A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

Features

Fighting the Summer Slide

By Susannah Felts

May 11, 2012 A celebration of children’s literature held annually in downtown Knoxville, the Children’s Festival of Reading is the Knox County Public Library’s way of rallying interest in summer reading. Founded eight years ago, the festival combats the too-common notion among kids that reading is a chore or punishment, something they do only when a teacher makes them. But even while reminding kids of the pleasures of reading, the festival also speaks to something teachers see as a critical problem: the “summer slide,” a loss of academic skills that often happens when students are out of the classroom for weeks in a row. The Children’s Festival of Reading will take place on May 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at World’s Fair Park in Knoxville. All events are free and open to the public.

A Writer’s Influence

By Maria Browning

April 24, 2012 Acclaimed writer Richard Bausch has taught at the University of Memphis since 2005. Over the years, he’s also given great time and energy to mentoring writers in the wider community. As he prepares to leave for a new job in California, Chapter 16 considers his legacy of inspiration and support. Richard Bausch will give his farewell reading at the University of Memphis on April 25 at 8 p.m. in the University Center Theater, Room 145.

What E-Books Really Cost

By Margaret Renkl

April 20, 2012 The Justice Department rode in on a white charger last week to defend the American consumer from predatory pricing in the e-book market. The hitch? Justice wasn’t aiming for Amazon, the online goliath that’s selling e-books at a loss to drive sales of its Kindle e-reader (and, not coincidentally, create a de facto monopoly of the e-book market). Instead, the target is Apple and five U.S. publishers destined for extinction if Amazon realizes what increasingly looks like its ultimate goal: to become an entirely self-contained, in-house publishing industry—Amazon the agent, publisher, distributor, and bookstore. It’s not entirely unreasonable to wonder if, somewhere deep in the bowels of its corporate megalopolis, Amazon is preparing to beta-test an e-author, too.

Beautifully Bound

By Joe Nolan

March 20, 2012 Before the invention of the printing press, books were handwritten on handmade materials, and every volume was unique. Book as Art: Beautiful Books, an exhibition which includes works on display at a number of venues around the Vanderbilt University campus, offers examples of bookmaking arts through the ages—the oldest book in the collection dates from 1480—and will run through August 12, 2012.

Celebrating William Gay

February 29, 2012 William Gay’s death last week of heart failure sent tremors through the community of writers and readers in Tennessee and beyond, people who loved him as a friend and as a writer. We have asked some of those who knew Gay, in ways large and small, to send us their stories. They come from New York City and from Wyoming, from Maine and from Virginia, and, of course, they come from Tennessee. Together, we hope their recollections present a portrait of a man who will be greatly missed.

Book Excerpt: The Lost Country

By William Gay

February 29, 2012 The court had awarded her custody of the motorcycle, they were going this day to get it. Edgewater was sitting on the curb drinking orange juice from a cardboard carton when the white Ford convertible came around the corner. A Crown Victoria with the top down though the day was cool and Edgewater had been sitting in the sun for such heat as there was. The car was towing what he judged to be a horse trailer.

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