In Little Failure, Gary Shteyngart turns his sharp satirical skills on his own history as a Russian Jewish immigrant coming of age in 1980s New York, and on the long and painful history of his family. Shteyngart will discuss Little Failure at the First Amendment Center on the Vanderbilt University campus in Nashville on March 2.
Along with Jerry Brotton, Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro will discuss “Jews and Muslims in Shakespeare’s World” in Hardie Auditorium on the Rhodes College campus in Memphis on February 22 at 6 p.m. The event, part of the Communities in Conversation series, is free and open to the public.
In The Sultan and the Queen: The Untold Story of Elizabeth and Islam, Jerry Brotton examines the way Elizabethan England managed to circumvent Catholic Europe to open trade relations with Islamic empires. Brotton will appear at Rhodes College in Memphis to discuss “Jews and Muslims in Shakespeare’s World” with James Shapiro in Hardie Auditorium on February 22 at 6 p.m. The event, part of the Communities in Conversation series, is free and open to the public.
Andrew Maraniss spent eight years researching and writing Strong Inside, the story of Vanderbilt basketball player Perry Wallace, who broke the color barrier in SEC athletics. Now Maraniss has produced a version of the story for readers in middle and high school. He will launch the new edition at Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 9 at 6:30 p.m.
Novelist Adam Ross, the first new editor of The Sewanee Review since 1973, will launch the storied literary magazine’s redesign on January 31. In it, there’s enough transgression to satisfy the spirit of Tennessee Williams, whose bequest supports the Review’s publication.
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.
