Fiction

November 7, 2012 “Emigrants, immigrants, adventurers, and runaways—they fascinate me because they loiter on the margins, stripped of the markers of family and nation,” writes novelist Emma Donoghue in her new story collection, Astray. “Travelers know all the confusion of the human condition in concentrated form. Migration is mortality by another name, the itch we can’t scratch.” The bestselling author of Room will read from Astray at the Nashville Public Library at 6:15 p.m. on November 13 as part of the Salon@615 series.

October 30, 2012 Between the 1980 publication of his first story collection, The Heart Never Fits Its Wanting, and the 2006 publication of his most recent, All Things, All at Once, Lee K. Abbott wrote some of the best short stories of his generation—hell, some of the best short stories of anybody’s generation. Set in the American Southwest and featuring a cast of male narrators who are both loquacious and vital, Abbott’s full-blooded tales earned the highest praise even as their style ran counter to the era’s minimalist chic. By the end of the century, Abbott—who recently retired from the M.F.A. program at Ohio State University, where he was a professor—was widely acknowledged as a master of the short story form. Lee K. Abbot will appear at two events this week at the University of Memphis. As part of the River City Writers’ Series, Abbott will read from his work October 30 at 8 p.m. in the University Center, Room 300 (River Room). A book signing will follow. He will hold an interview with students October 31 at 10:30 a.m. in Patterson Hall, Room 456. Both events are free and open to the public.

October 19, 2012 In Stormy Weather & Other Stories, bestselling author and Kingsport native Lisa Alther has put together a collection of short stories written throughout her decades-long career. The selections are lively and varied, and together they represent a body of work that reaches all the way back to the publication of her first novel, Kinflicks, in 1976. Most recently, Alther returned to Appalachia as she researched Blood Feud, an accounting of the famous feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families. On October 25, Lisa Alther will be inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame and also receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from Knoxville’s Friends of Literacy.

October 18, 2012 Dan Chaon first made his name as a writer of short stories, with work appearing in The Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. After publishing two highly acclaimed story collections (the second collection, Among the Missing, was a finalist for the National Book Award), Chaon went on to write two stunning novels: You Remind Me of Me and Await Your Reply. It might be tempting to see his latest offering, a short-story collection called Stay Awake, as a return to form, but the book is actually the author’s most visionary work to date. Dan Chaon will give a reading on October 18 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville as part of the Gertrude and Harold Vanderbilt Visiting Writers Series. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in Buttrick 101.