The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “Six Triple Eight,” was a predominantly Black unit in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) during World War II. Tonya Abari tells their heroic but underappreciated story in her latest picture book, The Six Triple Eight.
Be Gay, Do Crime surveys the long history of queer defiance and resilience through a daily catalog of notable events and key figures. Zane McNeill, one of the book’s editors, answered questions from Chapter 16 about the research challenges of the project and how queer history can help the community hold on to joy.
In his memoir House of Smoke, Southern food writer and cultural commentator John T. Edge turns the spotlight on himself, seeking to understand his personal history and evolution. Edge will appear at The Rosecomb in Chattanooga on September 18, Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on October 16, the 2025 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October on 18-19, Novel in Memphis on October 22, and Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 27.
In October 2017, former U.S. poet laureate Charles Wright, a Tennessee native who grew up in Kingsport, paid a visit to East Tennessee State University for an interview and public reading. His lively conversation with fellow poet Jesse Graves was recorded and transcribed, and Chapter 16 is publishing it for the first time in honor of Wright’s 90th birthday.
The Wounds Are the Witness by Yolanda Pierce, dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, serves as devotional reading, a summons to self-care, and encouragement for everyday action and outspokenness. Dr. Pierce will appear at the 2025 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 18-19.
With the Pulitzer Prize-winning King: A Life, Jonathan Eig has written the definitive biography of Martin Luther King Jr. for this generation. Eig will discuss King: A Life at the 2025 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 18-19.
