Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Josiah Rising

Jared A. Brock’s The Road to Dawn tells the story of the real “Uncle Tom”

Jared A. Brock’s The Road to Dawn traces the harrowing story of Josiah Henson’s journey from slavery to world-wide fame as “the real Uncle Tom.” Brock will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on June 5.

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Don’t Let This Turn You Mean

In Silas House’s Southernmost, a pastor grapples with the evolution of his beliefs

In Silas House’s Southernmost, Asher Sharp’s evolving beliefs have estranged him from his congregation, but he pins his hopes on his young son. 

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Dorothy Lives!

Two teen boys struggle to mend their families in Greg Howard’s rollicking Social Intercourse

Greg Howard’s Social Intercourse is a raucously unvarnished tale of teen lust, family values, and social mores. Howard will appear on June 5 at Parnassus Books in Nashville.

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Is There Life On Mars?

U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith talks about inspiration, personal reflection, and recitation

To contemplate the afterlife might seem like a pointless exercise: what can we really know of such matters? When U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith was writing her Pulitzer Prize-winning collection, Life On Mars, she learned that fulfillment could be found in the contemplation itself. Smith will deliver the Willis Plenary Address at the 2018 Christian Scholars’ Conference held at Lipscomb University in Nashville June 6-8.

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“The Angel Makers and I Try to Bake a Cake”

Book Excerpt: Skin Splitting

Bryanna Licciardi is a graduate of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, earned an M.F.A. in poetry from Emerson College, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in literacy studies from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. Skin Splitting is her first book.

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Saved by a Song

Mary Gauthier talks with Chapter 16 about becoming your own witness

While touring to support Rifles and Rosary Beads, her new album co-written with American veterans, Nashville songwriter Mary Gauthier signed a book deal with St. Martin’s Press to tell her own story of trauma and recovery.

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