34 episodes

Authors, readers, and resident city builders gather in BOOK CITY ★ Roanoke to discuss how the written word shapes our identity and helps us act in the world. BOOK CITY ★ Roanoke projects explore engagement and equity at the intersection of books and place.

Book City ★ Roanoke Book City Media

    • Arts
    • 5.0 • 7 Ratings

Authors, readers, and resident city builders gather in BOOK CITY ★ Roanoke to discuss how the written word shapes our identity and helps us act in the world. BOOK CITY ★ Roanoke projects explore engagement and equity at the intersection of books and place.

    Sonder ★ 2023 Writer by Bus Eva Lynch-Comer

    Sonder ★ 2023 Writer by Bus Eva Lynch-Comer

    Join 2023 Writer by Bus Eva Lynch-Comer for a reading and Q&A session at Book No Further, hosted by the Latinas Network. In this episode, the we feature the sixth annual celebration of transit through the arts sponsored by the Roanoke Arts Commission, Ride Solutions, and Valley Metro with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

    Eva Lynch-Comer is an Afro-Latina and African-American poet with Costa Rican ancestry. She is a Creative Writing MFA student and teaching fellow at Hollins University. Eva holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Hamilton College where she received the John V. A. Weaver Prize in Poetry and the Sydna Stern Weiss Essay Prize in Women’s Studies. She is a two-time pushcart prize nominee. Eva’s work has appeared in over 15 literary magazines including Free Verse Revolution, Honeyguide Magazine, Nightingale & Sparrow, and Capsule Stories, among others. Her writing centers on themes of healing, family, love, social justice, the divine feminine, nature, jazz, music, ecofeminism, the ocean, and magic. In her free time, Eva enjoys singing, drinking tea, and walking her dog Osito. You can find more of Eva's work at www.evalynchcomer.com

    • 43 min
    Books that Matter ★ ON TYRANNY with Urban Libraries Council's Shari Henry (Episode 4.1)

    Books that Matter ★ ON TYRANNY with Urban Libraries Council's Shari Henry (Episode 4.1)

    On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (Tim Duggan Books, 2017) is an ideal book to launch season four. This season we're exploring BOOKS THAT MATTER--books that challenge us and shape the way we think and act. And return guest Shari Henry is an ideal guide for a look at our first book, which draws 20 lessons from the 20th century on how to care for our democracy.

    Shari Henry is the director of democracy and community impact for the Urban Libraries Council. Shari has worked in libraries for over 15 years, including director for Roanoke County, Va. Prior to her library career, she worked in community engagement and outreach in nonprofits and is a published writer. Shari is driven by the desire to impact the community for good by connecting resources to people, and by her undying belief that libraries are fundamental to healthy democracies.

    Here are some links to content discussed in the podcast.

    On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
    Urban Libraries Council
    Virginia Library Association
    The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World by Luncinda Robb and Rebecca Boggs Roberts


    The BOOK CITY ★ Roanoke Podcast is sponsored by Book No Further.

    • 44 min
    Saying the Name ★ Betsy Biesenbach's Search to Honor the Lives of Roanoke's Enslaved People (Episode 3.9)

    Saying the Name ★ Betsy Biesenbach's Search to Honor the Lives of Roanoke's Enslaved People (Episode 3.9)

    Betsy Biesenbach is doing the work of anti-racism as member of the Roanoke Universalist Unitarian Church and as a resident of Raleigh Court. Title searches led her to uncover the names of enslaved people who once lived on the land, and as a result has written a book for grades 3 and up to help parents teach a fuller history of the place to their children.

    Get the book at Book No Further.

    • 29 min
    Fashionable Reads ★ Garland Gravely on self-expression and community good (Episode 3.8)

    Fashionable Reads ★ Garland Gravely on self-expression and community good (Episode 3.8)

    Garland Gravely combines his interest in fashion, multiculturalism, the ballroom scene, and community organizing in several Roanoke area endeavors. This conversation begins with a discussion of the late Andre Leon Talley's memoir, The Chiffon Trenches and lands with an upcoming event celebrating Black history with ballroom legends.

    Learn more about the virtual Black History event on 2/22/22 at 7 PM.
    Follow House of Expression on Facebook
    Follow Fashionista Roanoke on Facebook

    • 25 min
    Outsiders & Underdogs ★ Beth Macy on empathy and the power of listening (Episode 3.7)

    Outsiders & Underdogs ★ Beth Macy on empathy and the power of listening (Episode 3.7)

    Beth Macy's work (Factory Man, Truevine, Dopesick) is a call to action. From her roots growing up poor in Ohio through a career in journalism and now as bestselling author, the stories she's gravitated to--those she's chosen to tell--foster empathy with our neighbors who are suffering and struggling.  Now with the opioid crises haven taken more than a million American lives, the need to act, which she so stunningly uncovered in Dopesick, remains urgent.

    In this conversation, the author hits on the power of individuals and institutions in our communities, the importance of listening, and the need to strengthen our human infrastructure.

    Beth Macy is the author of three widely acclaimed and bestselling books. Based in Roanoke, Virginia for three decades, her reporting has won more than a dozen national awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard.

    Sign up for Beth Macy's newsletter at intrepidpapergirl.com.

    Get Beth's books at Book No Further.

    • 40 min
    Reading and Writing Rural ★ Rachelle Kuehl on the role of place in early learning (Episode 3.6)

    Reading and Writing Rural ★ Rachelle Kuehl on the role of place in early learning (Episode 3.6)

    What can Appalachian fourth graders tell you about rural lives? A lot, it turns out. Rachelle Kuehl's dissertation at Virginia Tech focused on the analysis of fourth grade writing to get a better understanding of the role of reading and writing in perceptions of places. Of course long-lived Applachian stereotypes aren't true, and books and writing can go a long way in helping to rectify them.  Hear more about empathy, stereotypes, self-awareness, and local pride in this episode.

    Rachelle Kuehl, PhD, is postdoctoral associate at Virginia Tech and project manager of the Appalachian Rural Talent Initiative. She is a reading specialist and former elementary teacher whose articles about writing instruction, children’s literature, and teacher education have been published in such journals as the English Journal, Collection Management, Reading in Virginia, the Virginia English Journal, and the Teacher Educators’ Journal. She is coauthor of chapters in What’s Hot in Literacy? Exemplar Models of Effective Practice (2020) and the forthcoming volumes, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the USA and Gifted Education in Rural Schools.

    Learn more about the project.
    Check out some of Rachelle's Papers
    Bonus! See Rachelle's art.

    • 25 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
7 Ratings

7 Ratings

Christina Nifong ,

So Appreciate This Podcast

I have so enjoyed being able to overhear these thoughtful and inspiring conversations. They end up being about so much more than books: about community and bettering oneself and continued learning. I can't wait for Season 2!

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