Chapter 16 - Part 5

Cooking for the Occasion

Patsy Caldwell and Amy Lyles Wilson organize their recipes by what life calls for

By Serenity Gerbman | November 23, 2010

November 23, 2010 The first sign of Southern originality in Bless Your Heart: Saving the World One Covered Dish At A Time comes right in the table of contents. Authors Patsy Caldwell and Amy Lyles Wilson haven’t created chapters based upon the course or the main ingredient, as most cookbooks are arranged. Rather, chapters are drawn from everyday life experiences because there truly is a proper type of dish for every occasion. From book-club meetings to family reunions, the two authors provide a wealth of Southern standby recipes for the home cook to enjoy and, more importantly, to share. Caldwell and Wilson took the time to answer a few questions from Chapter 16 about their first collaboration.

A Last Hurrah

Carpe Librum to close after the holidays

By Serenity Gerbman | November 3, 2010

November 4, 2010 Sad news from Knoxville today, as Carpe Librum Booksellers in the Bearden neighborhood announced it will close after this holiday season.

Beautiful Boy

Knoxville television station airs documentary on the life of a young drug addict

By Serenity Gerbman | October 27, 2010

October 27, 2010 Tonight, WBIR Channel 10, the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, airs a 30-minute special on the life and death of Henry Granju, 18-year-old son of popular Knoxville author and blogger Katie Allison Granju. Henry Granju was addicted to drugs, and died in May after suffering an overdose. The special airs commercial-free at 7:00 pm in East Tennessee, and herecan be viewed online as well.

Holocaust in History

MTSU conference results in two books

By Serenity Gerbman | October 25, 2010

October 25, 2010 Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and the Holocaust Studies Committee have received a contract to create a second book based on papers from the MTSU International Holocaust Studies Conference. The title will be The Holocaust and World War II in History and in Memory. The book will be published by Cambridge Scholars, a British academic publisher.

Kindle v. Paper

For this lifelong reader, it’s a false debate

By Serenity Gerbman | August 18, 2010

August 18, 2010 I am a reader, and this fact is as much a part of my self-image as being a mother, or a Southerner, or one who tans easily. It’s a proud kind of condition, that of the chronic reader, whose boasting that she can’t live without books is much like the lament of the genetically blessed that she can’t gain weight no matter what she eats. But I am a reader and not a collector, and that is an important distinction.

Waking the World To Affrilachia

Poet Frank X Walker raises race awareness in the mountains

By Serenity Gerbman | July 9, 2010

July 10, 2010 Frank X Walker grew up in Danville, Kentucky, a part of Appalachia. This mountainous region is still considered an area inhabited only by poor, white people. As an African-American, Walker knows better, and he coined the term Affrilachian to describe himself and others like him. “I believe it is my responsibility to say as loudly and often as possible that people and artists of color are part of the past and present of the multi-state Appalachian region extending from northern Mississippi to southern New York,” Walker says. He will read from and discuss his work as part of the Tennessee Young Writers’ Workshop on July 13 at 7 p.m. in the Gentry Auditorium at Austin Peay State University, and he answered a few questions from Chapter 16 in advance of his appearance.

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