Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Duality Is Fine

John Vercher’s latest novel reckons with Black identity in the past and present

In John Vercher’s third novel, Devil Is Fine, a biracial father grieves his deceased son and dying career, realizing that he only understands both through a post-mortem examination. Vercher will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 26-27.

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The Flood of History

In The Mighty Red, Louise Erdrich’s North Dakota characters survive natural and man-made disasters

In Louise Erdrich’s The Mighty Red, a broad cast of characters living in North Dakota struggle to survive the 2008 economic downturn. Erdrich will appear at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville on October 18.

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Muscadine Vines

Monic Ductan gathers stories of tangled small-town legacies in Daughters of Muscadine

Cookeville writer Monic Ductan’s debut story collection, Daughters of Muscadine, reveals the entangled historical and psychological legacies at work in several generations of Black families in Muscadine, a fictional rural town in northeast Georgia. Monic Ductan will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

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Small Victories

In Jayne Anne Phillips’ prize-winning novel, West Virginia women find refuge after the Civil War

In Jayne Anne Phillips’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Night Watch, a group of women from the hills of West Virginia survive the horrors of the Civil War and find safety in a humane mental hospital. Phillips will discuss Night Watch at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

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Brave Enough to Try

TJ Klune’s latest novel continues the adventures of a marvelous magical family

Somewhere Beyond the Sea, the funny and thought-provoking sequel to TJ Klune’s bestselling 2020 fantasy novel The House in the Cerulean Sea, provides another chapter in the inspiring story of the mostly unflappable Arthur Parnassus, his sweetheart Linus Baker, and the extraordinary magical children in their care. Klune will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

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Loving the World More Fully

Margaret Renkl wants us to pay attention and stay hopeful

Leaf, Cloud, Crow, a companion to Margaret Renkl’s 2023 book The Comfort of Crows, is a weekly journal organized by season, encouraging readers to look closely at the plants and creatures that surround them, “to understand them more intimately, and to love them more fully.” Margaret Renkl will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

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