Where the Plots Are
October 2, 2013 When Maile Meloy—the author of two novels and two short-story collections for adults—tried her hand at writing for children, the result was The Apothecary. Intelligent, deftly plotted, magical and historical in equal measure, the novel might easily win a kid over to books for a lifetime—that is, if her parents don’t swipe it from her first. Meloy will visit Nashville’s Parnassus Books on October 3, 2013, at 6:30 p.m. to read from The Apprentices, her newly released sequel to The Apothecary.
October 2, 2013 Much of The Frozen Rabbi by award-winning author Steve Stern takes place in the Pinch, a long ignored Memphis neighborhood that was once the city’s Jewish ghetto. The Pinch’s rich and conflicted history provides the ideal locus for the book, which is a tale of shamanistic self-interest and tradition gone wrong. Steve Stern will appear at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on October 3, 2013, in Buttrick Hall, Room 101, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
October 2, 2013 Janis Ian’s new picture book, The Tiny Mouse, marks the singer-songwriter’s first foray into children’s literature, although the two-time Grammy Award-winner is the author of a well-received 2008 autobiography, Society’s Child. Janis Ian will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.
October 1, 2013 In Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, National Book Award winner Andrew Solomon explores the depths of love as he researches the connection between parents and exceptional children. Today he talks with Chapter 16 about his own journey to parenthood and “the epic narratives of resilience” that shaped his book. Andrew Solomon will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013.
September 23, 2013 Daniel Kirk continues his popular picture-book series with Library Mouse: Home Sweet Home, a story in which Sam and Sarah look for a new place to live while their library home is undergoing renovations. Today Kirk talks with Chapter 16 prior to his Nashville appearance at the Southern Festival of Books October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.
September 20, 2013 Whether he is talking about Modernism, blues singers, the slave ship Amistad, film noir, or one of many other subjects he has studied, Kevin Young—celebrated poet, essayist, and editor—writes poems and essays that simultaneously serve as portals to the past and future. Young will appear at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on September 26, 2013, at 7 p.m. in Wilson Hall, Room 126. The event is free and open to the public.
