News & Notes | Chapter 16

Hank's Ghost

Steve Earle’s first novel tells the story of what happens after Hank Williams dies

By Margaret Renkl | March 11, 2011

March 11, 2011 Steve Earle spent decades as a below-the-radar genius with passionate fans but not a lot of literary recognition outside the world of songwriting. In fact, Earle is not only a hit songwriter (for Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez, and others, including himself; his last three albums won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album), but also a playwright, author of the short-story collection Doghouse Roses, and a scholar of the work of James Agee.

Counting Calories

Amanda Little teaches readers of The New York Times how to reduce oil consumption

By Margaret Renkl | March 8, 2011

March 8, 2011 In her book Power Trip, Nashville journalist Amanda Little explored the many ways Americans use oil without even knowing it. As Little reiterates in an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times, the net effect of this invisible petroleum consumption is far more than just pain at the pump: “Virtually everything we consume—from hamburgers, running shoes and chemotherapy to Facebook, Lady Gaga MP3s and ’60 Minutes’—is produced from or powered by fossil fuels and their byproducts, all of which could grow more costly as the price of petroleum rises.”

As Dusk Comes Down

Charles Wright tells PBS viewers where the poems come from

By Margaret Renkl | March 3, 2011

March 3, 2011 The British critic William Empson believed that the heart of poetry is ambiguity, and his theory may explain why poets are so often loath to “explain” their own poems. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Wright is a master of the deliberate use of ambiguous language, but in a profile this week on PBS’s NewsHour, he offered a revealing look at his own poetic method:

Words of Comfort

Abraham Verghese tells readers of The New York Times about an emergency treatment administered by ear

By Margaret Renkl | March 2, 2011

March 2, 2011 Writer/physician Abraham Verghese has long been on a mission to teach medical students the lost art of the physical exam, and his efforts have been highlighted by The New York Times, NPR, PBS, and Stanford Medicine, among many other media outlets.

Writers in the Red

Bidding begins today at online auction Writers for the Red Cross

By Margaret Renkl | March 1, 2011

March 1, 2011 When floods devastated Middle Tennessee last May, three Nashville YA novelists launched “Do the Write Thing for Nashville,” an online auction to benefit flood victims. The concept was simple. Writers, agents, editors, and bookstore owners donated items of literary interest for book lovers to bid on by leaving a comment. The last comment placed before the auction closed was the winner, and money was collected by PayPal.

Salon at 615

Humanities Tennessee helps to launch an exciting new reading series

By Serenity Gerbman | February 28, 2011

February 28, 2011 Authors Ann Patchett, Erik Larson, and Meg Cabot are among the bestselling writers who will be part of an event series at the Nashville Public Library. Salon at 615 will welcome a number of authors to Nashville in the spring and summer for readings, talks, and book signings.

The series is a partnership among Nashville Public Library, Humanities Tennessee, the Nashville Public Library Foundation, and Barnes and Noble Booksellers, which will be the on-site bookseller for the events.

The Rise and Fall of Treason in English History

By Allen Boyer and Mark Nicholls
Routledge
340 pages
$180

The book “explores the reasons why treason coalesced around specific offences agreed by both the monarch and the wider political nation, why it became an essential instrument of enforcement in high politics, and why, over the past three hundred years, it has gradually fallen into disuse while remaining on the statute book.”

~the publisher