Editor’s Notes

Black History Month began in February 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson launched a movement to promote knowledge of Black history and achievement. What started as a one-week observance has become a month each year devoted to exploring and raising awareness of Black history. As the tradition reaches its 100th anniversary, Jarvis R. Givens surveys its origins and meaning in I’ll Make…

The 2026 Tremont Writers Conference in Townsend, Tennessee, is scheduled for October 21-25, and the faculty lineup this year includes Ron Rash, Kelli Jo Ford, Crystal Wilkinson, and Linda Parsons. Applications are open through May 15.  Blair, a nonprofit press based in North Carolina, recently announced that it would be reviving the New Stories from the South series, formerly published by Algonquin. They’re accepting short story nominations from…

The dates for the 2026 Southern Festival of Books have been announced. Make plans to be at the Bicentennial Mall, Tennessee State Museum, and Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville on October 17 & 18 for this beloved literary gathering. Author submissions are open through May 31. The initial lineup will be announced this summer, and you can be sure to hear…

Two regional literary journals are open for special submissions in the weeks ahead, including The Pinch, which is accepting entries for The Page Prize in Nonfiction through January 31. Submissions for The Pinch’s fiction and poetry prizes will open on February and March, respectively. Callaloo seeks submissions for its 50th anniversary “Southern Voices” edition through February 14. And poets with a full-length unpublished…

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2026. Poet W.S. Merwin wrote about bringing to a new year “our knowledge such as it is / and our hopes such as they are / invisible before us / untouched and still possible.” His words are a reminder that knowledge and hope are essential, and here at Chapter 16, we think the highest…

This is our last newsletter of 2025, but we’re wrapping things up with an eye toward the future. We’re delighted to announce that submissions for the 2026 Tennessee Book Awards are open today and will run through February 17. Eligible books must have a 2025 copyright date and be traditionally published, and the author must be a current…