Thereโs a dragon in Joanne Andrewsโ basement. Heโs a few feet tall, brilliant green and clad in a wizardโs hat and a wand. Heโs also made onto a foam board. Andrews created him as the mascot for Magic Dragon, the childrenโs literary magazine she assembles in her Pittsford home with editor Patricia Roesch. Andrews is […]
Literature
Fanning the flames of romantasy in Rochester
As a young girl, Myla Rose kept a life-sized cardboard cutout of Legolas fromย โThe Lord of the Ringsโย in her bedroom. She spent hours reading fantasy novels or playing “RuneScape” on dial-up internet under his watchful gaze. These early obsessions grew into โSkyrimโ marathons and Renaissance festival outings, cosplay and even fantasy โfaeโ balls. Threaded through […]
The search for truth among Americaโs trees
In his new book, Trent Preszler remembers cutting down a Christmas tree with his father on a snow-drifted South Dakotan prairie. Heโs seven or eight years old, yet the memory remains vivid. He recalls that โthe young pines stood motionless, waiting to learn which of them would die.โ That moment, quiet and severe, opens โEvergreen: […]
5 local-ish books for the reader in your life
Garrison Keillor, longtime host of the Minnesota Public Radio show โA Prairie Home Companion,โ once said, “a book is a gift you can open again and again.โ And while Kindles are convenient and alluring, nothing quite tops cracking a fresh book spine and breathing in the printed pages.ย Whether youโre stumped on what to buy […]
Rochester native taps upstate New York’s mystery and magic in debut novel
Sparrow Hall is a diehard New Yorker โ and, unlike many who adopt that moniker, he has made a life out of embracing the state in its entirety. Heโs run a microblog touting hidden gems such as the stretch of Route 5 between Amsterdam and Little Falls, soft launched his debut novel by personally transporting […]
Boa Editions unveils new logo to mark 50 years
For half a century, local press Boa Editions has published about a dozen poetry books per year, using a logo design pulled from Greek mythology. The bard Orpheus, best known as a storyteller and musician, became a fitting symbol for Boa, depicted in the publisherโs logo with his trademark lyre. Rochester-based Ukrainian artist Mirko Pylyshenko […]
Oral tradition
The second annual Poetry Festival at the Highland Park Bowl hosted by Writers & Books gives voice to important matters.
Talk of the town
Rochester Speaker Series will bring two nationally acclaimed authors to the region over the next year.
Local YA author debuts second novel this month
Mackenzie Reed, who is in her mid-20s, has published “The Wilde Trials” with HarperTeen.
A taste of memory
CITY sits down with Christine Green, managing editor of โ(585) magazineโ and author of the memoir “Sweet Tooth.”
Community mourns loss of Writers & Books founder Joe Flaherty
After starting the literary center in 1981, Flaherty was at the helm for nearly three decades.
Illustrated escapism
The second “Goblin” graphic novel by local illustrator Will Perkins hits shelves on July 16.






