Memphis writer Wayne Dowdy makes another critical contribution to local history with Enslavement in Memphis.

In his award-winning book, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, Princeton professor Rob Nixon looks at writer-activists and environmental justice across the Global South. Nixon will give the Naseeb Shaheen Memorial Lecture, hosted online by the University of Memphis on November 18.

In Why Bushwick Bill Matters, Charles Hughes explains the impact of an iconic hip-hop artist. He roots the story in both his academic training as a historian and his personal experience as person of short stature.

In Memphis Hoops, Keith B. Wood examines how basketball promoted racial unity in Memphis, while also reflecting the city’s persistent prejudices. It centers around Larry Finch, a local legend as both player and coach.

In Sadomasochism and the BDSM Community in the United States, University of Memphis historian Stephen K. Stein explains how a sexual community organized itself and found wider acceptance.

Disturbing Spirits, by historian Beverly Tsacoyianis, trains its lens on the psychological scars of war and upheaval in 20th-century Syria and Lebanon. She will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by Novel in Memphis on June 17.