In Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s historical novel, a Tennessee root doctor looks for a way to treat suffering after the Civil War
From the Chapter 16 archive: In Balm, Dolen Perkins-Valdez investigates the possibilities of healing the personal and national trauma caused by the Civil War.
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From the Chapter 16 archive: Blas Falconer is the author of The Perfect Hour (Pleasure Boat Studio, 2006) and A Question of Gravity and Light (University of Arizona Press, 2007), and his work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Another Chicago Magazine, Third Coast, Puerto del Sol, Poet Lore, New Delta Review, and the Baltimore Review. “Lighter” originally appeared in the Hampton-Sydney Review.
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A poet alone in Costa Rica considers the nature of art—and loneliness
From the Chapter 16 archive: This type of travel is not meant to soothe; it’s not like a seven-day cruise where the aim is to make sure you never feel lost, unsure, or in want. This travel is about want. About loneliness. About insecurity. About all those things that go into the poems that stay with you, the ones that risk and surprise, that ache to be written, and that talk back to you on the page.
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Dr. Ralph Stanley discusses his 63 years in music
From the Chapter 16 archive: When he was a child, he was often called “the boy with the hundred year old voice.” In his book Man of Constant Sorrow, Stanley recounts a career spanning six decades and millions of miles.
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Chanelle Benz talks with Chapter 16 about her debut story collection, The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead
From the Chapter 16 archive: “When I was a kid, I loved any kind of historical drama. I loved being transported to different worlds, historical or fantastical.” Fiction writer—and new Memphis transplant—Chanelle Benz talks with Chapter 16.
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Michael Sims discusses biological and literary creativity
From the Chapter 16 archive: Where do babies come from? It may be a child’s question, but the answer is far from simple, especially if we consider the baby-making processes of the whole animal kingdom, as Michael Sims does in his companion to the National Geographic Channel’s television special of the same name, In the Womb: Animals. It features ultrasound images of fetal animals that are so detailed and vivid it’s almost hard to believe they aren’t simulations.
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