Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Tina Chambers

A Book About Now

Sharon Cameron’s latest YA novel explores the difference between art and artifice

For Artifice, her third young adult novel set during World War II, Nashville author Sharon Cameron paints a colorful and suspenseful thriller inspired by historical heroes and villains living in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation. Cameron will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on November 7.

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The Wonderful Inseparability of Form and Content

Oxford scholar Emma Smith on the cultural history of the book

Emma Smith’s Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers is a critical look at books as objects and the ways they have been bought and sold, used and abused, feared and celebrated, reviled and fetishized, bound, banned, and burned throughout history. Smith will deliver the Pearce Shakespeare Endowment Lecture at Rhodes College in Memphis on October 19.

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The Ugly Baggage of the World

Lauren Yero’s debut novel follows two teens who risk it all to challenge their unjust world

Fans of dystopian romance will likely find much to enjoy in Under This Forgetful Sky, Lauren Yero’s tale of star-crossed lovers who become caught up in the dirty politics of their homelands. Yero will discuss the book at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.

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I’m From Cleveland

David Madden shines an honest light on his family history

Distinguished man of letters and Knoxville native David Madden adds a family memoir to his impressive roster of publications. Set mostly in mid-century Knoxville, Momma’s Lost Piano tells the story of his mother, Emily Merritt Madden, and life’s cruel betrayal of her early expectations.

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Happiness and Hope Are Worth Choosing

A true story of adventure and inspiration for middle-grade readers

Adapted for middle-grade readers from Hayley Arceneaux’s 2022 memoir of the same name, Wild Ride tells the story of her recovery from childhood cancer and her unexpected opportunity, at age 29, to join the first all-civilian mission to space.

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Carrying the Torch

Lee Smith on lunch with Dolly, the transformative power of words, and the Southern Festival of Books

Chapter 16 talks with master storyteller Lee Smith about her writing process and her fond memories of the annual Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. Smith will appear at this year’s festival on October 21-22.

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