Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

The Original Pleasures

Kevin Young talks with Chapter 16 about poetry, food, music, and family

September 20, 2013 Whether he is talking about Modernism, blues singers, the slave ship Amistad, film noir, or one of many other subjects he has studied, Kevin Young—celebrated poet, essayist, and editor—writes poems and essays that simultaneously serve as portals to the past and future. Young will appear at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on September 26, 2013, at 7 p.m. in Wilson Hall, Room 126. The event is free and open to the public.

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Bohemian Rhapsody

Slash Coleman’s new memoir is a funny, funky remembrance of family, art, and love

September 19, 2013 Slash Coleman, an award-winning performer and storyteller, is best known for his one-man Off-Broadway show and PBS special, The Neon Man and Me. In his new memoir, The Bohemian Love Diaries, Coleman shares his story of growing up in the South in the 1970s and 80s, surrounded by a family of off-beat artists whom the young writer finds alternately inspiring and confounding. Slash Coleman will be appearing at the 25th anniversary of the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13. All festival events are free and open to the public.

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Supersized Powers, Villains, and Egos

Nashville YA author Victoria Schwab publishes her first fantasy novel for adults

September 18, 2013 In Vicious, V.E. Schwab—the Nashville YA author Victoria Schwab—has conjured a vivid fantasy world for adults, one that is replete with black magic and strong characters of both sexes. Schwab will discuss Vicious at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 25, 2013, at 6:30 p.m.

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Making Ends Meet with Every Single Stitch

Susan Gregg Gilmore’s third novel imagines the struggles of a young Tennessee seamstress

September 17, 2013 In her third novel, The Funeral Dress, Susan Gregg Gilmore does her finest work to date, perfectly capturing the rhythm and music of small-town Southern life in a quiet story about the ways women support one another when times are tough. Gilmore will discuss The Funeral Dress at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 24, 2013, at 6:30 p.m., and again at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on October 6 at 2 p.m.

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The Mystery of Creativity

Children’s author Kevin Henkes talks with Chapter 16 about fruit cocktail and the creative process

September 16, 2013 A prolific children’s author and illustrator with more than thirty books to his credit, Kevin Henkes has proven incredibly adept at making the tricky transition between picture books and novels for young readers. His newest chapter book, The Year of Billy Miller, is a sweet and savvy story told from the point of view of a seven-year-old boy. Henkes will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13. All festival events are free and open to the public.

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Impossible Land

The characters in Michael Farris Smith’s Rivers search for refuge and hope in a storm-battered landscape

September 13, 2013 In Michael Farris Smith’s debut novel, Rivers, the world seems to be getting “badder all the time,” and the Gulf Coast is declared uninhabitable. Two years after the final evacuation, Smith sets a small band of characters on the dangerous road North, toward the hope of a new life free from storms. Michael Farris Smith will discuss Rivers at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.

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