Celebrating the life and words of poet Wilmer Mills
August 1, 2011 Wilmer Mills, 41, a Tennessee poet with ties to Sewanee and Chattanooga, died on June 25 of liver cancer. He leaves behind a wife, two young children, and many family members and dear friends. Among them is poet Jeff Hardin, his friend and writing partner of two decades. Within twenty-hours of Mills’s passing, Hardin wrote this remembrance.
Read moreThe Clarksville Writers’ Conference attracts faculty and students who are passionate about the written word
July 28, 2011 Clarksville owes its place in literary geography primarily to its associations with Robert Penn Warren, but it has much more to recommend to the writing community than name-dropping historical markers: the Clarksville Writers’ Conference, now in its seventh year, keeps Clarksville’s literary spirit alive with top-notch faculty and eager attendees.
Read moreMinton Sparks brings to life the South of strained relations and small-town sirens
July 21, 2011 Fresh from sold-out shows in New York City and an unprecedented award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, Minton Sparks continues to pursue a literary art form she invented from scratch. Now this genre-defying performance poet, songwriter, and novelist—whose fans and collaborators include Dorothy Allison, Marshall Chapman, and John Prine—is back home in Nashville, but already she’s got her eye on Broadway.
Read moreEvery year the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival in Harrogate attracts dozens of people who are crazy about writing
July 7, 2011 Founded six years ago by author Silas House, then Lincoln Memorial University’s writer-in-residence, the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival is packed with lectures; workshops in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; readings by teachers as well as students; a play; and multiple concerts. This year, Chapter 16’s Sarah Norris was there, and sends this report from Harrogate.
Read moreVictoria Ford, a child of the Memphis political dynasty, survived her parents’ disgrace to stand on a stage in Carnegie Hall and accept a national writing award
June 29, 2011 The Ford family of Memphis may be known as a political dynasty, but Victoria Ford is in the news for a much less controversial reason: last month she won a national Scholastic Art and Writing Award—and a $10,000 college scholarship. Past winners of the prestigious prize include Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates, and Truman Capote. For Ford, the awards ceremony, held May 31 in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, was a moment to remember.
Read moreKnoxville readers are overjoyed about their new downtown bookstore, Union Ave. Books
June 24, 2011 Downtown Knoxville finally has something that Knoxville readers have dreamed of for a long time: a really good independent bookstore. Union Ave. Books fills very nicely the void left by Carpe Librum Booksellers, Knoxville’s only indie, which folded last year. Flossie McNabb, one of Carpe’s former owners, has partnered with attorney Melinda Meador to launch the store, which had its grand opening last weekend. As Knoxville Metro Pulse editor Jack Neely told Chapter 16, “Any city that calls itself a city needs an independent bookstore. It makes for a different destination than just bars, restaurants, and clothing stores. It’s the type of business that drives curiosity.”
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