Q & A | Chapter 16

A Bottomless Well of Inspiration

By Clay Risen

August 8, 2012

In his book 1861: The Civil War Awakening, historian and journalist Adam Goodheart presents what he calls a “pointillist” picture of a country on the brink of self-destruction. Through a series of profiles and stories, Goodheart demonstrates how America was both gearing up for an epic conflict and coming to grips with the horror that lay before it—and all the while slowly realizing that whatever happened, it would change the nation forever. He spoke with Chapter 16 by phone prior to his forthcoming appearance at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville.

Faithful Humanist

By Maria Browning

July 25, 2012

July 25, 2012 Poet Mark Jarman rose to prominence in the 1980s as an advocate of New Formalism and narrative poetry. He has since become known as one of the few academic poets of his generation to struggle explicitly in his work with questions of faith. In advance of the publication of his latest collection, Bone Fires: New and Selected Poems, he talks with Chapter 16 about his work, the flawed genius of Robinson Jeffers, and why the digital revolution is good for poetry. Jarman will read from Bone Fires at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

The Weight of Blood and History

By Madison Smartt Bell

July 24, 2012

July 30, 2012 Nashville native Madison Smartt Bell is the author of thirteen novels and two short story collections, though he is perhaps best known for a highly acclaimed trio of novels on the Haitian revolution: All Souls Rising (a National Book Award finalist), Master of the Crossroads, and The Stone That the Builder Refused. Today he talks with debut Knoxville novelist, Christopher Hebert, whose new novel is set in an unnamed Caribbean country that bears a striking resemblance to Haiti. “One feels the weight of the tropical air in reading this book,” Bell writes, “and the weight of blood and history behind it.” Madison Smartt Bell and Christopher Hebert will appear at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Exquisite Intricacy

By Ed Tarkington

July 23, 2012

July 23, 2012 Since her first published story, “Offerings,” was plucked from the slush pile in 1980 by New Yorker fiction editor Roger Angell, Bobbie Ann Mason has fashioned a career that is far more unique and distinct than its association with literary movements such as the “Dirty Realism” or “Minimalist” style might imply. Mason’s stories and novels are at heart studies in intimacy: the private, painstaking, sometimes brutally honest examination of interior lives, written in a style that suggests a private, unspoken confidence between reader and author. Bobbie Ann Mason will discuss The Girl in the Blue Beret at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Bidding Artemis Farewell

By Lyda Phillips

July 10, 2012

July 10, 2012 Eoin Colfer burst onto the middle-grade fantasy scene in 2001 with Artemis Fowl, a high-energy thriller starring a young criminal mastermind from an aristocratic Irish family, who kidnaps a ferocious fairy cop and holds her for ransom. Now the series comes to an end with its eighth installment, The Last Guardian. Colfer will discuss the culmination of his bestselling series on July 18 at 4 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library, as part of the Salon@615 series. The event is free and open to the public.

Pushing Boundaries

By Sarah Norris

July 3, 2012

July 3, 2012 Sapphire’s first novel, Push (on which the Oscar-winning film Precious was based), centers on an abused African-American teenager’s second pregnancy with her own father’s child. Sapphire’s second novel, The Kid, is about that kid: her second child. Sapphire will read from the book, newly released in paperback, at Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 10 at 6:30 p.m. She answered questions from Chapter 16 prior to the event.