Award-winning author Julia Alvarez helped pave the way for other Latina writers in the U.S. with her 1991 debut novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Alvarez talks with Chapter 16 about her latest novel, Afterlife, and what it means to envision new possibilities in this troubled time. She will appear at the 2020 Southern Festival of Books, held online October 1-11.
Michael Ray Taylor’s Hidden Nature probes the daunting and delicate ecosystems of caves and the passion that drives those who seek a larger connection with the world. Taylor will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on August 16 and at the 2020 Southern Festival of Books, held online October 1-11.
Mona Problim and her siblings are off to new adventures in Island in the Stars, the third and final installment in Natalie Lloyd’s Problim Children fantasy series. Lloyd talks with Chapter 16 about saying goodbye to beloved characters, writing from the heart, and being “a queen in Narnia.”
Set in Detroit, Angela Flournoy’s critically celebrated first novel follows the struggles—with relationships, addiction, finances, even a ghost—of thirteen siblings and their parents. Flournoy discussed The Turner House with Chapter 16 prior to her 2016 appearances at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville and the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.
Mohsin Hamid’s work conveys a deep moral questioning and a valiant effort to make sense of a world turned upside down. In this 2018 interview, Hamid answers questions from Chapter 16 about his literary influences and his fourth novel, Exit West.
Prior to her 2015 lecture at Rhodes College, historian Nell Irvin Painter talked with Chapter 16 about how the concept of race entered human consciousness, why notions of beauty are so inextricably linked to sex, and how contemporary readers should accommodate for historical wrong-headedness.
