MAGAZINES & BOOKS




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CONEX and the Strange New Gravity of Carver

The Carver neighborhood sits tucked between the highway and the downtown sprawl, close enough to reach everything and overlooked long enough to feel like its own island. So when CONEX appeared there a few weeks ago, rising out of a sunken concrete pit built from cargo...

Review | A Christmas Carol at Virginia Rep: Tradition Done Right

There’s something about the dead center of winter that brings out the best in humanity. It might be the desire to stay huddled around the fire, TV, or kitchen table, when your people begin to look more like fellow travelers in life rather than the people constantly...

Review | ‘Lungs’ Is a Mirror You Can’t Look Away From

Lungs is a stream of consciousness rom-com set in the pre-Trump fainting spell that privileged liberal America endured very loudly. The narrative employs the manic pixie dream girl and frustrated musician as the stereotypes to help us struggle with big decisions...

Richmond Artists Unite for ‘Fall of Freedom’ at Antennae Gallery

Fall of Freedom bills itself as “an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation.” The organizers aren’t pulling punches: they argue that democracy is under attack, threats to free expression are rising, dissent is...

GIANTS! Makes the Case for a New Era in Richmond Art

The GIANTS! Exhibition Preview Party was last night at VMFA, and for the first time in my 20+ years moving within Richmond’s arts scene, I saw a mix of people I honestly didn’t expect to ever share the same room. High-end collectors, street artists, curators, younger...

Writer’s Block | The Poetry of Mary Beth Cox

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. This week we’re featuring two...

Rama Duwaji: From VCU Arts to New York’s First Lady

This week, Zohran Mamdani won the race to become the next mayor of New York City in one of the nation’s most closely watched elections. A Democratic socialist who campaigned alongside Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew...

RVA Mag Comics X-Change: Issue 2

Welcome back, comics fans! We just introduced you to our new comics column a few weeks ago. If you missed it, you can check it out here. The next two weeks in comics are a bit of a doozy with plenty of new (and old) things to check out from the indie racks to the DC side of the stage as well, with even a surprise guest appearance from my forever...

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RVA Mag Comics X-Change: Issue 1

RVA Mag Comics X-Change is a bi-weekly comic column which dives into the latest and upcoming releases, along with insider info from local and regional comic book shop owners.  Good afternoon comic fans! Between the Blu-Ray release of "Infinity War," and Netflix’s announcement to acquire streaming rights for "Black Panther," it’s been a pretty...

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Meet McLaffy Taffy: Virginia’s Pro Twitch Streamer

A typical morning routine for many here in Richmond includes waking up, making breakfast and coffee, and driving through the Richmond rush hour traffic to get to an office. For those who work from home, their desk could look like pretty much any desk pulled from a cubicle. For Ryan Capps, his desk includes a webcam, a headset, and a live chat...

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Inside Richmond’s Newest “Friendly, Neighborhood” Comic Shop

From Archie to Scott Pilgrim, Wonder Woman to Sailor Moon, lunch boxes to Pop! Figures, comic book stores have undoubtedly stood the test of time and only become cooler as they've aged. Richmond, ever the epicenter of what’s rad and nerdy, already has several go-to shops, from Velocity Comics on Broad Street to Alpha Comics and Games at Willow...

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All the Comics! And What You Should Be Reading Right Now

Jim Callahan is my new comics guru, my Yoda, if you will. A Richmond native, a VCU Arts graduate, and oh, did I mention he worked for Marvel? Callahan knows his comics, and he is exactly who I had to speak to in order to get the update on what's hot right now in the world of comics. For the uninitiated, comics are a vast and quickly changing...

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RVA Mag #31 On Stands Now

RVA Magazine expands our coverage and reach in our 31st issue, doubling down on our winning formula of culture and politics. We bring unique perspectives and informed analyses of local and national events to the largest audience of young people in central Virginia and throughout the Commonwealth. We’ve been at the forefront of the governor’s...

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