Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Avant-Garde Traditionalist

Taylor Hagood uncovers the life and death of country music icon David “Stringbean” Akeman

Taylor Hagood’s Stringbean: The Life and Murder of a Country Music Legend lays out David Akeman’s life story and details the murder of Akeman and his wife, Estelle, at their house near Nashville on November 10, 1973.

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Invincible Language

Major Jackson’s latest collection combines new and old poems to dazzling effect

Major Jackson’s sixth poetry collection, Razzle Dazzle, sets the biographical details of the poet’s life alongside the evolution of his work. Jackson will give a reading at East Tennessee State University on September 18. He’ll lead a workshop sponsored by The Porch at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on October 9, and he will appear at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.

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The Ugly Baggage of the World

Lauren Yero’s debut novel follows two teens who risk it all to challenge their unjust world

Fans of dystopian romance will likely find much to enjoy in Under This Forgetful Sky, Lauren Yero’s tale of star-crossed lovers who become caught up in the dirty politics of their homelands. Yero will discuss the book at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.

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What is “the South”?

Fitzhugh Brundage reflects on an ambitious undertaking: A New History of the American South

A New History of the American South collects interpretations of Southern history into a coherent, fascinating narrative. Its editor, Fitzhugh Brundage, will discuss the book at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.

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The Vernacular of Beyond

Author and naturalist Janisse Ray advocates for wildness

In books like Wild Spectacle and Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Georgia author, naturalist, author, and farmer Janisse Ray communicates profound reverence for the profuse complexity within our world’s ecosystems. Ray will be the keynote speaker at the MTSU Write Conference in Murfreesboro on October 7.

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Conflicted

Good women don’t always behave well in Halle Hill’s debut story collection

With Good Women, East Tennessee native Halle Hill has crafted a book of stories worth reading straight through from the first page. Hill will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on September 19.

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