Fresno City College English Professor Dr. Apryl Lewis had a book launch on Oct. 17, 2023, in the Old Administration Building for her book “Black Feminism and Traumatic Legacies in Contemporary African American Literature.” Lewis received her Ph.D. in English from Texas Tech University in 2021. When Lewis started writing her dissertation in 2019, a…

Cast members rehearsing for the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s production of “The Enchanted Bookshop” by Todd Wallinger, which runs for eight performances from December 1 to 10, 2023. The family-friendly comic fantasy takes place in a used bookstore where literary characters come to life at night. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough Theatre Guild) For the third production…

Russian occupation authorities have nearly wiped out Ukrainian literature from local libraries in the occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, according to Ukraine’s National Resistance Center report. Officials from the occupation, including those from the so-called ‘education department,’ are executing the book removals, the Center reported. They are accountable for the destruction and replacement…

This year marks the centennial of Italo Calvino’s birth, with a number of cultural institutions across the globe celebrating the 20th-century Italian writer and journalist’s impact on our collective imagination. On November 13, the Society of Illustrators in New York City hosted a panel and reception in honor of its current exhibit “Italian Excellence: Illustrations…

BRATTLEBORO — Epsilon Spires and the Brattleboro Literary Festival team up to present a new series that will showcase film adaptations of banned books. The first film, Truffaut’s classic “Fahrenheit 451,” will be screened on Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St. Admission is free for anyone who…

C.S. Lewis’ lesson to his friends and fans—and to us—is that the cultivation of the imagination might require more than reading and writing, but it requires no less. Readers likely know C.S. Lewis by the works of his imagination, first encountering him in the snowdrifts of the Narnian woods or on an omnibus bound for…

Geoff Dyer recalled the way World War I hung over his childhood in England. In fact, a friend’s grandfather would often “drop his trousers” to show scars he sustained from shrapnel wounds suffered in battle. The prize-winning writer called the war the “high point of these people’s lives.” Dyer made the observation during a conversation…

If you give a child a book, you give them a window to the world.   Books can take us beyond our families and communities to experience a bit of other people’s joys and sorrows.   They can explain the natural world around us and carry us to fantastical places. Books bring the past to…

Fiction Absolution by Alice McDermott Recommended by Jan Weismiller, co-owner of Prairie Lights “Set in both 1963 and 60 years later, Absolution revolves around Tricia and Charlene. The two met in Saigon when both were young and newly married to military men. Sixty years later, Charlene has died and her daughter reaches out to Tricia…

Image Credit: ‘Red, White & Royal Blue,’ Amazon Prime Video Believe it or not, queer movie buffs, there was a time when gays had to visualize the President’s son top the Prince of England in their heads because most LGBTQ+ content was found only in literature. Today, queer-themed films are increasingly common, and they’re not…