Q & A | Chapter 16

Growing Up in Silence and Shame

Tayari Jones talks with Chapter 16 about the bigamous marriages at the heart of her acclaimed novel, Silver Sparrow

By Susannah Felts | January 10, 2017

In Silver Sparrow, the third novel by Tayari Jones, two girls born four months apart share a father who is secretly married to both of their mothers. Jones will read Silver Sparrow at the Camp House in Chattanooga on January 19 at 6 p.m. The event, part of Chattanooga State Community College’s Writers@Work initiative, is free and open to the public.

Making Our Country a Little More Human

Civil-rights hero—and National Book Award-winner—John Lewis talks with Chapter 16

By Margaret Renkl | November 28, 2016

On November 16, John Lewis—along with his collaborators, co-author Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell—won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature with March: Book Three. But even before he accepted that honor, Lewis had already been named the 2016 recipient of the Nashville Public Library Literary Award, a prize that last week brought him back to Nashville, where he first began his long career as a civil-rights activist. Today Lewis talks with Chapter 16 about his books—and his unparalleled life in public service.

Invisible Woman

James McGrath Morris recovers the life of Ethel Payne, a forgotten crusader in the struggle for black freedom

By Aram Goudsouzian | November 9, 2016

As a reporter and advocate for racial justice, Ethel Payne shaped American society. James McGrath Morris’s biography of her, Eye on the Struggle, is the winner of the 2015 National Book Award from the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change. Morris will speak about the book at 6 p.m. on November 15 at the University of Memphis.

Long Live the King

Doug the Pug extends his social-media empire to print

By Sarah Carter | November 8, 2016

Doug the Pug and his “momager,” Leslie Mosier, will be signing their new book, Doug the Pug: The King of Pop Culture, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on November 12 at 2 p.m. Prior to the event, Mosier answered a few questions from Chapter 16 about the dog at the center of a social-media empire.

On Freedom and Love and Changing the World

Sarah Bakewell breathes new life into the great existential thinkers

By Aram Goudsouzian | November 3, 2016

bakewell_attheexistentialistcafe_final Heidegger, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus—in her enchanting group biography, At the Existentialist Café, Sarah Bakewell shines a light on these great existential writers and the world they made. Bakewell will discuss the book on November 9 at Rhodes College in Memphis.

Where the Characters Quicken to Life

Bret Anthony Johnston shares the details of his writing process

By Emily Choate | November 2, 2016

remember “Family life seems given to a kind of emotional suspense, which in no way feels less tense or compelling than other kinds of suspense.” Prior to his November 7 reading at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Bret Anthony Johnston talks about creativity, collusion with imaginary characters, and his acclaimed novel, Remember Me Like This.

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