Editor's Note

Tickets are going fast for the October 29 appearance of Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. Ann Patchett will serve as moderator for this stellar literary evening, and all proceeds for the event will benefit Humanities Tennessee. Tickets are available here, and we’ll be sharing a review of Witherspoon and Coben’s novel, Gone Before Goodbye, next week at Chapter 16. 

This week at the site, Edd Hurt reviews Chet Atkins: Mr. Guitar, Don Cusic’s in-depth look at the Nashville legend’s multi-faceted career. Sean Kinch reviews the new novel by Ruben Reyes Jr., Archive of Unknown Universes, which explores alternative versions of El Salvador’s troubled history. And Randy Mackin celebrates the Southern Festival of Books and the symbiotic relationship between readers and writers in his essay “Always Stories.”

News Roundup

• An essay by Ann Patchett was published in The New Yorker.

• The Bottom in Knoxville has kicked off its Five Year Anniversary Campaign, which will continue through January 9, 2026.

• A poem by Silas House was featured on The Slowdown.

• Claire Gibson’s novel Burst into Song will be published in 2027.

• Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville will host the 11th Annual Young Creative Writer’s Workshop on October 25.