Selected journalism-adjacent articles
I’ve covered books for Shondaland, innovative social programs for Food Bank News, more books for Electric Literature, three school districts for The Raleigh News & Observer, and more books for INDY Week.
Keen observers will notice that I love a good interview. Profiles, Q&As, features, I’m up for anything that lets me ask interesting people as many questions as they’ll allow.
John Darnielle’s New Thriller, ‘Devil House,’ Digs into the Uneasy Tensions between Humanity and the Headlines
“Telling any story at all has stakes, you know, whether it’s true or not.” Shelbi Polk interviews John Darnielle for Indy Week ahead of the release of his novel, Devil House.
Beloved Chapel Hill Author Sarah Dessen Takes a Look Back
With her daughter away at summer camp, Dessen agreed to speak from her vacation on a North Carolina beach about the Netflix adaptation of her 2009 novel, Along for the Ride, which came out in May. Shelbi Polk interviews Sarah Dessen for Indy Week.
Waiting for The End of the World with John Waters
Talking with the envelope-pushing director ahead of his standup special at The Carolina Theatre. Shelbi Polk interviews John Waters for Indy Week.
In a New Memoir, the Travels of Frances Mayes Reach from the Triangle to Tuscany, and Back Again
Frances Mayes’ romantic 1996 memoir, “Under the Tuscan Sun,” about buying and renovating a rickety but venerable Italian villa, kicked off a writing career that has continued with gusto into her eighties. Shelbi Polk interviews Mayes for Indy Week.