Editor's Note

Last week we mentioned forthcoming spring books, and this week it’s bookish spring gatherings. Appalachian WordFest (formerly the Rose Glen Literary Festival) will take place at the Sevierville Convention Center on March 1. Presenters will include Mike Maden, Robert Beatty, and The Smoking Guns (Sisters in Crime). Plenty Book Shop in Cookeville is hosting Wine and Words Book Fair on March 7-9, held at DelMonico Winery in Baxter. Authors will include Rea Frey, Liz Riggs, MJ Wassmer, and Monic Ductan. 

Stay tuned for updates on festivals coming in April and May.

Today at Chapter 16, Sara Beth West reviews We Would Never, the new novel by Tova Mirvis. Last week, we revisited Sean Kinch’s review of Andrew Maraniss’ Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke; Aram Goudsouzian interviewed historian Tanisha Ford about her book Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement; Margie Sanders wrote about a perspective-shifting hike in her essay “My Friend and Mt. LeConte”; and Bianca Sass reviewed Wild West Village by singer and actress Lola Kirke. 

News Roundup

• An essay by David Wesley Williams appeared in The New York Times Magazine.

• A story by Odie Lindsey was published in the latest issue of Southwest Review.

• The Tremont Writers Conference is now accepting applications for its intensive five-day retreat in October, with faculty including Crystal Wilkinson, David Joy, Karen Spears Zacharias, and Maurice Manning. 

• An essay by Tova Mirvis appeared in The Washington Post and an excerpt from her latest novel was published in People.