One of Lawrence's signature late summer events, the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships, has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The event normally takes place the fourth weekend in August. This year, which would have been its 40th annual event, will be the first ...
Story updated at 2:52 p.m. Wednesday Kevin Willmott hopes his latest film with Spike Lee will help people understand the experience of black soldiers during the Vietnam War. The University of Kansas professor shared an Academy Award with Lee for their adapted screenplay of 2018’s ...
Want to earn the title of “Best Lawrence Film?” Local actor and playwright Will Averill has established a one-time only “24-Hour Stay-At-Home Shorts Film Festival.” It’s Averill’s first film festival, and he’s hoping it will give community members the opportunity to be creative ...
Two authors and a freelance journalist from Kansas were recognized by judges of some of the most prestigious writing awards in the country on Monday. Anne Boyer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, while Ben Lerner was shortlisted as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for ...
The artists' names and concert dates have disappeared from the marquees of Lawrence’s iconic venues, replaced instead with messages related to the coronavirus pandemic. Though local shows could be able to return sooner, many national tours are postponing shows until next year, and some in ...
Lawrence’s Free State Festival is the latest local organization to cancel its summer event amid ongoing uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers announced Monday that the festival, which was last held in 2018, will not return until June 2021. This year's event had been ...
Though the Paper Plains Literary Festival — originally scheduled for this weekend — has been postponed until 2021, some participating authors will still discuss their works virtually in free sessions open to the public Friday through Sunday. Friday at 7 p.m., Grady Hendrix will discuss his ...
The Lawrence Arts Center’s monthly Story Slam event is going virtual. On Friday night, eight local storytellers will share true narratives based around the themes of “Off the Beaten Path” or “Broken.” These stories will be shared via a Zoom link that is available on the Lawrence ...
Lawrence's Busker Festival, originally set for the end of May, has been rescheduled to September. In January, the Journal-World reported that the Busker Festival would expand by a day this year. This remains true even with the date change, as the festival has been moved from one four-day ...
Some members of the band Mwenso & the Shakes are quarantined together in Harlem, and they will be performing a live concert on the Lied Center’s Facebook page Tuesday night at 7:30. “It’s joyous and uplifting music with energy that exudes positivity. And that’s what we need right ...
Want to see clips from Theatre Lawrence’s 2000 production of “Big River?" They're now online as part of Theatre Lawrence’s Distance Theatre blog. The blog posts clips from previous shows and highlights the theater's sponsors, other programs in the community and donation opportunities. ...
The City of Lawrence has postponed its annual Earth Day celebration because of the coronavirus pandemic. Following recent orders from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health prohibiting public gatherings of more than 10 people, the city announced in a news release this week that it would ...
The organizers of the upcoming Paper Plains Literary Festival in Lawrence have postponed the inaugural event for one year, in light of local and national recommendations about gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. The festival, which was scheduled for April 23-26, had boasted a lineup of ...
Louise Erdrich said in her latest novel, "The Night Watchman," that she wanted to show how a group of people can come together to create change. She did this through the story of her grandfather and his fight against Native American termination laws in the 1950s. “They came together, they ...
A new exhibit at the Spencer Museum of Art combines the paintings of local artist Roger Shimomura with videos of his performance art, all digitally remastered and cut for the exhibit. While the Lawrence-based artist describes himself as a painter, he also created staged performance pieces ...
The world’s first book club parade will take place in Lawrence next month as part of the Paper Plains Literary Festival, event organizers say. Will it truly be the “world’s first” book club parade? Paper Plains festival director Danny Caine believes so. An “educated guess” and ...
A few years have passed since Antonio Sanchez-Day was released from prison for the second time. But he can still smell the disinfectant and the smoke of the cellhouse; he can hear the squawk of the radios, the doors slamming shut and the murmurs of other inmates. In prison, he could go ...
“Songs from Ireland,” an evening of music at Liberty Hall, is an invitation for the audience — and even participating musicians themselves — to learn more about Irish artists. Nick Carswell is one of the organizers of the event and a member of Carswell & Hope, the main band. Other ...
Theatre Lawrence is hosting a free event Wednesday night that will include Holocaust survivor stories and a discussion of tolerance in what it calls today’s “climate of fear.” The special event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the theater, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive. It's in conjunction with the ...
Danny Caine was eating a five-piece spicy chicken tender meal at the Popeyes on Iowa Street when genius struck. It was February of 2018 and Caine, owner of The Raven Book Store in downtown Lawrence, was alone in a corner booth with his combo meal, a good book and the setting sun. “As I ...