Leslie Bridgers

Columnist

Leslie Bridgers is a columnist for the Portland Press Herald, writing about Maine culture, customs and the things we notice and wonder about in our everyday lives. Originally from Connecticut, Leslie came to Maine by way of Bowdoin College and never left. She joined the Portland Press Herald in 2011 as a reporter and spent seven years as the paper’s features editor, overseeing coverage of arts, entertainment and food.

Recipes

Black sesame and coconut mochi balances sweet and savory

by Becky Krystal The Washington Post April 18, 2021April 14, 2021

While making it and then eating it, you’ll be stuck on this not-too-sweet traditional Asian dessert.

Arts & Entertainment

To see or not to see? Experiencing Shakespeare during the pandemic offers its own rewards

by KK Ottesen Special To The Washington Post April 18, 2021April 14, 2021

Simon Godwin, 43, joined D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he is artistic director, in late 2019. He’s associate director at the Royal National Theatre in London. During the pandemic, he directed a film version of “Romeo & Juliet” that will air on PBS on Friday, Shakespeare’s birthday. Q: So this has been quite a year, […]

Arts & Entertainment, Review

Young adults run amok in the silly sci-fi thriller ‘Voyagers’

by Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post April 12, 2021April 12, 2021

Set in the late 21st century, on a spacecraft en route to a new “Earth” – a habitable planet, 86 years distant from ours, to be colonized by the best representatives of the human race, after climate change and disease have ravaged this one – the sci-fi thriller “Voyagers” is grounded in very real current […]

Arts & Entertainment, Do This

Indie Film: ‘Nighthawks’ filmmakers know the art of the trailer

by Dennis Perkins April 12, 2021April 8, 2021

The short film is still in post-production, but the teaser will give you a sense of the talent behind it.

Do This, Food

Bar Guide: Parkside ‘bardega’ redefines convenience store

by Angie Bryan April 12, 2021April 8, 2021

Quinn’s opened a year ago in the Mellen Street Market.

Arts & Entertainment

Deep Water: ‘savannah blues,’ by Leslie Moore

April 11, 2021April 7, 2021

Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling.

Books

‘Hummingbird Salamander’ is a gripping eco-thriller full of cinematic set pieces

by Paul Di Filippo Special To The Washington Post April 11, 2021April 7, 2021

The easiest thing for Jeff VanderMeer to do after the success of his Southern Reach trilogy (which includes the novel “Annihilation,” adapted for the screen by Alex Garland) would have been to continue in that same vein: spooky, Lynchian, Tarkovskian, “X-Files” adventures in contemporary wilderness settings. Instead, he wrote “Borne,” a futuristic post-collapse urban disaster […]

Arts & Entertainment

How ‘Shiva Baby’ captures the anxieties of being a young woman

by Sonia Rao The Washington Post April 11, 2021April 7, 2021

The premise of the new film “Shiva Baby” sells itself: While begrudgingly accompanying her parents to a shiva, the Jewish mourning ritual, a college student encounters not only her ex-girlfriend, but also her sugar daddy. Filmmaker Emma Seligman ran with the classic advice to write what you know, combining the experiences of sugar babies she […]