The Authorized Roy Orbison offers a loving portrait of a rock icon
Wesley, Roy Jr., and Alex Orbison, along with writer Jeff Slate, deliver a sumptuous illustrated chronicle with their new biography, The Authorized Roy Orbison. The three Orbison brothers will read from and sign copies at Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 21 at 2 p.m.
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Russell Rickford recovers a “lost 1970s” through the history of independent black schools
Russell Rickford’s history of “Pan-African Nationalist” schools, We Are an African People, is the winner of the 2016 National Book award, given by the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. Rickford will speak at the University of Memphis on October 19.
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Curtis Wilkie talks with Chapter 16 about the invention of the modern presidential campaign
In The Road to Camelot, Thomas Oliphant and Curtis Wilkie tell the story of John F. Kennedy’s quest for the presidency, which started in 1956. Prior to their appearance at Novel in Memphis on October 16, Wilkie discussed the book with Chapter 16.
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A novelist reflects on the pleasures of the Southern Festival of Books, opening today in Nashville
Every year, I’m reminded of how refreshing it is to be among folks who love the sorcery of the written word. The Southern Festival of Books draws a diverse crowd, a vast spectrum of ages and ethnicities. Some gobble up mysteries; some nip at the syllables of poetry. Some are there to share their work, some are there to support those who share their work, and all of us are there because we have fallen under the spell of what can be done with words on a page.
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Anna-Marie McLemore weaves a tale of cursed families and forbidden love
The cursed characters in Anna-Marie McLemore’s magical-realist novel, Wild Beauty, have the power to bring plants into bloom, but the people they love are doomed to vanish. McLemore will appear at the 2017 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 13-15.
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Rodney Jones’s novel in verse, Village Prodigies, roves the lives of six childhood friends
Rodney Jones’s powerful novel in verse picks through the memories of six young men from a small Southern town. Jones will discuss Village Prodigies at the 2017 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 13-15.
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