What to read, watch and listen to this summer, by 2021’s most exciting creatives

LISTENING: “Tom Misch and Michael Kiwanuka, who are both artists I admire. They’ve just got a real beat, blending modern soul and hip hop.”

SEEING: “I really want to see the Mary Ellen Mark: Girlhood exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. She is one of my favorite ever photographers.”

READING: “I’ve just finished Isaac Asimov's What If. It’s a real romance story that shows how fate is unavoidable – and your destiny inevitable.”

Diana Markosian: Santa Barbara shows at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in California from July 3 to December 12, 2021

READING: “I’ve been reading A Billion Black Anthropocenes Or None, by Kathryn Yusoff; Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower; Azadi, by Arundhati Roy; and Surge, by Jay Bernard.”

WATCHING: “The Father – because I live with my grandmother, who has dementia [like Anthony Hopkins’ character in the film]. Also, Small Axe, by Steve McQueen, and Can't Get You Out of My Head, by Adam Curtis.”

VISITING: “The Serpentine Pavilion ‘fragments’ around London, [which comprise] one of the first Black publishers and booksellers in the UK, New Beacon Books in Finsbury Park; multipurpose venue and community center The Tabernacle in Notting Hill; The Albany arts center in Deptford; and the new Becontree Forever Arts and Culture Hub at Valence Library in Barking and Dagenham, which was established this year to commemorate the centenary of the UK’s largest council-housing estate.

“These fragments support the everyday operations of these organizations while enabling and honoring gatherings of local communities that they have supported for years. A gesture of decentralizing architecture to include a multitude of voices, the fragments extend out into the city the principals on which the Pavilion was designed.”

The Serpentine Pavilion 2021 is designed by the Johannesburg-based studio Counterspace, directed by Sumayya Vally, and on at London’s Serpentine Galleries until October 17

WATCHING: “South Side on Comedy Central. There’s only been one season (so far) but that one season is so, so good. It’s such a hilarious blend of absurdity, wit, and social commentary. And since Bashir Salahuddin was one of my favorite [actors] on Glow, it’s great to see him have more screen time.”

READING: “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, by Amanda Montell. I love true crime, and I love non-fiction that has a personal element to it. Cultish has all of these things, and it’s such a fun read.”

LISTENING: “NPR’s On Our Watch. This podcast looks at specific internal investigations that have happened in various police departments in California, and explains why those investigations went the way they did. The stories can be pretty frustrating, but it’s very informative and provides an in-depth, unflinching look at all our system’s flaws.”

Zakiya Dalila Harris’s debut novel, The Other Black Girl, is out now

READING: “I’ll read anything by rising UK author Tasha Suri. Her fantasy epics are imbued with the rich emotionality of romance novels: brutal and tender by turns, as her women defy empire with every weapon available to them. I’m also a big fan of Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao. This wild anime-inspired reimagining of the biggest, baddest figures in Chinese history takes on the patriarchy and smashes it – with giant robots. Think The Handmaid’s Tale meets Pacific Rim and buckle up.””

SEEING: “Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul at London’s Royal Academy of the Arts (until August 1). Emin’s female figures aren’t paint so much as pure emotion pressed onto canvas; viewing them, pain is transferred from the artist’s heart directly into yours.”

Shelley Parker-Chan’s debut historical fantasy novel, She Who Became the Sun, is out now

READING: “The Sovereignty of Quiet, by Kevin Quashie. I’ve often felt uneasy about the conflation of ‘Black identity’ with resistance and protest, so I deeply appreciated Quashie’s deft exploration of ‘quiet’. Although it came out a few years ago, the poet Victoria Adukwei Bulley recommended it to me recently – and I consider it vital reading for 2021.”

FOLLOWING: “Over the Past year, I’ve found stylist Paula Sutton’s joyous, extravagant and playfully quirky Instagram images of wholesome country living a very welcome escape from the lockdowns. I can’t wait for her book, out this autumn, to deliver a welcome injection of ‘cottagecore’ into my city life. But in the meantime I’d recommend her Instagram account, @hillhousevintage.”

READING: “Open Water, by Caleb Azumah Nelson. With its intimate, direct narration, this book pulls you into the confusing, exciting rush of new love. But it explores so much more, too – masculinity, being racialized, creating art, feeling seen. All while painting a vivid portrait of south London.”

Natasha Brown’s debut book Assembly is out now

WATCHING: “Hacks. This HBO Max comedy about the work relationship between a legendary Las Vegas comedian and a ‘canceled’ 25-year-old comedy writer is my latest addiction. The show isn’t just laugh-out-loud funny, it’s also surprisingly poignant. And Jean Smart is gobsmackingly wonderful.”

SEEING: “I can't wait to head back to the theater, and my first stop will be Springsteen on Broadway. I listened to If I Should Fall Behind on repeat while I was writing The Last Thing He Told Me, and I'm so excited to see Bruce share his stories and sing live at the St. James Theater.”

READING: “There's little that I love more than a gripping legal thriller and, when I hit the beach next month, I can't wait to dig into Stacey Abrams’ latest, which is set in the halls of the Supreme Court.”

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is out now