Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Call of the Wild

David George Haskell explores all things acoustic within the natural world

FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: David George Haskell’s fourth book, Sounds Wild and Broken, was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction. Haskell will deliver the keynote address at the Clarksville Writers Conference on June 8. 

Read more

No Fairy Godmother Here

A girl and her cat help each other survive brutality and war

Doan Phuong Nguyen mines family history as well as world history in her debut novel for young readers, set in South Vietnam in the 1960s. She will discuss Mèo and Bé at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 24.

Read more

Performing Womanhood

Why Tammy Wynette Matters places the singer’s work in a feminist context

Critic Steacy Easton’s Why Tammy Wynette Matters examines Wynette’s public persona and artistry. Easton will discuss the book with Jewly Hight at Novelette Booksellers in Nashville on June 2.

Read more

Love of Place and People

Jolene McIlwain’s Sidle Creek offers a vivid portrait of small-town Appalachia

In her debut story collection Sidle Creek, Jolene McIlwain fashions a world and characters as complicated as they are enduring. These stories let us come to know a small Appalachian community in Western Pennsylvania through its people, from hunters to diner workers to miners.

Read more

The Path to Authentic Voice

Award-winning author Ruta Sepetys offers a guide to the craft of writing

Ruta Sepetys — the award-winning, bestselling, Nashville-based author of five young adult historical novels — offers guidance for novice as well as experienced writers in You: The Story.

Read more

Poisonous Dealings

Celia Bell’s debut novel encompasses black magic, murder, and subterfuge in 17th-century France

Baroness Marie Catherine finds herself tangled in a web of lies, crossdressing, and back-alley dealings in Celia Bell’s gripping debut novel, The Disenchantment. Bell will discuss the book at Parnassus Books in Nashville on May 22.

Read more
TAKE THE SHORT READER SURVEY! CHAPTER 16 SURVEYOR SURVEYING