Tennessee’s regional libraries are meeting the “financial squeeze” with radical changes
July 13, 2011 Tennessee’s regional libraries are under strong financial pressure, but that won’t stop the state’s much-anticipated (and criticized) efforts to streamline the system.
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Marilyn Kallet discusses the art of translating Benjamin Péret’s great work of Surrealist poetry, The Big Game
July 13, 2011 Marilyn Kallet, Lindsay Young Professor of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, has always been interested in Surrealism, but translating Benjamin Péret’s The Big Game has proven the most challenging—and most rewarding—of her forays. Kallet will read from the book on July 17 at 3 p.m. at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville. Also reading will be poets Jeff Daniel Marion and Donna Doyle.
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Steve Berry’s latest thriller puts Andrew Jackson at the center of a historical mystery
July 12, 2011 For the first time, international best-selling author Steve Berry has set one of his Cotton Malone thrillers in the United States, and it has a Tennessee connection. When Malone sets out to defeat a band of modern-day pirates, he must first decipher a clue left by Andrew Jackson. The Jefferson Key opens with an attack on Old Hickory and rushes at breakneck speed through some of the dimmer recesses of American history, delivering an extra-large order of conspiracy, double-crosses, and wild action.
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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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David Halperin’s first novel is a fantastical tale of gypsies, UFOs, and more than a little autobiography
July 8, 2011 UFO fetishists have long seen a connection between extraterrestrial craft and the holy scriptures. Websites, blogs, books, and documentaries have been devoted to the idea that biblical visions may refer to unidentified flying objects, but debut novelist David Halperin is the first to use such connections as a plot device. In Journal of a UFO Investigator, Halperin, a retired religious-studies professor, effectively weaves the UFO phenomenon together with issues of faith, loss, and the pain of growing up. David Halperin will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.
Read moreEvery year the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival in Harrogate attracts dozens of people who are crazy about writing
July 7, 2011 Founded six years ago by author Silas House, then Lincoln Memorial University’s writer-in-residence, the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival is packed with lectures; workshops in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; readings by teachers as well as students; a play; and multiple concerts. This year, Chapter 16’s Sarah Norris was there, and sends this report from Harrogate.
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