—Arshia Simkin, The Underline When Amanda Bennett was in her twenties as a graduate student at Duke University, she was working on a dissertation about Black feminism; she remembers studying… Read More →
The Underline
Hillsborough “Lights up the Darkest Night” with the Annual Solstice Lantern Walk and Market
—Arshia Simkin, The Underline This December 20, on the eve of the shortest day of the year, an estimated 6,000 people are expected to gather in Downtown Hillsborough for the… Read More →
The ArtsCenter is Thriving—and it “urgently” needs your help
—Arshia Simkin, The Underline Jessica Webb, who is in her eighties, almost gave up on art. Although she had been painting for 25 years, one summer day in 2024, she… Read More →
For Chapel Hill Poet Laureate Donovan Livingston, Poetry “Builds Communities”
—Arshia Simkin, The Underline In the mid-nineties, Donovan Livingston, who is now Chapel Hill’s 2025-2026 Poet Laureate, heard a song that would change his life. Growing up with a… Read More →
Redbud Writing’s Romantasy-themed gala: in support of creative writing for all
—Arshia Simkin, The Underline A group of women in their sixties, seventies, and eighties sits around a table in a community center. One by one, the women speak: some with… Read More →

