culture

Three new Latin American books in translation.

Books
Arts

Latin American literature in translation: Stories that take you to unexpected places

7:09am May 19, 2022

by Lily Meyer

New translations of Juan Emar's Yesterday, Cristina Rivera Garza's New and Selected Stories, and Gabriela Alemán's Family Album offer a look at human nature — and adventures along the way.

The Katastwóf Karavan is built from a steel frame mounted to lumber running gear with red oak and muslin wall panels, a propane ﬁred boiler, water tank, gas generator and a brass and steel 38-note steam calliope.

A slavery-era instrument is on the National Mall, singing 'songs of liberation'

5:01am May 19, 2022

by Neda Ulaby

An old-fashioned steam calliope designed by luminaries in the worlds of art and jazz is on display at the National Sculpture Garden.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is bringing back "The Greatest Show on Earth" — but without animals. The circus has been closed down since 2017.

The Ringling Bros. circus is coming back, with human acts in the center ring

3:30pm May 18, 2022

by Bill Chappell

The circus will launch a U.S. tour of live shows in September 2023.

Leysha, a vampire with psychic powers, is on the case.

Arts

Supernatural sleuthing, bloody frustrations in 'Vampire: The Masquerade — Swansong'

3:04pm May 18, 2022

by Brittany Vincent

A new video game features three vampire investigators sniffing out a conspiracy in modern Boston. But it's not the gothic epic that franchise fans keep waiting for.

Ncuti Gatwa attends the Critics Choice Awards in March.

Arts

'Doctor Who' has its first Black lead. Will the show contend with race?

2:35pm May 18, 2022

by Eric Deggans

When the show cast The Doctor as a woman, it avoided exploring her gender. Now that Ncuti Gatwa is The Doctor, critic Eric Deggans writes, Doctor Who shouldn't avoid his Blackness.

Biography examines how systemic racism shaped the troubled life of George Floyd

1:22pm May 18, 2022

by Dave Davies

Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020. Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa reconstruct the course of his life in His Name is George Floyd.

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Books
Arts

'Translating Myself and Others' is a reminder of how alive language can be

7:02am May 18, 2022

by Lily Meyer

Jhumpa Lahiri mixes detailed explorations of craft with broader reflections on her own artistic life, as well as the "essential aesthetic and political mission" of translation.

Books
Arts

NPR's Petra Mayer receives posthumous science fiction award

6:22pm May 17, 2022

by Elizabeth Blair

NPR Books Editor Petra Mayer posthumously receives the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Jillian Hanesworth, the poet laureate of Buffalo.

Buffalo's poet laureate calls for change

6:12pm May 17, 2022

by Raquel Maria Dillon

Jillian Hanesworth says what her city needs right now is honest conversations about systemic racism, the history of segregation, redlining and highway construction that hurt Black neighborhoods.

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Kayla Balba at the Stray Kids concert at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul.

In South Korea, K-pop fans have something to cheer (and chant) about again

6:00pm May 17, 2022

by Megan Lim

While concerts have been back in South Korea since the beginning of the year, cheering was prohibited. With COVID restrictions lifting, fans are finally allowed to cheer again.

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