Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

The Good-Heartedness Never Leaves

George Singleton brings his gift for storytelling to the essays in Asides

In the introduction to his essay collection, Asides, George Singleton writes, “There happen to be some great essayists. I don’t count myself in this group.” Readers who dive into this lovely slim book full of dogs, writing advice, and summer jobs will disagree.

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In the Presence of the Unseen

Poet Jane Hicks uncovers hidden worlds in The Safety of Small Things

Throughout East Tennessee poet Jane Hicks’ stunning new collection, The Safety of Small Things, the unseen elements of our lives reveal themselves in vibrant, insistent ways. With masterful discernment, Hicks enables us to sense the many-layered truths contained in each moment and to marvel at their resonance. 

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The Quintessential Pop-Country Singer

The Life and Times of Patsy Cline offers deep background on a Nashville icon

Margaret Jones’ The Life and Times of Patsy Cline portrays a complex woman and a gifted artist whose best records transcend genre.

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Dangerous Bonds

Stacy Willingham delivers a complex mystery driven by female friendship

In her new thriller, Only if You’re Lucky, Stacy Willingham slowly unravels a knotted, twisted tale of loss, revenge, and manipulation. Willingham will discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on January 20 and Parnassus Books in Nashville on January 24.

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The Heaven Con

In Eric Schlich’s new novel, a preacher’s son comes clean about his near-death experience

In Eric Schlich’s new novel, Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife, the son of a Bible-belt minister begins to doubt his own story about visiting heaven. Schlich will discuss Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife at Novel in Memphis on January 16.

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Poetic Borders and Landscapes

Khaled Mattawa’s lyrical cartography of human migration remembers, inspires

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: In his fifth collection, Fugitive Atlas, poet Khaled Mattawa — a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — issues a timely invitation to examine our many migrations, gently calling us out of ourselves and into the world. In a series of imaginative and provocative poems, he asks us to consider the borders that exist off the map and apply meaning to our real lives.

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