Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

The Spirit of ‘76

Andrew Maraniss tells the story of a pioneering women’s basketball team

Andrew Maraniss’ Inaugural Ballers, a new nonfiction book for teen and young adult readers, describes the formation of the first U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team and the challenges they overcame on their way to making history. Maraniss will discuss Inaugural Ballers at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 13 and the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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“Molly in a Red Wig Plays a Fiddle”

Book Excerpt: In the Backhoe’s Shadow

Thomas Alan Holmes is a professor of English at East Tennessee State University. In the Backhoe’s Shadow is his first collection of poetry. He’ll read from his work at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on September 11 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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Be Not Afraid

Mystery and mayhem at a summer theater camp in the Berkshires

“The play’s the thing” in Twelfth, Janet Key’s debut novel for middle-grade readers. It was not 12-year-old Maren Sands’ idea to attend Charlotte Goodman Theater Camp. Now she’s stuck in the middle of the woods with a bunch of theater kids she doesn’t know — and, as it turns out, possibly a ghost. Janet Key will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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A Body in Need of a Home

Shawna Kay Rodenberg reveals the complicated lives of rural-born women in Kin

Raised for several years in a religious commune known as The Body, Shawna Kay Rodenberg delves into the complex intersection of religion, femininity, familial expectations, and personal agency in her memoir Kin. Rodenberg will appear with Robert Gipe at the Johnson City Public Library on September 10 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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Man of Steel

Buddy Emmons’ name was synonymous with the sound of his beloved steel guitar

Steel guitar player and producer Steve Fishell captures the life of a sublime talent in Buddy Emmons: Steel Guitar Icon.

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A Liberation of Language and Lyric

A Beat Beyond collects a wealth of prose from poet Major Jackson

A Beat Beyond collects a wealth of notes, essays, reviews, and talks written by award-winning poet Major Jackson from 1993 to 2020. Jackson will appear in conversation with Destiny O. Birdsong at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 1 and at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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