Q & A | Chapter 16

Coming of Age at the Crossroads

Susan Gregg Gilmore’s second novel takes its protagonist through the racial turbulence of 1960s Nashville

By Margaret Renkl | August 27, 2010

August 27, 2010 When Susan Gregg Gilmore returned to Nashville after thirty years, she turned a novelist’s eye on her own hometown. The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove tells the story of a daughter of privilege—who grows up on what’s left of an antebellum plantation where thoroughbred horses were once raised—at a time of profound social change. Coming of age in a house where a deeply unhappy, alcoholic mother terrorizes not only the servants but her own children, Bezellia struggles to find a way to live in a world where her sole reliable sources of love are the people who are paid to care for her. Susan Gregg Gilmore will read from The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove at Carpe Librum Booksellers in Knoxville on August 28 at 2 p.m.

The Bard of Hume-Fogg

Poet and educator Bill Brown talks about his writing and his approach to teaching

By Maria Browning | August 26, 2010

August 26, 2010 Bill Brown has combined a lifelong vocation as a poet with a distinguished teaching career, including twenty years at Nashville’s Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet high school. He recently published his fourth collection of poems, The News Inside. He answered questions about his earliest efforts as a poet, his philosophy of teaching, and the future of poetry in the Internet age.

The Naturalist

Celebrated nature writer Michael Sims talks with Chapter 16 about his memoir-in-progress, Kingfisher Days

By Margaret Renkl | August 23, 2010

August 23, 2010 If there’s any question about whether it’s still possible to be a Renaissance man in the digital age, the answer is Michael Sims. Though he would never describe himself by such a self-congratulatory term, the Crossville native is nonetheless a poet, photographer, essayist, critic, editor, biographer, and the acclaimed author of four books about science and nature. Today he speaks with Chapter 16 about his first autobiographical effort, Kingfisher Days.

Beneath All the Sex and Violence

Eric Jerome Dickey talks with Chapter 16 about the hard work that goes into his stylish thrillers

By Maria Browning | August 17, 2010

August 17, 2010 Memphis native Eric Jerome Dickey has been turning out fast-paced, sexy, wildly popular novels since 1996. His latest, Tempted by Trouble, puts a timely twist on the thriller genre with a protagonist driven to crime by the economic downturn. Prior to his book signings this month in Memphis and Nashville, Dickey answered questions from Chapter 16 about the work that goes into his remarkably successful books, and about the mysterious appeal of his violent, morally compromised characters.

Talk Radio

Stephen Usery chats with Chapter 16 about Book Talk, his weekly author-interview program on WYPL

By Paul V. Griffith | August 16, 2010

August 16, 2010 In 2002 Stephen Usery began working as one of a rotating corps of interviewers on Book Talk, a long-running radio show that features local and touring authors. Originally a segment of the Memphis Public Library’s radio-reading program, Book Talk, has become a vital part of the Bluff City’s literary life. From Madison Smartt Bell to Mary Higgins Clark, Usery’s calm demeanor and innovative questions have kept a remarkably broad selection of authors on their toes. Book Talk is broadcast Saturday nights from 6 to 7 p.m. on WYPL FM98.3.

Dooced No More

Proto-blogger Heather Armstrong writes a bestselling book

By Margaret Renkl | August 10, 2010

August 10, 2010 Memphis native Heather Armstrong didn’t invent the personal weblog any more than Al Gore invented the Internet, but she is definitely one reason the word blog has entered the English language. In fact, the very name of her own blog, Dooce, is cited in the Urban Dictionary as an intransitive verb: to be dooced is to lose your job because of something you wrote on your blog. But getting fired is not something Armstrong worries about any more: Dooce now gets more than six million page views a month, and last year Forbes magazine named Armstrong one of the thirty most influential women in media. She talks with Chapter 16 about her life, her enemies, and her bestselling book.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker