At the center of Nick White’s striking debut novel, How to Survive a Summer, is the burden of an unconfronted trauma at a long-defunct “gay conversion therapy” camp. White will discuss How to Survive a Summer at the 2017 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 13-15.
The poems in Erica Wright’s new collection, All the Bayou Stories End with Drowned, exist in a glittering space between the everyday and the ineffable. Wright will discuss the book at the Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville on August 27 at 2 p.m.
Cousins Liv and Nora have booked their families on a joint holiday cruise to Central America. But even before their children go missing, the characters seem primed for disaster. Maile Meloy will discuss Do Not Become Alarmed at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 13 at 6:30 p.m.
When eleven-year-old Marcus—the narrator of Gail Godwin’s latest novel—arrives at his new home on an island off the South Carolina coast, the secrets crowding his young life show no signs of letting up. Godwin will discuss Grief Cottage at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 12 at 6:30 p.m.
On April 11 and 12, East Tennessee State University in Johnson City will host its second annual literary festival, offering a slate of workshops, readings, and genre-focused craft presentations. The event culminates with a keynote address by celebrated poet Ishion Hutchinson. All festival events are free and open to the public.
The ballet dancers in Maggie Shipstead’s novel, Astonish Me, are engaged in a daily war against their mortal limitations. Shipstead will discuss Astonish Me at the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on March 6 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
