Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Beth Waltemath

Looking at Everything

Ross Gay reprises his practice of everyday delight

Poet Ross Gay returns to finding joy in the everyday with his latest essay collection, The Book of (More) Delights. Gay will appear at a fundraiser for The Porch in Nashville on April 5 and will give a free reading at the downtown branch of the Nashville Public Library on April 6.

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A Portrait of Grief

Amanda Held Opelt reconciles faith and grief in A Hole in the World

In her memoir, A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing, Amanda Held Opelt observes the impact of grief on her identity, relationships, and faith.

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Poetry of Goodbye

Linda Parsons’ Valediction gives form to final farewells.

In Valediction: Poems and Prose, Linda Parsons meditates on what is essential in life as she weeds the garden, weathers a pandemic, and weighs her personal losses. Parsons will read from her work at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on June 24.

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Unfixable Beauty

Ross Gay incites revolutionary thinking through sharing joy, fruit, and poetry  

In his latest book of essays, Inciting Joy, poet and professor Ross Gay explores 14 ways to find joy in difficult times like these (which is to say, always). Gay appears in conversation with Adam Ross at Nashville’s Parnassus Books on November 8.

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The Bread of Life

Tallu Schuyler Quinn reflects on the ingredients of a good life in her posthumous memoir

Tallu Schuyler Quinn, the late founder and executive director of The Nashville Food Project, prepares for death through examining the ingredients of a good life in her posthumous memoir, What We Wish Were True. An event to celebrate What We Wish Were True will be held at Harpeth Hall’s Frances Bond Davis Theater in Nashville on April 19.

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Made from Angels and Dirt

Becca Stevens on trauma, resilience, and divine love

In Practically Divine, social entrepreneur and Episcopal priest Becca Stevens explores how the wisdom of women opens a place for love to grow even in the aftermath of trauma.

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