The Winter Reading Issue 2016
What Happens When AI Writes Stories; The Outsize Success of Tiny Green Writers Press; Chelsea Green Publishing’s Slow-Food Culture
The Parmelee Post: Gov. Shumlin Bakes Extra-Special Brownies for Vermont House
In a highly unusual move, Gov. Peter Shumlin has announced that his final act in office will be to prepare a batch of what he…
The Parmelee Post: 2016 Census Data Reveal Most Vermonters are Subarus
According to the latest data available from the United States Census Bureau, Subarus have surpassed non-Hispanic whites as the most prominent demographic in the state…
![An Epic Holiday Light Show [SIV472]](https://sevendaysvt-test.newspackstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/episode472-1200x900.webp)
An Epic Holiday Light Show [SIV472]
12/17/16: John Wilking has been hanging Christmas lights outside his home since his kids were little. In the last three years, he has taken it…
One Radish Eatery Brings Breakfast and Lunch to Richmond
In Richmond, One Radish Eatery began serving breakfast and lunch in the former Parkside Kitchen location at 39 Esplanade earlier this month. The new spot…
Shumlin Talks, Reluctantly, About Governing Without a ‘Fear Gene’
Peter Shumlin didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to sit for an exit interview and talk about the highs and lows of his…
Sam Lai Serves Up Chinese Cuisine in the Old North End
Sam Lai has cultivated a habit over years as a chef that supersedes even his survival instinct. Five years ago, Lai was at the back…
UVM Researchers Measure Emotion in Stories
At the University of Vermont, researchers in the Computational Story Lab can, within seconds, graph the emotional arc of any story — and provide its…
Author Jack Mayer on Lessons of the Holocaust
If you’ve never heard of Ernst Werner Techow or Walther Rathenau, don’t worry — and don’t let it keep you from reading Middlebury author Jack…
Bow Thayer, The Source and the Servant
(Self-released, CD, digital download) Bow Thayer is a serious asset to Vermont. Since he moved here, he’s been a creative and cultural force and has…
AI Rocks Music But Literature, Not So Much
Authors who are worried they’ll soon be replaced by computer algorithms can breathe a sigh of relief — for now. But dance club turntablists may…
Carraway, The Bad Year
(Self-released, CD, digital download) The latest promotional materials for Burlington band Carraway are awash in nautical imagery. To wit, check out that fancy schooner on…
Free Will Astrology (12/21/16)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In 2017, you will be at the peak of your ability to forge new alliances and deepen existing alliances. You’ll have…
My Girlfriend Won’t Spend Holidays With My Family
Dear Athena, I have been with my girlfriend for more than three years. We live together, and we love each other a lot. I’m positive…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
First things first: No, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is not the sequel to last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Expect that next…
Managing the Flow at Green Mountains Review
Jessica Hendry Nelson of Waterbury wears a lot of hats. She’s the author of the memoir If Only You People Could Follow Directions, which was…
Letters to the Editor (12/21/16)
No Woman, No Cry Sue Minter’s loss in the Vermont governor’s race was the result of many factors [“Sue Minter on Her Loss, Gender and…
The Winter Reading Issue
We turn out lots of reading material every week, but in this annual issue we consider and celebrate the written word itself. It’s also the…
Soundbites: 2016 Year in Review
There’s no sugarcoating it: 2016 sucked. From a rash of musical icons passing away to the election of an orange-skinned misogynistic racist to the White…
Samantha Handler Talks Art and Living With Cancer
On the second day of 2015, Shelburne artist Samantha Handler began a sort of personal artistic renaissance. She didn’t recognize it as such at the…
Under Sharp White Stars: Fiction
They were standing in the driveway beneath the dry black sky and the sharp white stars. The snow was deep and clean and everywhere. It…
A Publishing Empire in Brattleboro, or No?
Brattleboro resident Adam Salviani is the founder and CEO of an international publishing house and a self-proclaimed best-selling novelist. Yet when Seven Days learned recently…
File Under X-Mas: Four Local Holiday Albums You (Probably) Haven’t Heard
Few things in the realm of popular music are as divisive as Christmas music. For Clark W. Griswold types, the cheery jingles start ringing out…
Now What? As Scott Fashions Agenda, Dems Watch and Wait
Throughout his campaign for governor, Republican Phil Scott was crystal clear about what he hoped to accomplish: Grow Vermont’s economy and make the state more…
Butcher Beer to Open in Warren This Spring
A lot of Vermont breweries opened in 2016, and next year should be no different. One of the newest additions to the state’s proliferating beer…
Saturday Morning Babka: A Short Story
How about you give me some of that whatchamacallit of yours, Ron says to Doris, pouring himself coffee from the scorched aluminum pot. He sets…
December 10th: A Poem by Vermont’s Poet Laureate
I saw the first cardinal this morning in the snow outside my window at the feeder and was tempted to call him my heart for…
Burlington Housing Authority Mum on Leadership Shuffle
A leadership shake-up at the Burlington Housing Authority may signal trouble at one of the region’s most important providers of affordable housing. The BHA is…
Green Writers Press Flourishes in Vermont
When ailing poet David Budbill sought a publisher for what he knew could be his last works, he called up Dede Cummings, founder of Green…
An Ambitious Muslim Politician Navigates Uncertain Times
Only a few people turned out last month to hear Winooski city councilors debate whether to pursue “sanctuary city” status for their burg. Faisal Gill…
The Slow-Food Catalog of Chelsea Green
Chelsea Green Publishing cofounders Margo and Ian Baldwin weren’t committed to any particular editorial bailiwick when they printed their first books in 1985. “At first,…
Mad Taco Spruces Up, Expands Catering
The Waitsfield location of the Mad Taco invites customers to hang out with a group of friends, drinking beer and scarfing down smoked-pork-belly tacos and…
