Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

The Unmatched Strength of Womanhood

Jen Fawkes spins a fiercely feminist tale centered in 19th-century Nashville

Jen Fawkes’ latest novel, Daughters of Chaos, finds its center in Civil War-era Nashville and the decision to protect Union soldiers against syphilis by removing all prostitutes from the city. Fawkes will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, October 26-27.

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Healing the Mother Wound

Sarai Johnson’s debut novel is a deeply moving, multigenerational exploration of womanhood and motherhood

Sarai Johnson’s debut novel, Grown Women, is an eloquent story of multiple generations of Black women navigating their lives against a nonlinear backdrop of American motherhood.

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Portrait of the Artist as a Young Nashvillian

Liz Riggs’ debut novel looks at a creative woman’s struggle to find herself

With her debut novel, Lo Fi, Liz Riggs proves that Nashville can hold its own along with New York, L.A., or Boston when it comes to locales where young artists go to find themselves. Riggs will discuss Lo Fi at Parnassus Books in Nashville on July 31.

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He Would’ve Said Goodbye

A madcap murder investigation helps a family cope with a loved one’s death in Fowl Play

“It’s kinda hard to hunt for a murderer,” declares young Chloe Alvarez, “when you don’t want to remember that a person is dead.” Chloe is the narrator and main character of Nashville writer Kristin O’Donnell Tubb’s latest middle-grade novel, Fowl Play, and she is desperate to know what really happened to her Uncle Will. Fowl Play is scheduled for release on July 30, and a launch event will be held at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere on August 2.

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To Live on This Margin of Earth

Three debut poetry collections highlight the originality of their authors’ visions

Recently published debut poetry collections from Tara M. Stringfellow, Ben Groner III, and Stephanie Choi invite us into the particulars of their authors’ imaginative worlds.

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