Literature

The theme of this year's writing contest is “home." Fiction, poetry and nonfiction submissions from teens and adults are welcome. Winners get a cash prize.

These books have all been published this month. Some are spooky, and some not so much.

Writer and artist Derf Backderf was only 10 years old when the National Guard descended on Kent State in May of 1970 and killed four students after firing into a crowd of protestors.

"I Got A Monster" details the way a corrupt crew of cops working in a unit called the Gun Trace Task Force ran a criminal enterprise, robbing drug dealers, stealing and dealing drugs in the aftermath of the 2015 Baltimore Uprising.

The story of Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force, and the swath of criminality and violence it created rather than terminated, is chronicled in Baynard Woods' and Brandon Soderberg's "I Got a Monster"

Nearly half a century ago on June 24, 1973, the Up Stairs Lounge, a bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter, was set aflame, killing 31 men and one woman in what was the largest mass murder of LGBTQ people in U.S. history at that time.

The anthology, which is edited by Terrion Williamson, takes a look at the often marginalized identity of Black Midwesterners.

The Buckeye Flame, a digital, statewide LGBTQ+ publication, launched Tuesday and is in the process of becoming a 501(c)3 organization

The LGBTQ+ Sisters are inviting the community to enjoy an outdoor storytime event, in partnership with Northside's Downbound Books

A portion of the Main Branch is ready to reopen to in-person service on July 15 — with COVID health and safety protocols in place

Belt said the material would touch on not only the Midwest's major cities (Chicago, Detroit, others) but also smaller cities and rural areas "where the lives of Black residents have too often gone unacknowledged"

The bookstore, located in the literal garage of the Hartwell warehouse, features gently used books both bundled by age range and reader level, as well as games and puzzles

The Influenza Encyclopedia is an online database that collects historical documents and information about the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 and how it tore through America

Starting today, May 26, certain libraries will be opening their drive-thrus so people can pick up existing holds. Customers will be contacted to schedule a pick-up time.

With titles ranging from adult nonfiction to children’s tales and murder mysteries to coming-of-age, there’s a little something for readers of all ages and interests

In a Ripley's "Believe or Not" column originally published in 1933, Cincinnati's Mercantile Library is highlighted for its astonishingly long lease — an unbelievable 10,000 years

The Northern Kentucky location has closed but the Rookwood location will remain open

Thirty poems by local poets will be selected and shared daily on the Poet Laureate of Cincinnati Facebook Group

CityBeat's Jason Gargano caught up with award-winning poet Tyehimba Jess to discuss everything from his upcoming appearances at the University of Cincinnati as part of their Visiting Writer Series to his keen interest in tying the past to the present.

Molly Wellmann leads a bourbon reception before author/historian Karen Abbott discusses her best-selling book about infamous Cincinnati bootlegger George Remus.