Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Love of Place and People

Jolene McIlwain’s Sidle Creek offers a vivid portrait of small-town Appalachia

In her debut story collection Sidle Creek, Jolene McIlwain fashions a world and characters as complicated as they are enduring. These stories let us come to know a small Appalachian community in Western Pennsylvania through its people, from hunters to diner workers to miners.

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The Path to Authentic Voice

Award-winning author Ruta Sepetys offers a guide to the craft of writing

Ruta Sepetys — the award-winning, bestselling, Nashville-based author of five young adult historical novels — offers guidance for novice as well as experienced writers in You: The Story.

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Poisonous Dealings

Celia Bell’s debut novel encompasses black magic, murder, and subterfuge in 17th-century France

Baroness Marie Catherine finds herself tangled in a web of lies, crossdressing, and back-alley dealings in Celia Bell’s gripping debut novel, The Disenchantment. Bell will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 22.

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The Myth and the Man

Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life captures the civil rights leader in his full humanity

With King: A Life, Jonathan Eig has written the definitive biography of Martin Luther King Jr. for this generation. Eig will discuss King: A Life at Parnassus Books in Nashville on June 1.

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Arguing For Democracy

Vanderbilt philosophers Scott F. Aikin and Robert B. Talisse discuss their handbook for political disagreement

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: In Why We Argue (and How We Should), Vanderbilt University philosophy professors Scott F. Aikin and Robert B. Talisse set ground rules for the kind of productive, democratic disagreement that they say is fundamental to a civil life. 

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Some Weird Stuff’s Been Happening

Matthew Vollmer’s memoir considers the mysteries of the living and the dead

Matthew Vollmer’s All of Us Together in the End contemplates the certainties of life and its mysteries – whether natural or supernatural. Vollmer will discuss the book at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on May 23 and The Bookshop in Nashville on May 24.

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