Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

A Beautiful Exhibit

Lisa Russ Spaar’s Madrigalia curates her rich body of work

In Madrigalia, poet Lisa Russ Spaar demonstrates a deft hand and a careful eye as she combines selections from an oeuvre spanning more than 20 years. Spaar will read from her work at Vanderbilt University’s Buttrick Hall on February 17.

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Turning Hard Lessons into Action

Keeda Haynes understands the fight against injustice

In Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics, Keeda Haynes describes her own experience of the justice system she’s trying to reform.

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The Word from Nashville

Margaret Renkl surveys a complex, confounding region

In Graceland, at Last, Margaret Renkl provides an introduction to the contemporary South and offers a corrective to some persistent oversimplifications. Renkl will discuss her work at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on February 24.

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Stories Connect Us

Caitlin Hamilton Summie’s first novel explores the heart of a proud Midwestern family

Geographies of the Heart, the first novel from Knoxville writer Caitlin Hamilton Summie, depicts a close-knit Midwestern family over 25 years as they weather the daily trials and losses of life with quiet dignity.

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A Single Drop of Blood

Two teens work to overturn a murder conviction in this twisty YA mystery

In We Were Kings, the latest YA novel from Court Stevens, 18-year-old Nyla and her new friend, Sam, race against time to solve a decades-old cold case and save the life of a woman they believe to be wrongfully imprisoned for the crime. Stevens will discuss We Were Kings with Sharon Cameron at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 9.

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“Penelope Looks Back”

Book Excerpt: Focal Point

Jenny Qi’s essays and poems have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Tin House, ZYZZYVA, Rattle, and elsewhere. Qi, a 2011 graduate of Vanderbilt University, holds a Ph.D. in biomedical science from the University of California, San Francisco and works as a competitive intelligence manager tracking research in oncology. Focal Point is her first book.

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