In Barbara Kingsolver’s Partita, a once-promising pianist recalls lost love and broken dreams
In Barbara Kingsolver’s Partita, a middle-aged woman, once a promising concert pianist, remembers the summer when a passionate love affair destroyed her dreams of a musical career. Kingsolver will discuss Partita at Vanderbilt’s Langford Auditorium in Nashville on October 11 as part of the 2026 Southern Festival of Books.
Emily Lordi’s Holding Lightning focuses on Whitney Houston’s enormous, unruly talent
The biography Cormac McCarthy captures a monumentally talented writer and a complicated man
Ayad Akhtar’s new novel blurs fact and fiction to create a propulsive story
Stories of girls and women veer toward darkness in Lydia Mathis’ Desperate Bodies
Ways to Support the WorkChapter 16, launched in October 2009, is an online journal about books, writers, and literary events in Tennessee and serves as the state affiliate of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.
We cover novels set here; histories involving Tennessee events or locations; authors who live here, were born or educated here; and out-of-state writers when they give readings or participate in book signings anywhere in the state. We also publish original poems and essays by prominent Tennessee authors (including previews of their works in progress).
Your donations help us continue to engage in the stories of the past and present to build a better future for Tennesseans. Contributions help make Chapter16 possible and ensure it remains free for the community. Individual gifts, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships help connect communities through shared stories and allow us all to build a better future for all Tennesseans.
