Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Safety Without Violence

Nashvillian Andrew Krinks turns a spiritual lens on race and mass incarceration

White Property, Black Trespass by Nashville scholar and activist Andrew Krinks examines mass incarceration and racial hierarchies through a spiritual lens, with a perspective rooted in the belief that “there is life beyond the present order of exploitation, dispossession, and death.”

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Soulful Dudes

Preston Lauterbach chronicles the Black pioneers who created Elvis Presley’s music and style

In Before Elvis, acclaimed writer Preston Lauterbach digs into the deep culture of Black Memphis, finding the origins of the superstar’s music and style.

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“Snow Day”

Book Excerpt: Visitations

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: John Bensko won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award for his first book, Green Soldiers. His other books include The Waterman’s Children and The Iron City. The poem “Snow Day” appears in his 2014 collection, Visitations

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An American Original

Jeff Apter surveys the life of a modest rock star in Carl Perkins: The King of Rockabilly

Jeff Apter’s Carl Perkins: The King of Rockabilly tells the story of a legitimate rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, as influential as his more celebrated peers at Sun Records like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash.

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Latin Lessons

Bryce Ashby and Michael LaRosa bring historical and personal insight to the immigration debate

Immigration, Policy and the People of Latin America, a new book by attorney Bryce Ashby and historian Michael LaRosa, combines history, policy, and personal profiles to illuminate the diverse experiences of migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Colombia.

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Hot Collaboration

A writerly love story, happy ending not guaranteed

The debut romance novel from Tennessee writer Katie Holt, Not in My Book, is a steamy slow burn in which the two main characters write a romance novel together.

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