Editor's Note

After the announcement of his death last week, Barbara Kingsolver wrote, “We’ve lost Wendell Berry. Prophet, good farmer, gentle literary giant, Kentuckian of the finest order and friend to all that is good.” There were tributes from Silas House, Margaret Renkl, Kathy Mattea, and many more. Berry’s work touched readers deeply, as revealed in a Substack post by novelist Claire Gibson and an essay by Nashville writer and filmmaker Georgia Coley. His unique voice will be sorely missed.

Today at Chapter 16, Erica Wright reviews the second novel by Henry Wise, Promised Land, which continues the story of his first, Holy City. Erica writes, “Despite focusing on one criminal case, Promised Land is a sweeping novel, epic in its ambitions. It tries to make sense of a land watered with blood.”

Emilee Hackney’s memoir, All That’s Unseen, “traces her journey from Virginia’s coal country to Harvard, intertwining her own story with those of people and places often overlooked by the powerful,” writes reviewer Whitney Bryant. The book also grapples with “Hackney’s complicated relationship with the sometimes palpable, often elusive presence of God.”

Alan Gratz’s latest book for young readers, Flight, follows two Honduran children struggling to find safety after becoming separated from their parents during the trek to the U.S. border. “Gratz excels in describing the plights of children removed from their communities and forced to make their way alone through a treacherous world,” writes reviewer Tina Chambers. “Gratz’s stories are harrowing yet hopeful and always promote empathy and kindness.”

News Roundup

• An excerpt from Beowulf Sheehan’s The Father of the Man, his book about photographing Cormac McCarthy, appeared in Literary Hub, and he was interviewed by PEN America. 

• James Cherry’s work was featured in Recours au Poéme. 

• A poem by Joy Harjo appeared in The New Yorker. 

• The Porchlight Anthology includes work by KB Ballentine, Gaylord Brewer, Malcolm Glass, Jesse Graves, Jeff Hardin, Dwight Hinson, Cary Holladay, Jake Lawson, Denton Loving, Linda Parsons, Noel Poston, Dan Reiss, and David Tucker. 

• Poems by Lacy Snapp were published in Cutleaf.