Award-winning lesbian writer and educator Julie Marie Wade lights up every room she enters. Her joyful spirit qualifies her as the Mary Tyler Moore of literature. She can virtually turn the world on with a smile. The smile, however, is hard-won. Having survived being raised by unyielding, religiously conservative parents, Wade has channeled that experience into her work, creating art and catharsis, including her new collection of braided essays, “Otherwise” (Autumn House Press, 2023). Julie was gracious enough to make time for an interview in advance of the October 2023 publication of “Otherwise.”

"See You on Venus" is a story brimming with messages and full of hope, according to author Victoria Vinuesa. It talks about the need to love, rather than being loved.

Adapted from the graphic novel by Adrian Tomine (who also wrote the screenplay), “Shortcomings” (Sony Pictures Classics) is actor Randall Park’s directorial debut. The movie is a kind of Asian-American “Annie Hall” in the way it looks at modern love and artistic snobbery. It’s also reminiscent of “Barbie” in the way it takes well-deserved jabs at masculinity.

At just 22 years old, Joanna Sternberg is an old soul. Most of the songs on their new album “I’ve Got Me” (Fat Possum), come from a bare-bones folk tradition, performed by Sternberg on guitar, piano and keys, violin, and bass.