Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Means of Survival

Saeed Jones’ memoir delivers a portrait of the artist as a young gay black man

In his memoir How We Fight for Our Lives, award-winning poet Saeed Jones recalls his struggle to find a way to live fully in a world that did not readily provide a place for him. Jones will appear at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.

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Righteous Among the Nations

Tennessee native Chris Edmonds shares his father’s heroic act with the world in No Surrender

In the final days of WWII, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds saved over 200 Jewish servicemen from death at the hands of the Nazis. The inspiring story is told by his son Chris Edmonds in No Surrender: A Father, a Son, and an Extraordinary Act of Heroism That Continues to Live on Today. Edmonds will discuss the book at Books-A-Million in Sevierville on October 11; at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13; and at Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt in Nashville on October 30.

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Food Fight

Anissa Gray discusses family, process, and her absorbing debut novel

With The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls, Anissa Gray digs deep into sibling relationships, trauma, and grace. Gray will appear at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.

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The Cold Can Teach Us Many Things

Novelist Brock Clarke sharpens his absurdist comic edge in Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe?

In Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe? Brock Clarke sends a repressed middle-aged loner on a madcap journey toward a peculiar sort of enlightenment. Brock Clarke will discuss Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe? at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.

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Louisiana Man

Doug Kershaw’s memoir is as wild as they come

The Ragin’ Cajun: Memoir of a Louisiana Man tells Doug Kershaw’s life story from his birth on a houseboat in southern Louisiana to international stardom. The legendary musician and his co-author, novelist Cathie Pelletier, will appear at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.

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Inside the Ivory Tower

Paul Tough reveals how American colleges try (and fail) to redress social inequality

In The Years That Matter Most, journalist Paul Tough offers a bracing assessment of the state of higher education in America, focusing on the ways colleges replicate social divisions. Tough will discuss The Years That Matter Most at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.  

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