Michael Martone talks about ruined cities, rewired culture, and collapsing categories
Michael Martone has made a literary career out of re-imagining the ordinary, from the landscape of his native Indiana to the college sweatshirt. In anticipation of his reading at APSU on March 31, he answers questions from Chapter 16 about his fascination with place, his relationship with readers, and whether there’s a need for more college creative-writing programs.
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Coleman Barks talks about his thirty-year fascination with the Sufi poet Rumi
Chattanooga native Coleman Barks has devoted more than three decades to translating the poems of Rumi, and in the process has turned the thirteenth-century mystic into one of the most popular poets in America. Prior to his visit to Austin Peay State University on March 4, Barks spoke with Chapter 16 about why so many contemporary American readers are entranced with an ancient Persian poet.
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Photographer Michael Loyd Young documents Delta music
Photographer Michael Loyd Young has documented cultural practices around the world, but in Blues, Booze & BBQ he turns his camera on a community a little closer to home, capturing the raucous, passionate culture of the Delta blues in more than seventy photographs of musicians, audiences, music festivals, juke joints—and, yes, barbecue.
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U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan talks shop with Chapter 16
Kay Ryan has enjoyed critical respect and a slew of honors and awards, but she was reluctant to accept the post of U.S. Poet Laureate. A literary outsider known for compact verse that marries humor and insight, Ryan talks with Chapter 16 about her work and the experience of being the nation’s designated poet. She will give a reading at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on February 16 at 7 p.m. at the University Center Auditorium.
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In image and word, Bob Schatz and Christine Kreyling explore Nashville’s architectural riches
Photographer Bob Schatz and design critic Christine Kreyling combine their talents to create an intimate, surprising portrait of some of Nashville’s most beautiful spaces.
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Jid Lee remembers her harsh Korean childhood
MTSU English professor Jid Lee remembers a Korean childhood marked by violence and despair. Urged to cultivate a warrior spirit but also to accept without question the patriarchy of her culture, Lee was trapped: “I felt I was in a tiger’s stomach. I wanted to get out.” To Kill a Tiger: A Memoir of Korea is the story of her release.
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