Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Power in the Word

Southern Word connects young people to their voices, each other

Students and recent alumni of Southern Word have published books, produced music, given TEDx Talks, been featured on national broadcasts and in newspapers like The New York Times, and even received invitations from Michelle Obama to visit the White House for a student poetry celebration. Southern Word will host the annual BlackLift Poetry House, held online February 20.

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You’re Gonna Talk about This Chicken

Book Excerpt: Hot, Hot Chicken: A Nashville Story

Rachel Louise Martin’s Hot, Hot Chicken: A Nashville Story recounts the story of hot chicken and what the dish’s growing popularity reveals about race relations in a changing city. Hot, Hot Chicken will be published by Vanderbilt University Press in March 2021.

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Streams of Consciousness

Travel writer Jedidiah Jenkins trades in cross-continental treks to map a more personal terrain.

In Like Streams to the Ocean, travel writer and Instagram personality Jedidiah Jenkins turns his energetic gaze to the interior landscapes we map between childhood and death. Jenkins will appear at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 18.

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To Wonder, to Marvel, to Be Astonished

Pick a card — or two, or three — for instant inspiration

Artists of all kinds who long for more time and energy to devote to creative pursuits will find much to inspire them in Kickstart Creativity: 50 Prompted Cards to Spark Inspiration, the latest project from Nashville writer and educator Bonnie Smith Whitehouse. She will appear at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus books in Nashville on February 10.

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Decency at the End of the World

David Arnold’s The Electric Kingdom finds beauty in the darkness

David Arnold, author of the acclaimed YA novels Mosquitoland, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik, and Kids of Appetite, returns with The Electric Kingdom, an achingly beautiful and timely book that transcends simple classification. Arnold will discuss The Electric Kingdom at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on February 11.

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Empty Gyms

On basketball in a pandemic, private milestones, and a teary farewell to Paul Westphal

Watching the NBA this season makes me think of empty gyms not as unfortunate pandemic protocol, but as basketball returning to its purest state.

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