Features | Chapter 16

Teaching and Unteaching—and Entertaining All the Way

For more than three decades, Patricia McKissack has been writing children’s books that bring to life the stories, and the truth, of her ancestors

By Susannah Felts | July 10, 2019

As she was coming of age in Nashville in the 1950s, there were many places award-winning children’s author Patricia McKissack was not allowed to go. She remembers hotels and restaurants that forbade African Americans entry, and movie theaters with a separate doorway in the alley for black patrons. The farthest reaches of the Grand Ole Opry’s balcony, known as the buzzard’s roost, was the only seating open to African Americans, McKissack recalls. She never partook: “My grandfather said that watermelons would bloom in January if any of his children went down there. ‘We don’t sit in no buzzard’s roost,’ he said. ‘We’re human beings, not buzzards.'”

A Faith that Left Room for Doubt

Rachel Held Evans, author of four books on progressive Christianity, has died at 37

By Margaret Renkl | May 6, 2019

Dayton, Tenn., author Rachel Held Evans, whose books challenged the evangelical teachings of her childhood and urged conservative Christians to make their churches more compassionate and more inclusive, died on Saturday after a short illness.

Believing in the Power of the Heart

Rockvale Writers’ Colony, a new retreat in College Grove, offers writers the time, space, and support they need

By Jennie Fields | April 26, 2019

When my agent asked to see a complete revision of my work-in-progress, I didn’t know whether I could face it again. As with that tangle of cords and cables you stash in the back of your closet just in case you’ll need them, even though you’re not sure what half of them are for, I feared that if I pulled on one cord, the others would tighten into a death knot. How would I ever rewrite the whole book and hand it in on time? Fortunately, I had a plan: I’d apply to Rockvale Writers’ Colony.

A New “Third Place” in Clarksville

Clarksville has embraced a new independent bookstore: Humble Universe Disturbers

By Kathryn Justice Leache | February 15, 2019

Last year, Humble Universe Disturbers Used Books and More both opened its doors and changed locations. Now planted firmly on Franklin Street in Clarksville’s developing downtown district, co-owners Aubrey Collins and Ericka Arcadia spoke with Chapter 16 about how they got here and where they’re going.

“In the Midst of the Heroin Epidemic”

Book Excerpt: In the Months of My Son’s Recovery

By Kate Daniels | December 21, 2018

Kate Daniels is the author of five collections of poetry, including Four Testimonies and A Walk in Victoria’s Secret. She lives in Nashville, where she directs the creative-writing program at Vanderbilt University. “In the Midst of the Heroin Epidemic” will appear in her forthcoming collection, In the Months of My Son’s Recovery, which will be published by Louisiana State University Press on May 15, 2019.

All It Took Was an Invitation

Book Excerpt: Beyond the Point

By Claire Gibson | December 20, 2018

Beyond the Point, the debut novel by Nashville writer Claire Gibson, is set at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The story’s protagonists are three women—a nationally-ranked point guard, the granddaughter of an Army general, and a rebellious homecoming queen—who struggle to remain close even as life takes them in different directions. The book will be published by William Morrow on April 2, 2019.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher