Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Serenity Gerbman

A Love Letter to Charlotte

In his gorgeous new book, Michael Sims tells the story of how E. B. White came to write Charlotte’s Web

July 11, 2011 Since its publication in 1952, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White has sold more than forty-five million copies and continues to be counted among the most beloved and bestselling children’s books of all time. In his beautifully written, thoughtful, and thought-provoking new book The Story of Charlotte’s Web: E.B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic, Michael Sims views the life of E.B. White through the prism of the classic he created. Sims will discuss and sign The Story of Charlotte’s Web on July 16 as part of the Salon@615 series. Arrive at 10 a.m. for a free continental breakfast followed by the reading.

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Far From Home

Howard Frank Mosher explains why he set his masterful Civil War novel in Tennessee

March 2, 2011 Howard Frank Mosher spent seven years researching and writing Walking to Gatlinburg, his tenth novel, set during the Civil War. The plot of the book follows seventeen-year-old Morgan Kinneson on a journey to find his brother, a missing Union doctor. Kinneson is indeed walking to Gatlinburg, and the sometimes cruel, sometimes funny, and always fascinating people and situations he encounters along the way change him profoundly. Mosher answered questions from Chapter 16 via email just as the book was being released in paperback.

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Salon at 615

Humanities Tennessee helps to launch an exciting new reading series

February 28, 2011 Authors Ann Patchett, Erik Larson, and Meg Cabot are among the bestselling writers who will be part of an event series at the Nashville Public Library. Salon at 615 will welcome a number of authors to Nashville in the spring and summer for readings, talks, and book signings.

The series is a partnership among Nashville Public Library, Humanities Tennessee, the Nashville Public Library Foundation, and Barnes and Noble Booksellers, which will be the on-site bookseller for the events.

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A Banner Year

Tennessee writers shine on best-of lists all over the media

December 16, 2010 After a year of covering a host of truly remarkable authors who kept Tennessee on the literary map all year long, we at Chapter 16 aren’t surprised to find several Tennesseans (current and former) perched at the top of all kinds of best-of lists for the year in literature. From Amy Greene and Michael Knight in the east state, to Lydia Peelle and Adam Ross in Nashville, to Richard Bausch and Rebecca Skloot in Memphis, Tennesseans have kept people talking, and reading, with a host of great books this year. To read our original coverage of each of these authors and titles, click on their images in the box above.

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NEA Fellowship for Falconer

November 24, 2010 The good news keeps coming for Tennessee writers. This week, Blas Falconer, associate professor of English at Austin Peay State University, received a National Endowment for the Arts 2011 Fellowship in Literature. One of forty-two poets from around the country selected, Falconer will receive $25,000 with the award.

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It's the Dressing, Dummy

Devon O’Day talks with Chapter 16 about what makes Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

November 24, 2010 “No one who cooks, cooks alone,” wrote the great food writer and novelist Laurie Colwin. “Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” Drawing forth stories and recipes for the everyday cook who wants not only to feed the family, but also to nourish them, Devon O’Day’s My Southern Food: A Celebration of the Flavors of the South is a book in which the memories and voices of generations of family cooks are ever present. With the holidays approaching, Chapter 16 talked with O’Day about everything from what’s in a dump cake to her first food memories.

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