In Tan Twan Eng’s The House of Doors, celebrated writer W. Somerset Maugham visits friends in the Malay Peninsula during a time of personal crisis and political upheaval. Tan will discuss The House of Doors at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.
Essayist and New York Times columnist Margaret Renkl brings her keen eye and tender observations to her Nashville backyard in The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year. Renkl will appear in Nashville at David Lusk Gallery on October 14, the 2023 Southern Festival of Books on October 21-22, and Harpeth Hall School on October 24; at The Book & Cover in Chattanooga on November 6; St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Knoxville on November 13; and Novel in Memphis on December 4.
In a new poetry collection and a volume of prose and images, poet Terrance Hayes undertakes a multi-faceted exploration of expression. Terrance Hayes will appear at Tennessee State University’s Otis Floyd Campus Center in Nashville on October 18 at 7 p.m. as part of the 2023 Southern Festival of Books.
Twenty years after her mother’s death, Nashville poet Lisa Dordal unexpectedly found a trove of letters from her. This discovery set Dordal reeling, eventually resulting in Next Time You Come Home, a fascinating experiment in how to honor a loved one’s legacy. Lisa Dordal will discuss Next Time You Come Home at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on Oct. 21-22.
Paula Blackman’s Night Train to Nashville fuses family history with music history to chronicle a radio revolution in the Jim Crow South. Blackman will appear at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.
Sadeqa Johnson’s fifth novel, The House of Eve, is a story of young Black women in the pre-Roe era. Johnson will appear at the 2023 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 21-22.
