Welcome to Talking Culture! In this weekly interview series from 97.9 The Hill WCHL, you’ll hear from writers, performers, musicians and individuals involved in advancing and promoting cultural arts in our community.

Talking Culture is proudly sponsored by Duke Arts. Duke Arts Presents “Music NEAR the Gardens, The Pinhook Edition,” a special edition of Duke’s long running summer concert series, Music in the Gardens. This five concert series celebrating The Pinhook’s legacy in the local music scene, runs every Wednesday at 7:00 PM through June 25th at Duke’s East Campus. Full schedule at DukeArts.org.

This week, Aaron welcomes Stephanie Elizondo Griest, a professor of creative nonfiction at UNC whose new book is “Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Quest to Understand the Sacrifices and Glories of a Creative Life.” Inspired by Griest jokingly referring to herself as an “art monk” who sacrificed other basic comforts in her devotion to art, Griest reached out to female artists worldwide to ask: what is it that makes art “enough,” to justify the sacrifices they’re willing to make on its behalf? The answers she got – and the journeys she took around the world to get them – form the basis of this book, which Aaron compares favorably to other creative-nonfiction classics like “Reading Lolita in Tehran.”

Visit StephanieElizondoGriest.com for more information about Griest and the book.

Griest will be reading from “Art Above Everything” and discussing the project at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, June 10, the day of the book’s official release. The talk starts at 6 p.m., but Griest will be signing copies starting at 5:30.

Visit FlyleafBooks.com for more information about Tuesday’s reading.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

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