A former Moss Workshp student talks with Richard Bausch
May 14, 2012 In 2005, when Richard Bausch accepted a job in the creative-writing program at the University of Memphis, it was on one condition: the department must agree that part of his responsibilities would include the opportunity to teach, free of charge, a group of aspiring writers in the Memphis community.
Read moreAt the Children’s Festival of Reading, Knoxville hosts a star-studded lineup of authors that will turn kids on to books
May 11, 2012 A celebration of children’s literature held annually in downtown Knoxville, the Children’s Festival of Reading is the Knox County Public Library’s way of rallying interest in summer reading. Founded eight years ago, the festival combats the too-common notion among kids that reading is a chore or punishment, something they do only when a teacher makes them. But even while reminding kids of the pleasures of reading, the festival also speaks to something teachers see as a critical problem: the “summer slide,” a loss of academic skills that often happens when students are out of the classroom for weeks in a row. The Children’s Festival of Reading will take place on May 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at World’s Fair Park in Knoxville. All events are free and open to the public.
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In The Cove, acclaimed novelist Ron Rash returns to the mountains of Western North Carolina to deliver a haunting story of doomed love in the shadow of World War I
May 10, 2012 “If you haven’t already found a woman who will break your heart, find one,” writes Ron Rash in his new novel. “The suffering will be good for you.” A spare, lyrical novel, The Cove juxtaposes the legendarily haunted and severe environs of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the simmering anxiety of the Great War. Rash will read from and discuss The Cove at Nashville Public Library on May 16, as part of the Salon@615 series . The event will begin with a reception at 6:15 p.m., followed by a reading at 6:45. Both are free and open to the public.
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In a new memoir, Loretta Lynn recalls her own life through the lyrics of her songs
May 9, 2012 Loretta Lynn’s rise to fame epitomizes the quintessential American dream, but with a uniquely Appalachian slant. A coal miner’s daughter who was, as her number-one hit explains, “born in a cabin on a hill in Butcher Hollow,” Lynn married at thirteen and had four children by eighteen. Despite this far-from-glamorous beginning, she has recorded sixteen number-one hits and sent seventy songs up the country charts. And at age seventy-seven, she continues to write and record crafted, heartfelt songs. It’s only fitting that Loretta Lynn’s newest memoir tells the story of her life through the medium that made her famous: her songs. In Honky Tonk Girl: My Life in Lyrics, Lynn collects 300 of her lyrics, glossing many of them with anecdotes that explain their genesis. Loretta Lynn will appear at the Ryman Auditorium on May 10 at as part of Opry Country Classics.
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In a new memoir, Sissy Spacek idealizes her small-town, Southern roots and love of simple pleasures
May 8, 2012 Sissy Spacek may be a Hollywood legend—she’s best known for her Academy Award-winning portrayal of Loretta Lynn in the 1980 film Coal Miner’s Daughter—but her stories are refreshingly devoid of unwanted pregnancies, drug and alcohol addiction, marital abuse, family dysfunction, or devastating divorce. Spacek’s new memoir contains no shocking bombshells, no reprisals, not even the faintest hint of relationship retaliation. The book is quite simply the account of a charmed and happy life, of family love and loyalty, of cherished children and pets, of gardens watered in pajamas. On May 13, as part of the Salon@615 series, Spacek will discuss My Extraordinary Ordinary Life at the Nashville Public Library at 3 p.m.
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Nashvillian J.T. Ellison begins a new suspense series
May 7, 2012 Nashville medical examiner Samantha Owens lost her husband and children in the 2010 flood. Since then, she has managed to survive by keeping her world small and by containing her grief in a series of compulsive behaviors. But that control is shattered when she’s asked to come to Washington DC to do a second autopsy on the body of a former boyfriend. So begins A Deeper Darkness, the first book in a new suspense series by J.T. Ellison, author of the popular Taylor Jackson mysteries. J.T. Ellison will discuss A Deeper Darkness on May 12 at Mysteries & More in Nashville at 2 p.m.
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