Ta-Nehisi Coates turns his talents toward fiction in a powerful debut novel
Journalist and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates brings compassion and mastery to his debut novel, The Water Dancer, a story of slavery, freedom, and the mystical power of memory. Coates will discuss The Water Dancer at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville on November 6 at 6:15 p.m.
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Victims of an infamous Memphis adoption mill tell their stories in Before and After
Some survivors of Georgia Tann’s notorious baby-selling operation spent decades wondering who they really were before finding their birth families later in life. They share their experiences in Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate’s Before and After. The authors will appear at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis on October 26 and Parnassus Books in Nashville on October 28.
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Alan Gratz’s new novel for young readers sensitively portrays multiple perspectives on D-Day
In Allies, his latest novel for young readers, New York Times bestselling author and Knoxville native Alan Gratz returns to a favorite subject: World War II depicted through the eyes of young people. Gratz will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on October 23.
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Malcolm Gladwell reveals our sometimes tragically ineffective strategies for dealing with people we don’t know
In Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell examines notorious misunderstandings between strangers and what they can teach us. Gladwell will appear at Belmont University in Nashville on October 22.
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Historian Ibram X. Kendi confronts our racist culture — and looks inward
In How to Be an Antiracist, historian Ibram Kendi argues that defeating racism is a conscious choice that requires thoughtfulness and discipline. Kendi will discuss the book at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on October 23 and at the University of Memphis on October 24.
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John Coykendall recounts a life’s work safeguarding rare heritage crops and traditional farming methods
In Preserving Our Roots, John Coykendall documents his decades-long quest to save heritage seeds and preserve a record of a rural way of life that he fears will be lost forever. Coykendall will appear at the 2019 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.
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