Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

The Blood Was There All Along

A white priest’s experience of the civil rights movement in Alabama

Francis X. Walter’s From Preaching to Meddling provides valuable eyewitness testimony to the struggle for civil rights in Alabama. The memoir is an important historical document by a humble man of faith who tried to live what he believed during a dangerously polarizing time.

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Polished Jewels

Margaret Renkl weaves personal and natural history in Late Migrations

Margaret Renkl surveys the natural world and her personal history in Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss. Renkl will appear with Mary Gauthier on the “Sundays with Mary” program, streamed live on Facebook and YouTube on March 28. She’ll also be the keynote speaker for Rural Assembly Everywhere, held online April 20-21.

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Calling Evangelicals to Account

Anthea Butler speaks with prophetic candor in White Evangelical Racism

In White Evangelical Racism, Anthea Butler identifies a racist agenda at the heart of rightwing evangelical politics. Butler will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by Parnassus Books in Nashville on March. 25.

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Smelly and Sticky and Slimy, Oh My!

Erika Engelhaupt finds the joy of science in the gross stuff

Knoxvillian Erika Engelhaupt’s Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science is a lighthearted but serious examination of the gross, the grisly, and the grimy. She will discuss the book in a virtual event hosted by Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on March 30.

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Eternal Questions, Evolving Answers

Alan Lightman explores the limits of knowledge in Probable Impossibilities

Alan Lightman’s latest essay collection, Probable Impossibilities is a mix of cutting-edge science, philosophical reflection, and storytelling that celebrates rational inquiry while respecting experiences of mystery and awe.

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The Second-Chance Ranch

In Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Better Luck Next Time, desperate women seeking divorces find friendship and love

Set at a “divorce ranch” in Reno, Nevada, Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Better Luck Next Time describes the surprising, tender friendships that develop between two women looking to end their marriages and a young ranch hand who helps them transition to new lives.

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