The French writer Raymond Queneau, a founding member of the “Oulipo” literary salon, explored 99 variations of an apparently insignificant experience on a city bus in his 1947 book, Exercises in Style. A tall man wearing a hat boards a bus. A dispute ensues about a seat. This event is observed by the passenger/narrator who, […]

There’s plenty of Florida in Asheville — even if a large measure of that presence is seasonal, senior or citrus. Local big-scale artist Dustin Spagnola, himself a Florida native, wants to return the favor, or the presence at least, and bring Asheville art to Miami. Actually, he wants to put Asheville art somewhere on Miami, […]

There is something enchanting about Joanna Newsom.  Since her debut six years ago, the 28-year-old harp virtuoso has been an unlikely indie sensation, adored widely by critics and profiled by everyone from Pitchfork to the The New York Times. Newsom’s singular vocal style (a wild, sharp soprano that sometimes borders on shrill) and complex, sprawling […]