A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

Looking Closely at the Weeds

With simple, poetic lines, The Weedy Garden: A Happy Habitat for Wild Friends invites young readers to imagine they’re the animals in a garden where a weed is not something to be pulled up and eradicated but an essential, life-giving force. Margaret Renkl and Billy Renkl will discuss The Weedy Garden at Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis on February 22, Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 24 and 28, David Lusk Gallery in Nashville on February 28, and Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville on March 19.

Soul Force

In collaboration with Emily Yellin, the Rev. James Lawson penned Nonviolent, a memoir explaining the principles, personalities, and struggles of a movement for social change. Yellin will speak at the Historic Woolworth Theatre in Nashville on February 18, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on February 20, and Novel in Memphis on March 26.

‘A Joy and a Wonder’

The work of photographers George Masa and Jim Thompson documented the unique beauty of the Smokies and played a significant role in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Land of Everlasting Hills by Ren and Helen Davis collects more than 200 of Masa and Thompson’s photographs and includes biographies of both men, as well as a history of the park’s creation.

Medgar, Myrlie, and the Movement

In Medgar and Myrlie, the noted television commentator Joy-Ann Reid pens an intimate history of a marriage and a panoramic narrative of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and beyond. Reid will speak at the University Center at the University of Memphis on February 7.   

Word Burglars

In Strikingly Similar, Roger Kreuz dives into plagiarism scandals, past and present. He explains why we care — and don’t.

Going Nuclear

The South has the most nuclear reactors — and the most radioactive waste — of any region in the United States. Radioactive Dixie uncovers their fascinating, complicated history.

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