2024 Southern Festival of Books | Chapter 16

So Vulnerably Human

There Is Happiness offers bittersweet confirmation of Brad Watson’s storytelling genius

By Ed Tarkington | August 19, 2024

Four years ago, the literary world unexpectedly lost a beloved and widely acclaimed writer, Brad Watson. This year, W.W. Norton revives a legend with This Is Happiness, a posthumous collection including previously unpublished work that reinforces the strength of Watson’s gifts and the generosity of his spirit. Watson’s editor, Alane Salierno Mason, will discuss There Is Happiness at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

Good Old-Fashioned Murder

Michael Sims’ new anthology of short fiction presents antique whodunit gems

By Chris Scott | August 9, 2024

In his latest anthology of Victorian-era fiction, The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, Michael Sims presents the evolution of the short-form murder mystery. Sims will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

Ghosting with Gertrude

Lawrence Wells recalls a tempestuous literary collaboration in Ghostwriter

By Tina Chambers | August 8, 2024

In Ghostwriter, author and publisher Lawrence Wells embarks on an improbable journey: serving as ghostwriter to a University of Mississippi benefactor determined to prove that Edward de Vere wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. Wells will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

Everyone a Spy, Everything a Threat

Lauren Thoman’s novel uncovers grisly secrets long buried in a Pennsylvania town

By Tina Chambers | August 1, 2024

Fans of Lauren Thoman’s debut novel, I’ll Stop the World, will likely enjoy You Shouldn’t Be Here, an eerie new offering that is equal parts ghost story and crime thriller. Thoman will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

A Venomous Presence

Erica Wright’s latest novel features real and metaphorical serpents

By Bradley Sides | July 31, 2024

Hollow Bones, a new novel by Erica Wright, explores religious trauma, small-town life, and how fear can manipulate us. Wright will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on August 8, The Arts Building in Chattanooga on August 17, and the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

Calamity Island

A vacation is spoiled by the apocalypse in Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend

By Faye Jones | July 30, 2024

Memphis writer MJ Wassmer takes readers on the worst island getaway ever in Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend. Wassmer will appear at Novel in Memphis on August 6 and at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

I Gotta Sing!

By Alice Faye Duncan
WaterBrook
40 pages
$14.99

“A whole barnyard makes noise ‘in the Spirit of joy’ throughout this raucous picture book, a sweetly heartwarming sing-along by Duncan. Kellam conveys comfort and happiness as the loved ones reflect sunny enthusiasm in this gladdening rendition of the Black American religious folk song ‘I’m Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing.’”

~Publishers Weekly