Chapter 16 - Part 492

Artist, Activist, Icon

In his memoir, The Last Holiday, musician/poet Gil Scott-Heron traces his path from budding artist to pop culture prophet

By Maria Browning | February 27, 2012

February 27, 2012 Musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron, who died in 2011, became a pop culture icon thanks to his classic spoken-word recording “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and he is widely regarded as the father of rap and hip-hop. His posthumously published book, The Last Holiday: A Memoir, traces his life as an artist and activist.

Trying Out a New Voice

John Jeremiah Sullivan is growing weary of the first-person voice that made him famous

By Margaret Renkl | February 27, 2012

February 27, 2012 John Jeremiah Sullivan, a Sewanee grad and the author of critically acclaimed essay collection Pulphead, writes nonfiction of the variety generally classified as New Journalism. In reporting on a subject, he also interacts with it—talking with the locals and describing the landscape, of course, but also remembering episodes in his own life which bear on the telling of the new tale at hand.

William Gay, 1943-2012

Tennessee writers and readers mourn the loss of William Gay, legendary novelist from Hohenwald

By Serenity Gerbman | February 24, 2012

February 24, 2012 Novelist William Gay died at his home in Hohenwald, Tennessee, last night, at age sixty-eight. Among the most critically acclaimed of his generation of Southern writers, Gay began his public writing career famously late, when, at age fifty-five, his first short story was published in The Georgia Review. His first novel, The Long Home, won the James A. Michener Memorial Prize and was named a New York Times Notable Book for 1999. He followed that success with another novel, Provinces of Night, a short-story collection, I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down, and a third novel, Twilight.

Out of the Valley

Josh Weil, author of the Sue Kauffman Prize-winning The New Valley, talks with Chapter 16 about the art of the novella

By Ed Tarkington | February 24, 2012

February 24, 2012 Josh Weil’s fearless introspection and his gift for creating layers of complexity in his characters permeate the pages of his award-winning first collection of novellas, The New Valley. Set in the rural environs of the New River Valley between Virginia and West Virginia, Weil’s stories are written in graceful, haunting prose that masterfully evokes the beautiful but isolated and unforgiving nature of rural AppalachiaOn February 27 at 7 p.m., Weil will give a reading in the Hodges Library Auditorium on the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee. Click here for more details.

Nashville in L.A.

Science writer Holly Tucker and biographer Robert K. Massie are shortlisted for the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize

By Margaret Renkl | February 23, 2012

February 23, 2012 Two Nashvillians, one current and one former, are among the finalists for the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Robert K. Massie is honored in the biography category for Catherine the Great. Holly Tucker is the author of Blood Work, which is shortlisted in science and technology. The winner will be announced at a gala in Los Angeles on April 20.

Tragic Songs

In a memoir finished just before his death, Charlie Louvin remembers the demons that broke up the Louvin Brothers—and cost Ira Louvin his life

By Anne Delana Reeves | February 22, 2012

February 22, 2012 A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee and a Grand Ole Opry member from 1955 until his death last year at age 83, Charlie Louvin worked as a musician for six decades; Ira, the elder of the duo known as the Louvin Brothers, died in an automobile accident in 1965. The great bulk of Satan Is Real, Charlie Louvin’s posthumously published autobiography, tells the story of their lives and legendary career together. Wistful at times, the book is not without humor, a heavy shake of salty language, and fascinating anecdotes from life on the road.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker