Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Kashif Andrew Graham

Randall Kenan Could Fly

A posthumous collection captures a beloved writer’s brilliance

Black Folk Could Fly, a volume of selected writings by the late Randall Kenan, explores the many aspects of African American life in the South.

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Much Ado About Something

Percival Everett plays with meaning and time in Dr. No

Percival Everett’s Dr. No is much ado about nothing. But in this novel, his 23rd, Everett explores the idea that perhaps nothing is something. Or everything.

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Making a New Sun

Saeed Jones writes poetry of grief and survival

Alive at the End of the World is the latest apocalyptic collection of poetry from Memphis native Saeed Jones. A copious Twitter user and cultural sage, Jones is also author of two earlier collections: When the Only Light Is Fire (2011) and Prelude to Bruise (2014).

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A Liberation of Language and Lyric

A Beat Beyond collects a wealth of prose from poet Major Jackson

A Beat Beyond collects a wealth of notes, essays, reviews, and talks written by award-winning poet Major Jackson from 1993 to 2020. Jackson will appear in conversation with Destiny O. Birdsong at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 1 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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Power in the Story

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs explores a place that’s both hell and home

Sidik Fofana’s Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, a debut collection of linked stories, emerges from a high-rise in Harlem, brilliantly capturing the scrapes, scents, and spirit of this gentrifying neighborhood.

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Without Fear or Condescension

Autistic actor Mickey Rowe celebrates difference

Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor’s Journey to Broadway’s Biggest Stage is Mickey Rowe’s memoir of growing up with autism and his barrier-breaking career. Rowe will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 16.

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