranquility
Read Dangerously
76 Hours: A Novel of Tarawa
Autumn used to be my favorite season, but the older I get, the more I appreciate spring. There’s a sense of anticipation as everything starts turning green and lush again. The birds are building nests, the rabbits are frolicking, and the world seems a little bit brighter and more colorful.…
In a letter to Benjamin Bailey, John Keats wrote, “What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth.” ***** As a child, I think I would have traded anything to be beautiful — or thought of as beautiful by others. Any talent in academics, any penchant for acting, any virtuosity…
Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide
This event is FREE to attend, but RSVP below to let us know you're coming! Please note: for safety reasons, adults must be accompanied by a child to attend story hour. Feel free to email [email protected] with any questions. Drag Story Hour is just what it sounds like! Storytellers using…
Panel in the Spotlight: “From Page to Screen”
It’s every author’s dream, right? To see their work on the big (or small) screen? Well, sure. And yet. In “From Page to Screen,” just one of many outstanding panels at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference, novelists S.A. Cosby (Razorblade Tears), Angie Kim (Miracle Creek), and Louis Bayard (The Pale…
Thirst for Salt: A Novel
The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions
The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions
Our 7 Most Favorable Reviews in March 2023
The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America by Christopher C. Gorham (Citadel). Reviewed by C.B. Santore. “Whatever the reasons for overlooking this remarkable woman, The Confidante will enhance the library of anyone interested in 20th-century American history or women’s history. Anecdotes…
Our 5 Most Popular Posts: March 2023
Larry Matthews’ review of In Search of Amrit Kaur: A Lost Princess and Her Vanished World by Livia Manera Sambuy; translated by Todd Portnowitz (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). “Yet In Search of Amrit Kaur ends up being as much about the author as it is about her subject. We’re treated…
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America
Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America
The Town of Babylon
Cheuse Center Lecture: Azar Nafisi
The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center is hosting its inaugural free public lecture, to be delivered by Azar Nafisi, the New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Reflecting on current events to support women's rights in Iran, Nafisi’s speech will touch on the two countries she calls…
Queens of Jerusalem
Best Minds: How Allen Ginsberg Made Revolutionary Poetry from Madness
Best Minds: How Allen Ginsberg Made Revolutionary Poetry from Madness
Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER
Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER
Women Sleuths on the Page and Screen
Since Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series, women detectives have held their own against their ubiquitous male counterparts. These women are the equal of any man in the hardboiled genre. This has not been lost on TV producers, who are eager to find good content in the streaming era. Last year,…
Once We Were Home: A Novel
Authors on Audio: Diana P. Parsell
Washington, DC-area writer, editor, and former journalist Diana P. Parsell is also author of the recently released Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees. Julia Kuehn of the University of Hong Kong calls the new biography “a wonderful connecting of two women writers’ stories more than a century…
Our Early Bird Rate Ends Friday
Don’t miss your chance to attend the 2023 Washington Writers Conference at the Early Bird rate of $369! This entitles you to: A Friday-evening reception and “How to Pitch an Agent” tutorial. Face-to-face pitch sessions with three literary agents. Saturday panels featuring some of your favorite publishing pros. A lunchtime…
Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End
Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End
Romance Reader and Writer Happy Hour
Join East City Bookshop's Really Reading Romance book club and some of the country's best romance writers for a happy hour at Sudhouse DC. Click here to register for this event via Eventbrite. Entry is $10. Confirmed special guests include B.K. Borison, Andie J. Christopher, Susie Dumond, Jayce Ellis, Avery…
I’ve been thinking a lot about death recently. This may seem morbid, but it’s a natural part of getting older and of watching the people I love get older, too (not to mention my life companion, the dog!). I’ve been fortunate to be relatively untouched by this particular brand of…
Künstlers in Paradise: A Novel
Künstlers in Paradise: A Novel
Athens
North to Paradise
Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals
Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals
In Search of Amrit Kaur: A Lost Princess and Her Vanished World
In Search of Amrit Kaur: A Lost Princess and Her Vanished World
“It’s not down in any map. True places never are,” Herman Melville says. I disagree. I owe my writing life to the true places and inspiration of western Pennsylvania, in particular Bedford County’s hills and “coves” — fjord-like valleys between the Allegheny foothills. My paternal grandfather was born not far…
Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry in Conversation with Paul Goldberg
Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves. They spend their summers at Anya's dacha just outside of Moscow, lazing in the apple orchard, listening to Queen songs, and fantasizing about trips abroad and…
We’re excited to announce that Kitty Kelley — who has been an integral part of the Independent since its earliest days — is recipient of the 2023 BIO Award from Biographers International Organization! The honor is given annually “to a distinguished colleague who has made significant contributions to the art…
Dust Child: A Novel
Authors on Audio: Andy Davidson
Author Andy Davidson is known for scary stories like The Boatman’s Daughter and In the Valley of the Sun. His latest novel, The Hollow Kind, continues the creepy tradition. “[This] is a riveting novel that will satisfy any horror fan (and many soon-to-be fans),” said Mariko Hewer in the Independent.…
Sell Us the Rope: A Novel
Panel in the Spotlight: “Nonfiction: Politics and History”
Truth is clearly stranger than fiction — just google “current events” — which is why authors Peter Baker (The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021, co-written with Susan Glasser), Evan Thomas (Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II), Elliot Ackerman (The…
The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration
The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration
One of the Crushes behind CRUSH
I called him the Italian Boy. He was an exchange student, truly Italian, at my college. It was sophomore year, and I was smitten. His too-long bangs, Mediterranean blue eyes, and the way he always accessorized with a soccer ball. Of course, I’d never tossed a single buon giorno his…
Trace & Aura
Savage Journey
Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction
Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Teddi Levy Marshall, co-founder of Rolling Greens Inc.: Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis with Michael D’Orso. Told in the words of the late…
Lee Mandelo in Conversation with Alix E. Harrow
This event is free to attend but RSVPs are required — please use the form below. **Face masks are required for all attendees.** Please email [email protected] with any questions. ABOUT THE BOOK Lee Mandelo dives into the minds of wolves in Feed Them Silence, a novella of the near future.…
The God of Endings: A Novel
Lately, I’ve been contemplating the idea of the womb as a portal — that those of us with uteruses carry a doorway within, a potent potential. Since having my own child mere months before the covid pandemic began, I’ve also been engaged with the idea that wombs not only bring…
The question is not whether white people are racist, but rather how do we — intentionally or not — perpetuate racism in our lives? When I discovered Real Friends Talk About Race: Bridging the Gaps Through Uncomfortable Conversations by Yseult P. Mukantabana and Hannah Summerhill — the creators and hosts…
Birthright
Authors on Audio: Natasha Lance Rogoff
Boston-based TV producer and filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff is also author of the recently published Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia. “There has been no shortage of journalistic books, memoirs and political analyses written by Russians and foreigners on the country in…
Panel in the Spotlight: “Small Press Publishers”
Think the Big Five is the only game in town as far as publishing a book? Think again! During “Small Press Publishers,” just one of many outstanding panels at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference, Annie Marhefka (Yellow Arrow Publishing), Monica Prince (Santa Fe Writers Project), and Michael Tager (Mason Jar…
The American Way: A True Story of Nazi Escape, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe
The American Way: A True Story of Nazi Escape, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe
The Sun Walks Down: A Novel
Children’s Book Roundup: March 2023
Ancient Night by David Bowles (author) and David Álvarez (illustrator) (Levine Querido). “At the start of things, the elders say, the universe was hushed and still. The moon alone shone bright and round in the star-speckled dark of the sky.” So begins this ethereal tale which re-imagines two figures from…
Alissa Quart in Conversation with David Corn
The promise that you can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is central to the story of the American Dream. It's the belief that if you work hard and rely on your own resources, you will eventually succeed. However, time and again we have seen how this foundational myth, with…
Riding to Arms
Glory
Syntax of the River: The Pattern Which Connects
Syntax of the River: The Pattern Which Connects
I know February is the shortest month, but that — waves hands toward the calendar — was kind of ridiculous. Despite feeling like I blinked and it was over, I managed to squeeze in a fair amount of reading last month and discovered a few terrific new romances. Here are…
In Memoriam: A Novel
I’m a self-taught self-publishing nerd. I publish my own books under a company I made up (St. Austin’s Press, named after St. Austin’s Place, where I lived on Staten Island). I create my own covers, with a little help from artwork purchased for a proverbial song. I do my own…
Iron Curtain: A Love Story
Panel in the Spotlight: “Voices Across Genres”
Don’t see yourself sticking with a particular type of writing? You don’t have to! During “Voices Across Genres,” just one of many outstanding panels at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference, Tara Campbell (TreeVolution) will moderate a lively conversation with longtime writer/editor Diana Parsell (Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Woman Behind Washington’s…
Please join Coinneach Macleod for a cooking demo and discussion of his new cookbook, My Scottish Island Kitchen. Cozy up with a Hot Toddy Bundt Cake or a Cullen Skink Tart and enjoy a dose of Hebridean hygge. Putting a modern twist on classic recipes and showing us all that…
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
An Interview with Ciera Horton McElroy
Ciera Horton McElroy’s debut novel, Atomic Family, which plays out over one day, is a devastating and heartfelt page-turner. In it, McElroy captures the patriotism and paranoia of the early 1960s at ground zero; namely, the Porter family’s living room. What’s more damaging to Dean and Nellie’s marriage and to…
The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America
The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America
“The heart must be curbed lest it become angelic” is the opening line of Saleem Peeradina’s poem “Heart’s Beast,” which appears in Future Library (2022), the Red Hen Press anthology of contemporary Indian writing. The book is one of a recent bonanza of three anthologies on my shelf that mark…
Chilean Poet
Journey of the Mind
Song Noir: Tom Waits and the Spirit of Los Angeles
Song Noir: Tom Waits and the Spirit of Los Angeles
Our 7 Most Favorable Reviews in February 2023
A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney (Spiegel & Grau). Reviewed by Holly Smith. “Infant Henry got sick during the third season of ‘Catastrophe.’ By the time the fourth and final season was shot, he was gone. Through it all, Delaney and his wife were intentional about spending time together,…
Meet Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter
Curious Iguana is excited to welcome Megan and Michelle to Frederick for the release of their new graphic novel, Squished. They will be spending their day visiting local schools but will be at the store from 6-7 p.m. to chat with fans and sign books! About Squished: From the powerhouse…
The Dream Builders: A Novel
Our 5 Most Popular Posts: February 2023
Kitty Kelley’s review of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo (Simon & Schuster). “The Crafts’ story is no ordinary slave narrative, although ‘ordinary’ hardly describes the harrowing attempts that desperate human beings made in 18th- and 19th-century America to flee slavery’s choke-hold.…
Mr. Breakfast: A Novel
Authors on Audio: Gene Andrew Jarrett
Dean of the Faculty and William S. Tod Professor of English at Princeton University, Gene Andrew Jarrett is also the author of Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature and Deans and Truants: Race and Realism in African American Literature. His new book is Paul Laurence…
Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II
Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II
David O. Stewart to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
We’re pleased to announce that David O. Stewart will receive the Independent’s Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2023 Washington Writers Conference! Bestselling biographer and previous recipient Kitty Kelley will present him with the honor. Stewart is the acclaimed author of multiple award-winning works of fiction and nonfiction, including George Washington:…
The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize Reading
Each year, Waywiser Press works with a judge to select a poet for the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize, named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. The winning poet reads alongside the judge. This year’s judge is Alice Fulton, and James D’Agostino is the 17th winner of the prize. Together, Fulton and…
A Woman’s Life Is a Human Life: My Mother, Our Neighbor, and the Journey from Reproductive Rights to Reproductive Justice
Writing against the (Main) Stream
You know how when you’re climbing a peak, and the top is so tantalizingly close, and yet every time you look up, it’s as far away as ever? That’s where I am with my work-in-progress. Yet, even as I labor on, forging ahead word by word, I despair for the…
The Turning Point
Conquistadores
Hungry Ghosts: A Novel
IndiePenned Meet & Greet with Alonzo Vereen
We’re thrilled to kick-off our 2023 IndiePenned series with Alonzo Vereen at our National Harbor location! About the Book: A vibrant collection of biographies and illustrated portraits that capture the brilliance of more than 30 American icons, Historically Black is a celebration of Black excellence in fields ranging from politics…
How is it I’d never heard of James Still until one of my podcast listeners wrote in with the suggestion of his poem “Leap Minnows, Leap”? In it, a creek is drying up and all the minnows are dying. I was stunned by the poem’s immediacy and fresh, clear language,…
If I Survive You
Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy
Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy
Authors on Audio: Stacy Schiff
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Stacy Schiff is the author of multiple bestselling books, including Cleopatra: A Life, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem, and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Her new work is The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, which Adam Gopnik calls “a wildly…
A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization
A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization
Panel in the Spotlight: “Debut Authors: Paths to Publication”
A love story with roots in the WWII era; a YA novel set at an elite prep school; and a study of Irish crime writers. Each of these debuts had its own unique journey to the bookshelf. In “Debut Authors: Paths to Publication,” just one of many outstanding panels at…
Patricia Park in Conversation with Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Alejandra Verónica Kim doesn’t belong anywhere. At her wealthy Manhattan high school, her Spanish name and Korean face confound her mostly white classmates and teachers. In her Jackson Heights neighborhood, she’s not Latinx enough. Even at home, Ale feels unwelcome, especially since Papi's body was discovered on the subway tracks.…
The Diary Keepers: World War II in the Netherlands, as Written by the People Who Lived Through It
The Diary Keepers: World War II in the Netherlands, as Written by the People Who Lived Through It
When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East
When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East
The Treeline
Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine
Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine
Africa Out Loud: An Open-Mic & Spoken-Word Event
2 DEEP THE POETESS, a spoken word artist of Nigerian descent will be our host for Africa Out Loud. With over a decade of snatching microphones and captivating audiences, 2Deep’s resume reads like Who’s Who travel guide. From Cornell University to Ottawa University, American University to Penn State, United States…
I turned 40 last fall. The day was rife with all the austere deflections of aging and folks trying to convince me that 40 was a meaningless milestone. But it also gave me pause in some unexpected ways. I don’t think I was hung up about mortality, though I did…
What is February to the poet? It is most definitely a time of awkward between — the flickering on and off of cold, like a light switch in the manic hands of a toddler; the slush of not-quite snow, not-quite rain; grey skies; an endless cacophony of crows. The groundhog…
The Red Balcony: A Novel
Authors on Audio: Burk Murchison and Michael Granberry
Texans Burk Murchison and Michael Granberry recently collaborated on Hole in the Roof: The Dallas Cowboys, Clint Murchison Jr., and the Stadium That Changed American Sports Forever. “Five thousand years from now, some sentient being will stumble upon the ruins of that giant helmet-head of a stadium in Arlington, Texas,…
I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction
I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction
Announcing New BIPOC Scholarships
For the first time ever, five full scholarships to the 2023 Washington Writers Conference, the DC-area’s premier writing event, will be awarded to writers from BIPOC communities! Applicants must be at least 18 years old and be able to attend in person on May 12-13 in Rockville, MD. Scholarship recipients…
Skull Water: A Novel
Children’s Book Roundup: February 2023
Together with You by Patricia Toht (author) and Jarvis (illustrator) (Candlewick). “I fasten the snaps of my yellow raincoat. You slip on your green mackintosh. My feet will stay dry in these polka-dot boots. You tug on each rubber galosh.” The springtime afternoon may be rainy and grey, but the…
The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-73
The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-73
Barbara Brandon-Croft in Conversation with Sharon Pendana
Loyalty is delighted to welcome Barbara Brandon-Croft and Sharon Pendana for an IN-PERSON event celebrating Where I'm Coming From! Join us at Loyalty's Petworth store for a discussion, followed by a meet & greet and book-signing! This event is free to attend but RSVPs are required. **Face masks are required…
Black Cloud Rising
Men in My Situation
A Patriotic Pick: February 2023
Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Liz Robelen, a longtime review editor at the Independent who once had the privilege of teaching history at Edmund Burke School in Washington, DC: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. “This…
The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals About America’s Top Secrets
The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals About America’s Top Secrets
The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England’s Most Famous Dynasty
The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England’s Most Famous Dynasty
Sometimes, writers of historical fiction turn to their own genealogy for subjects. Perhaps the best-known novel based on family history is Roots by Alex Haley. Extensive archival research by the author, as well as travel and interviews, resulted in the book being described as both fiction and nonfiction. In any…
The House of Eve: A Novel
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Fall for the Book literary festival. To celebrate, festival organizers are expanding their programming with the first annual Mini Fest, a one-day wintertime extension of the beloved October event! On February 15th, four authors from around the world will speak in Fenwick…
The traces of the Underground Railroad hide in plain sight: a great church in Philadelphia; a humble old house backing up to the New Jersey Turnpike; an industrial outbuilding in Ohio. Over the course of four years, David Goodrich rode his bicycle 3,000 miles east of the Mississippi to travel…
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
Panel in the Spotlight: “Historical Fiction: In Living Memory.”
The past comes alive at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference in the panel “Historical Fiction: In Living Memory.” Moderated by Mary Kay Zuravleff (American Ending), the panel will feature Louis Bayard (Jackie & Me), Cheryl A. Head (Time’s Undoing), and Anthony Marra (Mercury Pictures Presents). Listen as these bestselling authors…
A Heart That Works
It feels strange to be writing a column about New Year’s resolutions that won’t run until February, but hey, better late than never! Normally, I’d shy away from making any resolutions at all because I despise rigid timelines. Besides, according to a study, only 9-12 percent of people have continued…
A Brief History of Timekeeping
A Brief History of Timekeeping
Jared Yates Sexton in Conversation with Melissa Scholes Young
The Midnight Kingdom explores some of history’s most influential leaders and moments, beginning with the Roman Empire and racing through centuries of colonization, war, and genocide, examining notorious figures like Nero, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Charles Darwin, and Joseph Stalin. Sexton shines a light on the recurring clashes of progress and regression…
Chasing History
The Backstreets: A Novel from Xinjiang
The Backstreets: A Novel from Xinjiang
7 Most Favorable Reviews in January 2023
Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers by Emma Smith (Knopf). Reviewed by Molly McGinnis. “Smith begins her story of stories with a dip into ‘The Master and His Pupil,’ a folktale about the dangers of a book falling into the wrong hands. While neither the master nor…
Romance Roundup: February 2023
I blinked, and it’s February. I’m heading to the Happiest Place on Earth* next week and am having a tough time deciding which — and how many — books to bring. (I can’t be the only person who takes more books on vacation than I can possibly read, am I?)…
American Autopsy: One Medical Examiner’s Decades-Long Fight for Racial Justice in a Broken Legal System
Sculptor Anne Truitt’s rectangular columns, bold shafts of color, transformed the loft space into a minimalist temple. My visit with a friend to the 2016 exhibition in the East Wing of the National Gallery, “Anne Truitt in the Tower,” was a tardy first encounter with the celebrated local artist who…
5 Most Popular Posts: January 2023
Kitty Kelley’s review of The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village by Stephen G. Rabe (Cambridge University Press). “It was the worst mis-drop of any U.S. airborne unit on D-Day. Yet the 900 residents of Graignes, a small Catholic village, saw…
TJ Klune in Conversation with K.M. Szpara
East City Bookshop welcomes TJ Klune to celebrate the paperback release of his novel, Under the Whispering Door. Joining him in conversation is fellow author K.M. Szpara. Click here to register for this event via Eventbrite. Note on Format: This hybrid event will have both an in-person component with limited…
A Singapore expat residing in England, journalist Teresa Lim is author of the recently published The Interpreter’s Daughter: A Family Memoir. The book “is a rich history of both Singapore and the Law family, [which traces] its first known ancestors back to central China,” says the Asian Review of Books.…
Personality and Power: Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe
Personality and Power: Builders and Destroyers of Modern Europe
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel
A native New York City playwright, performer, and acoustic punk-rock raconteur, Alvin Eng has had his work produced throughout the U.S., as well as in Paris, Hong Kong, and China. An adjunct professor of theatre arts at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) and at Marymount Manhattan College, Eng…
A Left-Handed Woman: Essays
Fun Facts about Rita Rosenkranz
Rita Rosenkranz is one of the many agents who’ll be taking pitches at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference. Here are some things to know about her: She founded Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency in 1990 after a career as an editor with major New York publishing houses. She represents adult nonfiction,…
Anthem
American Comics
Goldie Taylor in Conversation with Glory Edim
Loyalty is so excited to welcome Goldie Taylor and Glory Edim for an IN-PERSON event celebrating The Love You Save! Join us at Loyalty's Petworth store for a discussion with these two fabulous authors, followed by a meet-and-greet & book signing! This event is free to attend but RSVPs are…
Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968
Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, when love is in the air, mixed with the smell of roses, the taste of fancy chocolates, and the bubbles of champagne. But what if you’re still searching for the perfect mate? If a love story could conjure the partner of your dreams, would you let…
Ghost Music: A Novel
Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer
Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer
Phil Gramm is best known for his long career representing Texas as a Republican in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, but he’s also a respected economist. His new book, co-authored with Robert Ekelund and John Early, is The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy…
Ari Melber in Conversation with John P. Flannery
Following the event, those who purchase a book (either with their ticket or on-site at the event) will be eligible to meet the author. MSNBC anchor and attorney Ari Melber presents his analysis of Congress’s historic January 6 Report and the wider coup conspiracy to overthrow the 2020 election. Melber…
Panel in the Spotlight: “Thrillers & Horror & Crime: Oh, My!”
How do you go from being an aspiring suspense/crime writer to landing a contract with the Big Five? Find out at the 2023 Washington Writers Conference during “Thrillers & Horror & Crime: Oh, My!” Moderated by Anjili Babbar (Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction), this panel will…
Bad Cree: A Novel
Bloodbath Nation
Mothers, Fathers, and Others
The Latinist
We're back! Join us for our 2023 season opener, Say It Ain't Snow, featuring the incredible novelist Joanne Leedom-Ackerman. Warm up this winter with poetry, nonfiction, and fiction from local writers. We can't wait to see you there! Hosted by the Inner Loop at Shaw's Tavern, 520 Florida Ave., NW,…
The Fireballer: A Novel
One could consider the year’s beginning an opportunity to engage in a new conversation with our environment and intentions going forward. But it’s also, as we are now deep into winter, a chance to pause, reflect, and rest. Well, rest as much as possible while negotiating a world spinning rapidly…
Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage
Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage
When I was younger, I wrote a college term paper for a relative. (I believe the statute of limitations has run out on that particular “crime”). The paper involved a subject I myself was weak in, but I did all the research. The paper got a “B.” I was pretty…
Part workshop, part poetry reading, imogen xtian smith discusses and reads from stemmy things! Order your copy of the book here. About stemmy things: This flirty collection traces unruly paths of becoming; its sprawling poems build toward an expansive world celebrating fluidity while casting a critical lens on state power,…
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