Editor’s Notes

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 And poets with a full-length unpublished…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…

Writers who are looking for some wintertime fellowship and guidance should mark their calendars for the Tennessee Mountain Writers January Jumpstart, scheduled for January 17-18 in Oak Ridge. Writers, readers, and publishers are also invited to participate in Appalachian Wordfest on February 28 in Sevierville. We’ll be sharing links for spring gatherings after the new year, but in…

December is here, and with it comes the tidal wave of year’s best lists. We think readers are perfectly capable of making their own lists of books they loved in 2025, but it’s still nice to see so many fine books with a Tennessee connection get a shout out. For instance, Tiana Clark’s Scorched Earth and Maria Zoccola’s Helen of Troy, 1993 were…

Chapter 16 will be taking its usual break next week for Thanksgiving, so this week we’re featuring three new essays that touch on the joys — as well as the sorrows — of love, family and gratitude. In “Rewriting the Footnotes,” Liz Garrigan speaks to the well-meaning people who see her family’s international life as a gift, overlooking the…