Chapter 16 - Part 519

Defeating Dementia

Walter Mosley talks with Chapter 16 about aging, politics, and the many jobs of a prolific writer

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 2, 2011

September 2, 2011 In his new novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Walter Mosley handles themes of family, aging, and death with the confidence and grace of an author who has published thirty-nine books and received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. What may be more stunning than the brilliance of this novel, however, is that it was published within six months of both Mosley’s political memoir and the latest installment of his popular Leonid McGill detective series—just one of the several Mosley creations being developed for television, film, and the stage. Mosley recently spoke by phone with Chapter 16 in advance of his appearance at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville. The event is free and open to the public.

Anything for Art

Kevin Wilson’s debut novel tells the tale of a wildly funny dysfunctional family

By Maria Browning | September 1, 2011

September 1, 2011 In his funny, whimsical debut novel, The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson creates a familiar family drama with an outrageous twist. Kevin Wilson will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.

Poets & Writers & Tennessee’s Best of Both

Poets&Writers magazine highlights three Tennessee schools in its annual M.F.A. rankings

By Tristan Hickey | August 31, 2011

August 31, 2011 Every fall, Poets & Writers magazine releases a comprehensive listing of the fifty best (and most applied-to) M.F.A. programs in the nation. The rankings depend on factors like the quality of the faculty, available funding, fellowship and job-placement opportunities, and selectivity. The issue also includes information about each school’s application fee, teaching load, and the surrounding area’s cost of living. Two related articles list twenty-five honorable-mention M.F.A. programs and the top fifteen doctoral programs in creative writing.

Always Lefty

In a new memoir, David Frizzell writes about the life of his brother, country legend Lefty Frizzell

By Paul McCoy | August 31, 2011

August 31, 2011 There are echoes of his voice on the radio today. When Tim McGraw sings—or Willie Nelson, or Merle Haggard—what you’re hearing is the influence of Lefty Frizzell, front and center stage. Little known today, Lefty’s music was simply everywhere in the early 1950s. And his life was filled with as many ups and downs as his loose, turbulent voice. In his new memoir, I Love You A Thousand Ways: The Lefty Frizzell Story, Lefty’s brother David tells the story as he knew it.

"Two Letters"

By Richard Jackson | August 30, 2011

August 30, 2011 Richard Jackson is the author of ten books of poems, most recently Resonance, the 2011 Hochner Award Winner; Unauthorized Autobiography: New and Selected Poems; and Half Lives: Petrarchan Poems. Jackson’s translation of Aleksander Persolja’s Journey of The Sun appeared in Slovenia in 2009, and his translation of Giovanni Pascoli’s Last Voyage appeared in 2010. He is the winner of Fulbright, Guggenheim, NEA, NEH, and Witter-Bynner Fellowships and has been awarded the order of Freedom Medal from the President of Slovenia. He is on the faculty at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

The Patchett-Seeger Connection

In an op-ed piece for The New York Times, Ann Patchett sings a ballad of bookstore survival

By Margaret Renkl | August 30, 2011

August 29, 2011 Poets are the literary artists who live and die by the use metaphor, but in an op-ed piece for The New York Times yesterday, novelist Ann Patchett manages to find some startling connections, too. It’s not every writer who can make a convincing case for the links between bookstores and a) periodic cicadas, b) platform shoes, c) Newt Gingrich, and d) Pete Seeger songs, but Patchett pulls it off, and all as part of an argument that bookstores are making a comeback, too:

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