Asa Drake’s Maybe the Body explores belonging, lineage, and love
With Maybe the Body, a delightfully ambitious and formally adventurous poetry collection, Asa Drake urges readers toward liminal spaces. Drake will appear at the 2026 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 17-18.
Book Excerpt: Titanfall
Backstory collects decades of adventure in the traveling life of a literary couple
Nature finds ways to make and unmake us in Erica Wright’s A Buyer’s Guide to the Afterlife
Katherine Grandjean tells the tale of America’s first mass murderers
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.
