It’s the season of vacation reads, of frothy paperbacks by the Eno and overambitious nonfiction tomes weighing down tote bags. The Triangle has no shortage of talented writers, and we’ve been hoping to do a special reading issue for some time now—what better time than summer?
As fate would have it, though, the books that happened to come across our desks belie the beach-read feel of this issue’s cover: shadows supplant sunny skies, and within these author profiles, interviews, and book reviews, there’s deep childhood trauma, a few cults, and a good bit of murder in the mix.
If breezy reads are what you’re looking for, I can’t promise that this particular issue will deliver them. But if you’re open to swampy Southern noir—and to be honest, a pretty on-the-nose reflection of the political uncertainty and existential angst of the times we’re living in—then I hope you’ll spend some time with the local talent in these pages.
From the deft character studies of Carrboro writer Joanna Pearson, a psychiatrist by day, to the wrenching memoir of writer Stephanie Clare Smith, a Raleigh poet and social worker, the writers featured in this issue demonstrate how effectively, in good art, light and dark can undulate off one another.
Not to be too cliché, but the genre makes for an appropriate time to reference Flannery O’Connor, who once wrote: “Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn’t try to write fiction.”
To balance out the mix, you’ll also find stories about the redemptive role of basketball, the value of supporting local comics and zines, and how reading together (even silently!) can foster community.
more features from the summer reading issue
Follow Culture Editor Sarah Edwards on Twitter or send an email to sedwards@indyweek.com. Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com.
