A.D. Carson—rapper, poet, novelist, educator—released his first novel Cold, A Novel by A.D. Carson in May. The novel, a multimedia work that blends traditional prose narrative with poetry and hip hop, is conceptually brilliant. In both form and style, Cold adopts the conventions of hip hop creating a profoundly symbolic narrative that follows a young A.D. through the course of his education as poetry and hip hop battle for affection. Carson has also published “Oedipus-Not-So-Complex: A Blueprint for Literary Education,” a chapter in Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop’s Philosopher King released earlier this year. You can join A.D. is his celebration of spoken word at Speak Easy at 9 p.m. the third Thursday of every month at Bar None. To learn more about A.D. Carson, you can visit his website.