In The Prophets, debut novelist Robert Jones Jr. reimagines the slave narrative
The plantation at the center of Robert Jones Jr.’s The Prophets is called Empty, but this bold and poetic slave story is replete with passionate characters and disturbing events. Jones will discuss The Prophets at a 2021 Southern Festival of Books virtual event on September 30.
Read more
Blues legend B.B. King gets the royal treatment from biographer Daniel de Visé
Daniel de Visé’s King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King chronicles a life, traces a sound, and tells a story worthy of its iconic subject. Daniel de Visé will discuss the book at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville on October 5.
Read more
Jesus and John Wayne considers the “evangelical cult of masculinity”
Calvin University historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez analyzes a toxic mythology of manliness at the heart of evangelical culture in Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Du Mez will appear at a virtual session of the 2021 Southern Festival of Books on September 30.
Read more
Nichole Perkins explores themes of identity, liberation, and belonging
Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be by Nichole Perkins is a memoir fleshed out via a collection of essays. Weaving popular culture, humor, and Black-woman truths, Perkins explores themes of sexual identity and liberation, desirability, and belonging. Perkins will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.
Read more
A hilarious and poignant YA novel about finding your place in the world
In How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland introduces readers to 17-year-old Moon, who longs to be loved for who she is but worries that she doesn’t deserve success and happiness — especially since everyone keeps comparing her to her more popular sister. Gilliland will discuss the novel at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books on September 21.
Read more
Richard Powers’ Bewilderment is a meditation on grief and the possibilities of radical empathy
In an early chapter of Bewilderment, Richard Powers’ heartbreaking and transcendent new novel, astrobiologist Theo Byrne charts the far reaches of the universe for all forms of life. But caring for his troubled young son, Robin, becomes a more dangerous and profound experiment, provoking questions about radical empathy and humankind’s survival.
Read more
