Wynwood Walls, Summer Poem, Literary Walks, Tillie Walden, & More: Endnotes 18 June

Every Friday, we celebrate the weekend — and all the reading and relaxing and daydreaming time ahead — with Melissa's favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Why work when you can read fun stuff?!

This post is part of our Endnotes series.

Wynwood Walls is an outdoor museum of graffiti and street art in Miami, Florida. It was founded by the late Tony Goldman in 2009. On a mission to revitalize the warehouse district of Wynwood, he was inspired by the blank walls he saw on the streets of the neighborhood. ‘Wynwood’s large stock of warehouse buildings, all with no windows,’ he said, ‘would be my giant canvases to bring to them the greatest street art ever seen in one place.’ Since its inception, Wynwood Walls has had more than 50 artists — from the United States, Brazil, Belgium, Mexico, Portugal, Ukraine, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Germany, France, England, Japan, and Singapore — decorate more than 80,000 square feet of walls. Now, new murals are painted three or four times a year, and visitors can watch the artists paint in real-time, either in person or online. {more}

• Publishers Weekly talked to our favorite cartoonist Tillie Walden about her inspiration and her new book Alone in Space.

• Venice Original is an online shop where you can buy beautiful handicrafts made in Venice. Murano glass! Handmade pottery! Glamorous masks! Handknit sweaters! Snazzy shoes!

• Somewhat related: These Moroccan designers are combining traditional motifs with a modern sensibility.

• When a video on Instagram makes me say, ‘Whoa…’ I like to share it with you.

• 10 Books Celebrating the Rich History of Black Cuisine to Honor Juneteenth. ‘Oftentimes, people ask, well, what even is American cuisine, and fail, time and time again, to include the history and cuisine of Black Americans in their answers. In celebrating Juneteenth by going out, barbecuing and honoring those who were once enslaved, it is crucial that we learn from their experiences and remember the work they put in to put Black cuisine on the map.’

• How Disney and Pixar’s Luca Recreated the Iconic Cinque Terre. ‘The story follows two teenage sea monsters who magically appear human when they dry off and explore Pontorosso, a fictional animated town… It’s a love letter to the Liguria region, highlighting the iconic colors, food, and architecture that makes Cinque Terre a must-visit for so many travelers.’

• Jasmin Darznik, author of the novel The Bohemians shares the story of 19th-century writers (and sisters) Edith and Winnifred Eaton and how they helped her ‘understand the experience of mixed-race women in the early years of the twentieth century.’

• This made me laugh so many times: 37 Absolutely Hilarious Tweets From The SparkNotes Twitter Account.

• Sasha Martin is a gifted writer and poet. I was introduced to her work through her project Global Table Adventure that featured recipes and stories from every country in the world. Now she’s mostly focusing on poetry, and that’s very good for us. You can get the scoop on all her projects here.

• The Best Ice Cream in Every State.

• I’ve been so looking forward to the release of The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson. It came out this week, and I’m about halfway through and loving it. Our intrepid heroine Stevie is digging into an unsolved murder at a summer sleepaway camp. Think a less-scary but still suspenseful mash-up of the Friday the 13th movies and a thoroughly modern Nancy Drew. Author Maureen Johnson has made a go-along podcast, which is delightfully meta as the characters in the book are making a podcast.

• How can you resist the history of the asterisk?!

• Oh, Prague! You’re looking so pretty in this video!

• A Gothic Cookbook? Yes, please, and thank you. ‘Written by Ella Buchan and Alessandra Pino, and with illustrations from Lee Henry, A Gothic Cookbook is an original cookbook showcasing food and drink from, and inspired by, classic and contemporary Gothic tales, teasing out the tastiest titbits with recipes, literary criticism, and drawings.’

• 5 Great British Walks with a Literary Twist.

• Emily Brontë was a strong-willed weirdo in the very best way.

May you be as unapologetically you as possible.

Top image courtesy of Bruce Warrington/Unsplash.