Hard to Kill
In Nafissa Thompson-Spires’ debut novel, The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford, a Black Oklahoma bootlegger, long the object of small-town resentment, faces the murderous rage of the women he keeps as wives on his estate.
Book Reviews
‘Sublime Americana’
In their new poetry collection, A Little Light in the Grave, Jesse Graves and Larry D. Thacker memorialize their late fathers. The authors will discuss and read from their work at Fischman Gallery in Johnson City on December 3.
The Music of Everyday People on the Brink
Mark D. Baumgartner’s story collection Last Chance for a Slow Dance is a beautiful ode to the quotidian, a journey through the lives of working people forever one step away from making it big. Baumgartner will read from his work at ETSU on November 19 and at Fischman Gallery in Johnson City on December 3.
A Special Alchemy
The soup pot is a portal to a universe of flavor. Nashville poet Major Jackson understands this strange magic and celebrates it in A Bowl of Goodness, a collection of poems and occasional recipes. Jackson brings together the work of such bright lights as former poets laureate Rita Dove, Robert Hass, Natasha Trethewey, and Joy Harjo, alongside fellow Tennessee writers such as Ann Patchett, Lisa Coffman, and Kate Daniels.
Grief Song
In her 12th poetry collection, Cloud Runner, three-term U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo weaves rage, devastation, and hope in a complex portrait of grief.
Falling in Love in the Middle of Hell
In Sharon Cameron’s new novel, Up from the Ashes, the year is 1943 and the place is an extermination camp near Sobibor, Poland. Selma and Chaim’s unforgettable story demonstrates the human capacity for withstanding extreme suffering and responding with strength and courage.
