Podcast: Jewel Wicker, the Jimmy Awards and pen names on this week’s ATL Arts Collective 

Featured contributor Jewel Wicker joins us as we meet a Milton student fresh off a national Jimmy Award win, discover one of Atlanta’s most adventurous live music series, examine why more writers are choosing pen names and share our best bets.

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Meet This Week’s Featured Contributor

Our featured contributor, Jewel Wicker, has built a career telling stories about music, culture and the people shaping them. An Atlanta native whose work has appeared in Billboard, GQ, Teen Vogue and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jewel joins us to discuss her reporting, her upcoming nonfiction book Take It to Trial and what continues to inspire her as a storyteller. She also shares her favorite local discoveries for our series Beats, Bites and Sites.

Beats

Catching live music at the Tabernacle

Bites 

Celebratory dining at Kimball House

Sites 

Unique exhibitions at Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)

A Jimmy Award Winner from Milton

ArtsATL reporter Benji Carr talks with Jake James, the Milton High School performer who recently captured a Jimmy Award, the nation’s highest honor for high school musical theater performers. He shares what the experience was like, what comes next and how Atlanta’s theater community helped shape his journey.

Making It Work as a Creative

For this month’s Making It Work segment, Jasmine Hentschel of GULCH magazine talks with Atlanta designer and furniture maker Robby Simon about building a creative career, learning which opportunities to embrace and finding the freedom to focus on work that truly matters.

Inside Atlanta’s Monday Night Creative Music Series

ArtsATL reporter Doug DeLoach visits Eyedrum’s Monday Night Creative Music Series, where improvisation, experimentation and collaboration have created one of Atlanta’s most unique gathering places for adventurous musicians and curious audiences alike.

Why Writers Choose Pen Names 

Jewel Wicker brings us a fascinating look at the growing use of pen names, inspired by bestselling romance author Kennedy Ryan and a broader conversation about privacy, identity and authorship in the age of social media. From novelists to playwrights, she explores what writers gain and what they give up when they publish under another name.

ArtsATL Best Bets 

Executive Editor Shane Harrison rounds out the episode with his weekly recommendations for arts and culture across metro Atlanta, including the world premiere of When Faith Calls; a new exhibition at whitespace; Bob Dylan with Lucinda Williams at Chastain Park; and Hacking Hip-Hop at the Atlanta History Center.

Looking to stay connected to the people, performances, exhibitions and ideas shaping Atlanta’s creative community? The ATL Arts Collective brings you the stories behind the city’s culture every Wednesday.

Support for this episode comes from:

The Sun ATL

Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective

Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois’ “Hit the Deck” from her album Astral Heart, courtesy of Wicked Superb Records.

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