How Dolly Parton saved one woman’s life
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: In I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton, New York poet Lynn Melnick blends her personal story with cultural critique to explore Dolly Parton and her work. Most of all, she credits Parton with helping her turn her life around. Melnick will appear at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.
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Historian Cookie Woolner unearths communities of Black queer women in the 1920s and ‘30s
In The Famous Lady Lovers, Cookie Woolner excavates the communities built by Black queer women in the interwar era. Woolner will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on September 12.
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Carrie Tipton traces the complex origins of college fight songs
In From Dixie to Rocky Top, musicologist Carrie Tipton reveals the surprisingly complex history behind SEC football fight songs. Tipton will discuss the book with former sportscaster Rudy Kalis at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville on September 9.
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Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds is a tale of horror and beauty
In her breathtaking seventh book, The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff tells the story of a young servant girl on the run in the 17th-century New World wilderness. Groff will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 14 and the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville on September 15.
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Neurosurgeon Jay Wellons reflects on a life devoted to healing
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: In All That Moves Us, pediatric neurosurgeon Jay Wellons recounts some of the most memorable moments of his career as a children’s doctor. Wellons will discuss the book at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.
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And the Train Kept Moving is a story of trauma and obsession
Michael Kiggins’ debut novel, And the Train Kept Moving, follows Bryan Meigs, a young gay man with OCD living in Memphis during the early 2000s, trying to make sense of his life and the trauma he has suffered. Kiggins will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 12 and Burke’s Book Store in Memphis on September 22.
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