Chapter 16 - Part 6

Giving Recognizable Shape to the Chaos of our Lives

Novelist Lee Smith’s new memoir is a must-read for aspiring writers—and everyone else

By Susannah Felts | May 4, 2016

May 4, 2016 With thirteen novels and four short-story collections to her credit, Lee Smith is virtually synonymous with Appalachian fiction. In her new memoir-in-essays, Dimestore, she takes readers with her on a tour of the places, people, and experiences that have shaped her life and her writing. Smith will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 11, 2016, at 6:30 p.m.

I Worry

A primer on what can go wrong in writing a novel

By Susannah Felts | March 11, 2016

March 11, 2016 I worry that I’ll never finish. I worry that I’ll finish a draft and never revise it. I worry that I’ll finish the book and no agent will pick it up. I worry that an agent will pick it up and fail to sell it and then dump me. I worry that it will sell and get bad reviews. I worry that it will sell and get no reviews. I worry—

To Haunt and to Goad

John Jeremiah Sullivan talks with Chapter 16 about writing nonfiction in the Internet age

By Susannah Felts | February 9, 2016

February 9, 2016 John Jeremiah Sullivan’s voice is uniquely equipped to snare readers in lengthy examinations of topics they never considered worthy of much thought. The author most recently of Pulphead, Sullivan is widely considered to be one of the great nonfiction writers of this age. He will give a free public address at the University of the South in Sewanee on February 15, 2016.

Kitchen Babies

Former rocker Freda Love Smith teaches her son to cook—and writes a splendid memoir along the way

By Susannah Felts | January 13, 2016

January 13, 2016 A gritty rock club and a modest home kitchen might seem like opposite ends of the earth. But in Freda Love Smith’s new book, Red Velvet Underground, the two are deliciously twined. A memoir seasoned with recipes, this story charts the coming of age of both mother and child as Smith teaches her teenage son how to cook. Smith will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on January 19, 2016.

Across the Alley

What you know about your neighbors isn’t always enough to illuminate what you don’t

By Susannah Felts | December 15, 2015

December 15, 2015 They were in this neighborhood before we were, and they’ll be here when we leave. Theirs is a sad and angry life. The woman’s voice itself is a caricature: coarse, booze and smoke-ravaged. She tends to shout and taunt and curse sarcastically—all her fury and misery spat out in expletives.

Living Kindly in the World

Cynthia Lord’s new middle-grade novel is almost a parable of empathy

By Susannah Felts | October 7, 2015

October 7, 2015 In Cynthia Lord’s latest middle-grade novel, A Handful of Stars, the blueberry barrens of coastal Maine present a rich backdrop for a story of two new friends, Lily and Salma, whose families’ livelihoods are dependent on the local agricultural economy. Lord will appear on October 10, 2015, at 1 p.m. in the Commons Room of the Nashville Public Library. The event, part of the Southern Festival of Books, is free and open to the public.

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