Editor's Note
The funding crisis continues for state humanities councils, including Humanities Tennessee. Serenity Gerbman, HT’s director of literature and language programs, shared a letter last week explaining the gravity of the situation and what’s at stake. She writes, “What I can tell you is that, if this period of federal funding uncertainty persists, Humanities Tennessee will cease to exist within a few months.” Please read and share the letter, and support Humanities Tennessee in whatever way you’re able. You’ll find links with more information about the local and national impact of these cuts in the news roundup below.
Here at Chapter 16, we plan to continue publishing a pared-down schedule of book coverage, essays, and excerpts for now. Instead of the daily posts we’ve done for many years, we’ll switch to posting on a weekly basis as of April 28. All our pieces for the week will go live on Monday, ahead of this newsletter. This is actually a throwback to Chapter 16’s early days, and we hope it will work well for our readers.
On the site today, Sara Beth West surveys the work of novelist and short story writer Lorrie Moore, who’ll be the featured author for this year’s Writers@Work events in Chattanooga. Last week, we revisited Brooks Egerton’s 2017 interview with playwright Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder; Chris Scott recalled his encounter with a famous celestial object in his essay “The Comet”; Abby Lewis reviewed the debut novel by Ashley N. Roth, We Never Took a Bad Bad Picture; and Lou Turner reviewed another debut novel, Plum by Andy Anderegg.
NEWS ROUNDUP
- DOGE’s NEH grant cancellations were covered by Publishers Weekly, NPR, and Slate.
- The immediate impact of the cancellations here in Tennessee was reported in The Nashville Banner, Nashville’s NewsChannel 5, and WVLT in Knoxville.
- Betsy Phillips commented on these troubling days for Tennessee’s book ecosystem in a column for the Nashville Scene.
- The Authors Guild is seeking information from authors directly affected by the loss of NEH funding. Please see their feedback form to respond and share the form with others who may be affected.
