Margaret Renkl

Marshall Chapman and Lee Smith make it to New York for the opening of Good Ol’ Girls, Killer Nashville scores a big-name keynoter in Jeffery Deaver, Rebecca Skloot is on the third leg of her fifty-three-city book tour, Clay Risen is installed at the op-ed page of The New York Times—and on the cover of The Atlantic—and Michael Sims gives Chapter 16 a peek at his new collection of vampire stories (and there’s not a lovelorn teenager in sight).

U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan visits Tennessee, debut poet Beth Bachmann brings home the prestigious Kate Tufts Discovery Award, Barry Mazor explains to readers of The Wall Street Journal what Music City U.S.A. really means, William Gay goes to the movies—again, Good Ol’ Girls opens Off-Broadway, and both Amy Greene and Rebecca Skloot hit The New York Times bestseller list.

U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan visits Tennessee, debut poet Beth Bachmann brings home the prestigious Kate Tufts Discovery Award, Barry Mazor explains to readers of The Wall Street Journal what Music City U.S.A. really means, William Gay goes to the movies—again, Good Ol’ Girls opens Off-Broadway, and both Amy Greene and Rebecca Skloot hit The New York Times bestseller list.

Eleanor Ross Taylor becomes a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry, Heather Armstrong signs a deal with HGTV, buzz is already building for Adam Ross‘s first novel, which isn’t due in stores till June, Abraham Verghese lands on yet another best-of list, and The Huffington Post likes the look of Michael Sims‘s latest book.