Continuing our weekly spotlight of authors on our BSR Book Week panel, let's welcome Philly media maven Nathaniel Popkin to our community. He's a documentary film writer and producer, the co-founder of Hidden City, and cultural critic with bylines in the Wall Street Journal, Kenyon Review, and many more. He's been published in the New York Times, and he's written eight books, including his fourth novel, Partly Strong, Partly Broken, which was released this month. We're getting a jump start on Book Week today with our review of his latest book, about a progressive rabbi navigating fractures in her New Jersey congregation in the fall of 2023. Critic Elisa Shoenberger calls it "extremely timely."
Join us in conversation with Popkin on May 20, 6-7pm ET on Zoom. RSVP here.
This week's stories
Our writers have been busy across the region this week, from the world premiere of The Woman Question at People's Light in Malvern (Emily Schilling calls it "uneven but promising") to Chicken and Biscuits in Camden (Aneesha Lewis says it's like a tasty meal for anyone who's navigated a high-drama funeral). Melissa Strong heads to Old City to cover another world premiere: GIRL DOLLS: The American Musical, by Pax Ressler and Jackie Soro. Melissa says, "even if you didn’t own an American Girl doll, never heard of the brand, or even gave dolls much thought, you don’t want to miss this show." It runs through Sunday at FringeArts.
And don't miss a great story by Isa Segalovich about a new Mummers festival coming up this Sunday (May 17) outside the Mummers Museum. After Philly's popular Philadelphia Carnaval de Puebla was canceled two years in a row due to fears of harassment by ICE, this new event from Golden Sunrise New Years Association (Philly's last Fancy Division Mummers Club) is celebrating grassroots community partners with the inaugural Festival of Many Colors. There'll be performances, food, crafts, and activities for the kids. Dive in with Isa.
Coming next week...
We're excited to celebrate Philly books with you! Our fourth annual BSR Book Week (here's the details) kicks off on May 17, with tons of Philly-centric book reviews, giveaways over on the BSR Instagram, book recommendations from yours truly, and of course our May 20 virtual author panel. Everyone who registers will be automatically entered to win a signed copy of Long Bright River by Liz Moore. We hope you can join us!
Alaina Johns
BSR editor-in-chief
