Winter Reading Issue 2021
The Winter Reading Issue: Vermont Sci-Fi Author Craig Alanson Finds Self-Publishing Success; What One Author Learned by Touting Books on TikTok; Seven Days Reviewers Share Some Favorite Vermont Books From 2021
Obituary: Leanne Ponder, 1937-2021
Poet, spoken word artist and Celtic harper is remembered by loved ones around the globe
WTF: What Questions Didn’t (or Couldn’t) We Answer in 2021?
Each year, Seven Days receives dozens of emails and messages through its website asking us to solve mysteries that have confounded our readers. But with only 26 “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” columns per year, we can’t answer them all. So it may be helpful to know what factors go into determining which questions we take on…
Winter Poems
i know many people who wouldn’t spend all sunday afternoon by a creek in the woods waiting for a glimpse of muskrat or nuthatch wondering in the meantime over falling snowflakes how they melt against a clear pool’s surface yet do not make the water wet sure i know these people but i haven’t seen…
Crowds at Burlington City Council Meetings Are Becoming Increasingly Uncivil
Amanda Skehan felt nervous when she stepped to the microphone at the Burlington City Council meeting on October 18. The atmosphere that night was tense. Dozens of people had converged on city hall to debate two highly charged topics: the city’s plan to close a homeless encampment and a proposal to hire more police officers.…
Veteran Educator Tal Birdsey Helps Adolescents Discover What Ignites Them
Nothing feels sterile or institutional inside the North Branch School, an independent middle school in Ripton, surrounded by the Green Mountain National Forest. The walls of the 1850 post-and-beam farmhouse are papered with brightly colored student artwork; cutout snowflakes; and posters depicting Nelson Mandela, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the 1963 March on…
Book Review: ‘Emily’s House,’ Amy Belding Brown
It’s often said that behind every great man is a great (and exhausted) woman. Sometimes, though, behind a great woman is another woman. That’s the refreshing premise of Emily’s House, the third work of historical fiction from best-selling Upper Valley author Amy Belding Brown. “Emily” is Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), and the “house” is the family…
What One Author Learned by Touting Books on TikTok
I knew I was in trouble when I found myself trying to render the lyrics from Regina Spektor’s song “Two Birds” into American Sign Language. In my sleep. I don’t know ASL. I’m a casual fan of Spektor’s at best. But I’m on TikTok, and “Two Birds” was trending over Thanksgiving weekend. Someone’s attempt to…
I’m Gay but Turned Off by Gay Stereotypes
Dear Reverend, I’m gay. I’m 49 years old, and as I get older I have less desire to be around other gay men in social settings. This also bleeds over into the guys I’m attracted to. If I meet someone, and they give off the slightest energy that they are gay, boom — the attraction…
Soundbites: A Delayed Dolphin, New Videos From A2VT and Moira Smiley
Some records take a little extra time to hit. It’s different for everyone, but there have been countless times when I’ve picked up an album, thought it was total shit and discarded it. Then, lo and behold, six months later I love it. I was definitely one of the people who wrote off MGMT’s sophomore…
Orange Rabbit, ‘Decay: The PTSD Project DELUXE’
(Self-released, digital) A drone, not unlike a screwdriver being softly but insistently pressed against the base of the skull, issues from the speaker. Voices overtake the drone: a father and mother making excuses for their pet snake, which has just eaten their son, Zac. Slowly, the voices and drone give way to waves of sound…
Aaron Marcus & Sam Sanders, ‘Garden Dreams’
(Self-released, CD, digital) I became lost in the woods of Underhill one day, trying to find a path I knew when I was young. My decades-old recollections failed me, so I just kept hiking as my canine companion started to look at me doubtfully. Strangely, I never really felt lost, and I didn’t care that…
Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’ Doesn’t Take Us Deep Enough Into Its Hero’s Dark Psyche
Talk about holiday counterprogramming! Currently in theaters, the new film from Guillermo del Toro (Oscar winner for The Shape of Water) is a star-studded slice of dark, gritty noir. Del Toro has said Nightmare Alley is based on William Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel about carny life, rather than on its classic 1947 film adaptation starring…
Free Will Astrology (12/22/21)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) To ensure that 2022 will bring you the most interesting and useful kind of progress, take good care of your key friendships and alliances, even as you seek out excellent new friendships and alliances. For best results, heed these thoughts from author Hanya Yanagihara: “Find people who are better than you…
Now Playing in Theaters: December 22-28
new in theaters on December 22 THE KING’S MAN: In this prequel to the Kingsman action-comedy series, Ralph Fiennes plays a spy who organizes a team to defeat an evil cabal. With Gemma Arterton and Rhys Ifans. Matthew Vaughn again directed. (131 min, R. Bijou, Capitol, Essex, Majestic, Stowe) THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS: The reality-bending action…
Vermont Sci-Fi Author Craig Alanson Finds Self-Publishing Success
Most every writer who’s ever put pen to paper has had the same dream at some point: walking into work and giving notice. They’re going to write full time, supporting their existence on the weight of their imagination. It’s not an easy goal to achieve. Aspiring writers face plenty of obstacles: Will their book make…
A Long-Lost Family Connection Lands Vermont Boy a Needed Kidney
Vickie Foster received terrible news in the spring: Her 9-year-old son, Kayden, desperately needed a kidney transplant. Fearful that he wouldn’t survive a wait, Foster posted on Facebook in search of a donor. She received a message the next morning from a stranger who was willing to see whether he might be a match. The…
‘Seven Days’ Reviewers Share Some Favorite Vermont Books From 2021
The dozens of books that arrive at the Seven Days office in a year span a wide range of topics and genres. We receive critically acclaimed novels, poetry collections, historical studies and heartfelt memoirs. We review as many as space allows — as long as the author lives in or very near Vermont. Just as…
Fiction: Concerning the Loss Triumph of the ‘VSS Conquest’
OFFICIAL REPORT: Let the abject failure resounding success of Captain Arvo and her ship, the VSS Conquest, be known. We commissioned the VSS Conquest to travel to Planet 3 of Solar System 17,321B to make contact with the inhabitants of said planet. Our goal, as always, was to secure rich tribute from the dominant life-forms,…
Programs Help Disadvantaged Vermont Students Achieve Higher-Ed Goals, but Inequity Remains
Samjana Rai knew no English when, at age 12, she moved with her family from Nepal to the United States. But now, as a senior at Burlington High School, Rai has applied to half a dozen colleges and has a few more applications to send in before the January 1 deadline. Rai’s parents don’t speak…
From the Publisher: Page-Turners
“It was up there on the Kuwaiti-Saudi border back on Christmas eve, 1990. Right on the goddamn border. Saudis had a big sand berm 20 feet high that ran the whole border, and every thousand feet or so in the sand berm was a big concrete fortress we called the Alamo. Saudi border guards were…
The Winter Reading Issue — 2021
In the introduction the 2020 Winter Reading Issue, I opined that winter is the best time of year to cozy up with a good book. I know, I know: That’s not exactly a hot take. But the point was to suggest that finding comfort or escape in the pages of a good book would be…
In New Book ‘The Heart of Drawing,’ Artists Show, Tell and Inspire
Does the world really need another art book? Michael Strauss thinks so. At least anyone interested in drawing — and drawing inspiration from other artists — would enjoy The Heart of Drawing: Stories and Images From Around the World. It’s not a how-to book, Strauss clarifies in a phone conversation; it’s about “drawing with focused…
Letters to the Editor (12/22/21)
Bad Date Hello! I was excited to read about AO Glass’ contribution to Maya Lin’s art installation in Philadelphia [“Blown Away: AO Glass Creates Handblown Globes for Renowned Artist Maya Lin,” December 8]. However, I thought it odd that the article states the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1993. I had visited when I…
Well-Read Vermont Chefs Share Their Favorite Fictional Meals
I still remember my favorite assignment from high school. It was for Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition my junior year. After the intense AP exam, my classmates and I competed in a lighthearted literary bake-off. We could choose to create food from any of the books or plays we’d read that year, which included…
Author Rowan Jacobsen Digs Into Truffles Surprisingly Close to Home
Spoiler alert: Author Rowan Jacobsen is sure there are wild truffles to be discovered underground in certain parts of Vermont, especially in the marble- and limestone-rich Champlain Valley. But first, he advises, you’ll need to train a dog (not a pig) to sniff them out for you. Jacobsen, 53, has yet to find a truffle…
V Smiley Preserves Buys Bristol Bakery
V Smiley Preserves has bought Bristol Cliffs Café at 16 Main Street as the new home for her award-winning V Smiley business. It will also house Minifactory, her new coffee shop-eatery that will serve breakfast and lunch — and dinner, twice a week, initially — starting in February. In June, Seven Days reported that V…
Made in Brazil to Bring Churrasco-Style Steakhouse and Buffet to Barre
Isa Bortoletto and Victor Marques opened Made in Brazil at 81 North Main Street in Barre on September 3, serving classic Brazilian dishes for indoor dining, takeout and delivery. Next month, they’ll expand their offerings to include a buffet and traditional churrasco-style barbecued meats. The couple, who are both Brazilian, moved to Vermont from New…
The Magnificent 7: Must See, Must Do, December 22 to 28
High-Flying Holiday Opens on Sunday 26 The New England Center for Circus Arts’ annual solstice and holiday extravaganza goes virtual with ‘Twas the Night…, streaming on demand through January 2. The program features filmed performances from NECCA’s professional program and youth troupes in a gladsome, gravity-defying celebration of stunts and the season. Reindeer Games Monday…
