Editor’s Notes

The 2025 Southern Festival of Books is just 3 weeks away, so if you’re planning to attend, be sure to keep up with the latest announcements via the newsletter and social media. In case you missed it, the schedule of sessions has been announced, and the full list of authors is here. The Authors in the Round dinner is now sold out, but see the event page if you’d…

One of the mixed blessings of this digital age is that there are wonderful stories posted online every day, and only a tiny fraction of them ever reach a large audience. We rarely share such stories from Tennessee writers in the Chapter 16 newsletter, but two caught our eye this past week that deserve a mention.  One…

Michael Zibart, founder of Nashville-based BookPage, passed away on September 5. In an Instagram post, Zibart was remembered as “a visionary and kind leader whose storied career in the book business led to the creation of BookPage in 1988. He was a mentor and friend to many, and will be deeply missed.” The Zibart family has a long history…

The recipients of this year’s Tennessee Book Awards have been announced, and we’re delighted to celebrate three outstanding authors whose work was chosen by a stellar panel of judges. The award for fiction goes to Vic Sizemore of Maryville for his novel God of River Mud, which judge Rebecca Makkai describes as “a layered, nuanced and often harrowing story of people ill-used…

Memphis native Alan Lightman has been guiding his readers through the realm of science for four decades, exploring ideas about the universe through essays, inventive fiction, and even children’s books. In The Shape of Wonder, Lightman and fellow scientist Martin Rees team up to counter popular skepticism about science by explaining what scientists actually do, what drives them, and how they see the goals of…

We’re excited to feature some of this year’s Southern Festival of Books authors in our upcoming schedule, including an interview with John T. Edge about his memoir House of Smoke; a review of Blood Harmony, Barry Mazor’s biography of the Everly Brothers; and an excerpt from Feller, the new poetry collection from Tennessee Book Award winner Denton Loving.  Of course, there’s considerable festival coverage already on the site. In June,…