In the dead of winter, outside a small Minnesota town, state troopers pull two young women and their car from the icy Black Root River. One is found downriver, drowned, while the other is found at the scene—half frozen but alive. The Current, a new literary thriller by former Memphis novelist Tim Johnston, will be published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill on January 22, 2019.
In Jeff Zentner’s forthcoming YA novel, Rayne and Delilah’s Midnight Matinee (coming February 26, 2019, from Crown Books for Young Readers), Josie and Delia are best friends and co-hosts on their own public access TV show. But the end of senior year is coming, and Josie is torn between pursuing her television dreams in a new city or stay making TV with her BFF.
Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty will talk about her new novel, Nine Perfect Strangers on November 9 during WriterFest Nashville. Songwriter Tom Douglas and TV producer Liz Cackowski are also keynote speakers at the event, which brings together writers across genres.
In this excerpt from Jesus Crawdad Death, a new limited-edition chapbook from Third Man Books, Chapter 16’s Betsy Phillips considers the power of an unfinished ghost story by the late Hohenwald novelist William Gay. Phillips will appear at Third Man Records in Nashville on October 28 at 4 p.m.
In honor of the centennial year of the Women’s National Book Association, Chapter 16 is publishing an excerpt from Women in the Literary Landscape, which includes a history of the organization’s Nashville chapter by Carolyn T. Wilson. The WNBA will host its annual Coffee with Authors on October 13 as part of the Southern Festival of Books.
The inaugural Memphis Literary Arts Festival will begin June 15 with a ticketed benefit, “Dinner at the Hibiscus Salon,” and continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 16 with a series of talks, readings, and performances by writers, musicians, and artists from across the country. An after-party with DJ Siphne Aaye will begin at 7:30 p.m. June 16.
