Chapter 16 - Part 199

Intimate Strangers

A new essay collection edited by Samia Serageldin and Lee Smith explores the mother-child relationship

By Susannah Felts | April 8, 2019

Mothers and Strangers, edited by Samia Serageldin and Lee Smith, features explorations of what Serageldin calls the “most intimate of strangers, the women who raised us.” Serageldin and Smith will discuss the essay collection at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 12. Smith will also appear with Jill McCorkle, Marshall Chapman, and Matraca Berg in a performance of Good Ol’ Girls at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville on April 11.

“More Honored in the Breach: A Note to Ghost, Absent”

Book Excerpt: The Feral Condition

By Gaylord Brewer | April 5, 2019

Gaylord Brewer is a professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. His most recent books are a cookbook-memoir, The Poet’s Guide to Food, Drink, & Desire, and a new collection, The Feral Condition, from which this poem is excerpted.

It’s 1968 All Over Again

A new book by Memphis historian Aram Goudsouzian explains the rise of partisan politics

By Clay Risen | April 4, 2019

As Aram Goudsouzian makes clear in The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America, the tensions that animated the 1968 election still dominate public discourse today. Goudsouzian will discuss his new book at Novel in Memphis on April 10.

Melding Voices

Beth Ann Fennelly and Tom Franklin talk with Chapter 16 about writing a novel of romance and suspense—and raising a family—together

By Michael Ray Taylor | April 3, 2019

In a starred review, Booklist called The Tilted World, a historical novel by poet Beth Ann Fennelly and novelist Tom Franklin, a “full-bodied shot of bluesy Americana.” Fennelly and Franklin will discuss The Tilted World at Chattanooga State Community College April 8-9. Fennelly will also discuss her most recent essay collection, Heating & Cooling, at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on April 10.

The Lens is Not the Landscape

Barbara Brown Taylor’s latest Christian memoir encompasses other world religions

By Tina Chambers | April 2, 2019

Barbara Brown Taylor’s Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, a brief survey of world religions, is the next logical step in her own spiritual journey. Taylor will appear at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville on April 8, at Novel in Memphis on April 9, and at Parnassus Books in Nashville on April 16.

Math as Muse

Rationality and creativity converge in Stephen Ornes’s Math Art

By Maria Browning | April 1, 2019

In Math Art: Truth, Beauty, and Equations, Nashville science writer Stephen Ornes sets out to survey the remarkable breadth of contemporary art that’s fueled by a fascination with math. Ornes will appear at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on April 4.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher