Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Still Alive

Death haunts the essays in Rachel Kushner’s The Hard Crowd

Rachel Kushner’s The Hard Crowd gathers two decades of the critically acclaimed novelist’s personal narratives and critical writing. Kushner will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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The Bucket List

In Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s The Evening Hero, a retired doctor confronts his long-buried past

In Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s The Evening Hero, a recently retired doctor reckons his regrets and blessings decades after immigrating to Minnesota from war-torn Korea. Lee will discuss The Evening Hero at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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We, the Swimmers

Julie Otsuka’s perspective-bending novel should be our call to action

The Swimmers, the third novel from award-winning author Julie Otsuka, uses a collective point of view to offer readers an exercise in radical empathy.

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Something That Wants to Live

Lark Ascending finds kindness and hope in a bleak world

Silas House’s apocalyptic novel Lark Ascending is truly harrowing, yet even more deeply affecting and tender. House will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16 and at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on November 12.

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Big River

Rinker Buck navigates turbulent swells and history in Life on the Mississippi

Tennessee-based journalist Rinker Buck’s second book, Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure, presents an engrossing and often comical account of his flatboat journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Buck will appear at the 2022 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 14-16.

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Toward Justice

Anthony Ray Hinton’s The Sun Does Shine comes to young readers

In a new young readers edition, Anthony Ray Hinton’s memoir The Sun Does Shine shares his story of wrongful imprisonment and triumph over injustice. Hinton will appear at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on September 22 and at Belmont University in Nashville on September 25.

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