VIRGINIA LITERATURE




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The Devils in the Digger Details: Cinema, Censorship, and Power

"The Devils is a harsh film but it's a harsh subject. I wish the people who were horrified and appalled by it would have read the book, because the bare facts are far more horrible than anything in the film." - Ken Russell from An Appalling Talent: Ken Russell by John...

Finding A Light at Maymont’s Garden Glow

Editor's Note: This essay includes a personal account of a mental health crisis. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, support is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. Richmond-area...

Review | Grace and Glorie is So Good You Forget it’s Acting

Yes, this is a review of the play Grace and Glorie, currently at Hanover Tavern. It is the Hanover Tavern part of that sentence that I want to focus on first. I’m probably going to get some side-eye for this, but I completely forgot Hanover Tavern existed. What in the...

Review | BLKS is a Mixed Bag at Richmond Triangle Players

I often come off like a chihuahua on sugar pills when reviewing plays for this magazine. I am excitable, yes, but never in the service of idle flattery. I also take no joy in being critical of people’s hard work. I’ve said this whole thing before several times, but I...

Finding A Light at Maymont’s Garden Glow

Editor's Note: This essay includes a personal account of a mental health crisis. If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, support is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. Richmond-area residents can also contact Richmond Behavioral Health for local mental health services...

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Garden Glow by Geogre Wethington_photo by Matt Freund_RVA Magazine 2026-2

Can Firehouse Put Richmond on the National Theatre Map?

In the electric and perpetually sincere terrain of Richmond’s theatre culture, there are institutions that do more than merely reside, they lead. They serve as a measure of our city's potential beyond its natural aspirations. I've witnessed Firehouse Theatre inhabit that essential niche, becoming the forge where the art takes shape. It isn't just...

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Firehouse-Theatre_Nathaniel-Shaw_Katrina-Carol-Lewis-interview-by-Christian-Detres_RVA-Magazine-2026 2

Everything We Did Was A Bad Idea

Editor's Note: Writer's Block is a space for Virginia writers to share personal essays, fiction, memoir, and works that fall somewhere in between. We’re standing on some corner in downtown Richmond: me, my two friends, a pair of women, and their male friend we had met earlier that night. We’re deliberating over what to do next, caught up in each...

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Eric-Kalata-story_photo-by-Kelly-Sikkema_RVA-Magazine-2026

Stay Hungry pt. 1 | Band on the Road

Editor's Note: Writer's Block is a space for Virginia writers to share personal essays, fiction, memoir, and works that fall somewhere in between. In Stay Hungry, Richmond local Eric Kalata looks back on a cross-country tour and the restless optimism of being young, broke, and convinced the road might lead somewhere worth going. We were...

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Stay-Hungry-by-Eric-Kalata_photo-by-R-Anthony-Harris_RVA-Magazine-2026

My Life As a Spider: The Two Years I Tried to Delete

Editor’s Note: Max Winter is a University of Richmond alumnus reflecting on his time at UR in the late ’90s and the campus culture he experienced. You can read more of his work on his Substack HERE. Recently, while eating carnitas in East LA, I check my phone and get blasted with an absurd screenshot. A text out of nowhere from my old college...

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My-Life-As-a-Spider_The-Two-Years-I-Tried-to-Delete-by-Max-Winter_RVA-MAgazine-2026_photo by Kaden-Taylor

Love Thy Neighbor

There was a new guy that moved across the street from me, a new neighbor, and every time he saw me on the front porch puffing away, he asked to bum a smoke. It got so incessant that I had begun smoking in the backyard instead, not wishing to part with any of my precious pack of cigarettes if it wasn’t to be consumed by me. After a couple of weeks...

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Love-Thy-Neighbor-by-Eric-Kalata_RVA-Magazine-2026

Writer’s Block | Two Poems by Cameron Ritter

Writer’s Block is RVA Magazine’s series highlighting contemporary writers working in Richmond and across the Commonwealth. Each week, we feature original poems, short stories, or essays. Just real voices writing right now. This week, we’re featuring two poems by Cameron Ritter. His work leans into observation and dialogue, pulling from everyday...

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Poems by Cameron Ritter_RVA Magazine 2026

Writer’s Block | Student Poets from PodiumRVA Speak Their Truth

A Sunday series from RVA Magazine featuring writers from Richmond and Virginia Writer’s Block is RVA Magazine’s Sunday series highlighting contemporary writers working in Richmond and across the Commonwealth. Each week, we feature original poems, short stories, or essays. Just real voices writing right now. Editor’s Note: The following poems were...

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PodiumRVA_photo by Alizea Sidorov_RVA Magazine 2026