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A middle aged man sits on a couch and looks at the camera in a serious way, and the cover of his book is shown next to him. It is blue and has the title, "Only Son" in a large font.
Creative Writing

UVA Professor’s Novel Longlisted for National Book Award

When Kevin Moffett woke up one morning in September, he didn’t expect to see his debut novel, “Only Son,” on the National Book Award longlist. He hadn’t even realized the book – due out Nov. 4 – was eligible for the honor. “It was an absolute surprise. It wasn’t even in my mind; I’m not someone who wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Let’s look at the award finalists today.’ So, I just got this bit of happiness from it,” said Moffett, an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Virginia.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-professors-novel-longlisted-national-book-award

An older woman with short white hair stands amongst bookshelves and looks off to the side.
Creative Writing

From Farm to Rare Books: UVA Librarian Celebrates 55 Years on the Job

When Gayle Cooper was a little girl picking cotton on her family’s subsistence farm in Alabama, she had no idea she would go on to consult for a Pulitzer Prize winner, handle some of the University of Virginia Library’s rarest holdings and become one of the library’s longest-serving employees. She has worked for the University for 55 years.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/farm-typing-pool-uva-librarian-celebrates-55-years-job

A hot pink background with the phrase "Living Art" and "The Fralin" in bold letters with gold and navy blue accents.
Art History

Arts This Week: The Fralin Museum of Art’s 90th Anniversary Soiree

You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville.The Fralin Museum of Art is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a soiree on November 7, from 6 to 11pm, featuring great food, performance, music and interactive activities. For Arts This Week, we spoke with Director of the Fralin, Karen Milbourne, to learn more about the event.

https://www.wtju.net/arts-this-week-the-fralin-museum-of-arts-90th-anniversary-soiree/

A woman stands at a podium speaking at an art exhibition, with a tall pile of golden inner-tubes stacked in the gallery behind her.
Visual Art

Global Spanish Marks Close of 'Fuego Eterno' Exhibition with Party, Series of Events

The Department of Art and the Global Spanish Initiative celebrated the final day of the “Fuego Eterno: Soberanías Visuales” exhibition with a closing reception and party at the Ruffin Gallery on Oct. 10. The Friday night party, bringing together the exhibition’s artists, scholars and the larger community for one last opportunity to view the collected works of artists from across borders, organized by guest curator Erika Hirugami, wrapped a week of Global Spanish events on Grounds.

https://as.virginia.edu/news/global-spanish-marks-close-fuego-eterno-exhibition-party-series-events

The hallway of a nice theatre venue that is filled with people rushing about, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and various blue signs for the Virginia Film Festival.
Film

38th Virginia Film Festival to Include Springsteen Biopic, ‘Frankenstein’ and More

This year’s Virginia Film Festival, running from Oct. 22 to 26, will screen more than 100 feature-length and short films and feature guests like “Sinners” star Miles Caton and the Emmy-winning “Succession” title theme composer Nicholas Britell. The festival’s opening night film, “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” stars Golden Globe-winning actor Jeremy Allen White as the Boss. Festival advisory board member Scott Cooper directed the movie, which tells the story behind Bruce Springsteen’s album “Nebraska,” including the singer’s experience with depression during his rise to stardom.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/38th-virginia-film-festival-include-springsteen-biopic-frankenstein-and-more

A student's perspective from sitting in a classroom with a male professor sitting casually on a table at the front of the class. Clipart of question marks and punctuation are scattered on the image.
Creative Writing

The Unplugged Classroom: No Midterms or Finals, Just Lots of Writing and Creativity

The first thing you may notice about Jim Coan’s intimate class is that every student is writing. No one is typing on a laptop or tablet. No phones are out. It’s very analog. The professor of psychology is in his 20th year at the University of Virginia, and his teaching style has undergone a complete makeover.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/unplugged-classroom-no-midterms-or-finals-just-lots-writing-and-creativity

Five young women in dance leotards are posed on a football field holding flaming batons.
Dance

This Twirl Is On Fire

If you were in the stands at Scott Stadium last month as the University of Virginia defeated Florida State University, you may have seen a group of four UVA students and one from Piedmont Virginia Community College playing with fire. The Cavalier Marching Band’s twirling squad, known as the Feature Twirlers, catch fire at home football games. They spin, dance and even juggle batons that are set ablaze during their routines. During game weeks, they spend 15 hours rehearsing.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/twirl-fire

Three people are arguing. One guy is arguing with a blonde woman in a red jacket, and another woman sits in a directors chair in front of them with her hand on her head--looking very annoyed.
Drama

Hollywood Meets Climate Change in Wohl’s Film-Within-a-Play, Bringing Satire, Spectacle, and the Environment into Focus on the Helms Stage

UVA Department of Drama’s inaugural production of the 2025-2026 season, Continuity, by Bess Wohl, invites audiences to step onto a Hollywood film set like no other. Wohl’s sharp, funny play takes audiences behind (and beyond) the camera in a hilarious and thought-provoking satire about art, ego, and environmental apocalypse. A script that feels both fresh and relevant, Continuity is a witty satire of Hollywood’s best intentions and biggest contradictions. The story unfolds on a high-budget movie set where a cast and crew are filming a blockbuster about climate change — complete with fake icebergs, big egos, and a creeping awareness that the production’s spectacle may be undermining its message.

https://drama.virginia.edu/uva-announcing-continuity-oct30-nov8

A glass cabinet with various books and papers and posters displayed inside.
Art History

VQR at 100: New Exhibition Explores Acclaimed Magazine’s Archives

In 2024, Julia Mathas, then an Editorial Assistant at the Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR), was conducting research on the literary magazine’s history in anticipation of its centennial anniversary the following year. While looking for a file on Ezra Pound in the correspondence archives of VQR’s longest-serving editor, Charlotte Kohler, Mathas stumbled upon a folder labelled “Sylvia Plath.” Within it she found a signed 1958 letter from Plath asking the editors to consider three of her poems for publication.

https://library.virginia.edu/news/2025/vqr-100-new-exhibition-explores-acclaimed-magazines-archives?mtm_campaign=em&mtm_kwd=sub

Black and white photo of a large stage at a concert with a college band performing.
Music

Fraternity Band Last Call Plans to Make the Most of Their Last Year at the University

From playing parties at their home base of Sigma Nu fraternity to opening for the Neon Trees at John Paul Jones arena, Last Call has been soundtracking University weekends since 2022. The band has found their place in the Charlottesville indie-rock music scene, making a name for themselves by combining unique individual experiences and talents with a collaborative musical process.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/10/fraternity-band-last-call-plans-to-make-the-most-of-their-last-year-at-the-university?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_featured

Clipart of a robot hand playing a keyboard.
Music

Q&A: Will AI Usurp the Desire for Human-Made Music?

Artificial intelligence is everywhere in the music business, whether you recognize it or not. It’s there when you stream – every Spotify recommendation is the product of AI-driven algorithms – and composes music based on its knowledge of previously published works. It’s even breathed new life into long-gone voices of performers like John Lennon.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/qa-will-ai-usurp-desire-human-made-music

A wall in the UVA Ruffin Gallery is painted with a ocean wave-like pattern and has inner-tubes hanging in from of the wall, also painted with a wave pattern.
Visual Art

Q&A: How Does UVA’s ‘Fuego Eterno’ Exhibit Explore Indigenous Sovereignty?

It’s the final few days to catch “Fuego Eterno: Soberanías Visuales (Eternal Fire: Visual Sovereignties),” an art exhibition at the University of Virginia’s Ruffin Hall. The newly launched Global Spanish Initiative has hosted the exhibition showcasing indigenous artwork from across the Americas and beyond. Featuring artists and scholars from Mexico, the U.S., Guatemala, the Philippines and nine other countries, the exhibit wraps up Friday.

https://news.virginia.edu/content/qa-how-does-uvas-fuego-eterno-exhibit-explore-indigenous-sovereignty