Fiction | Chapter 16

Reflections on the Fugitive Spirit

Novelist Madison Smartt Bell looks back on the legacy of the late Madison Jones

By Tom Markham | August 7, 2012

August 7, 2012 Native Nashvillian Madison Smartt Bell, a prolific writer and finalist for awards such as the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, among others, is no stranger to the troubled nature of the human heart. While his subjects range widely—from wartime Deep South to 9/11 New York City to Haiti in the midst of revolution—his philosophical focus on darker characters lying on the fringe of society has become a well-known and highly lauded trademark in his writing.

Goodbye, Good Luck, I Love You All

With Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Ben Fountain delivers the Iraq War novel the literary world has been waiting for

By Ed Tarkington | July 31, 2012

July 31, 2012 As a novelist, Ben Fountain’s intentions are far from subtle. He is going for broke in his new novel, bringing together a variety of pressing contemporary themes in a story that is as emotionally stirring as it is both chastening and bizarrely funny. With Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Fountain has produced what may eventually stand as the definitive American Iraq War novel. Fountain will read from and discuss the book at at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Southern Belle With a Cause

In Taylor M. Polites’s debut novel, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Alabama faces the fight of her life

By Sarah Norris | July 27, 2012

July 27, 2012 Set in 1875, during Reconstruction, Taylor M. Polites’s The Rebel Wife features an action-laced plot that includes hidden money, a mysterious plague, fire, gunshots, and an ensemble cast of personalities with violently conflicting agendas. At the heart of the story is Augusta (Gus) Branson, the widowed rebel herself, who represents the irrevocable, life-altering changes Reconstruction wrought for everyone involved. Taylor M. Polites will read from and discuss The Rebel Wife at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

The Weight of Blood and History

Veteran novelist Madison Smartt Bell talks with debut novelist Christopher Hebert about the lush landscape and irrepressible people of Haiti

By Madison Smartt Bell | July 24, 2012

July 30, 2012 Nashville native Madison Smartt Bell is the author of thirteen novels and two short story collections, though he is perhaps best known for a highly acclaimed trio of novels on the Haitian revolution: All Souls Rising (a National Book Award finalist), Master of the Crossroads, and The Stone That the Builder Refused. Today he talks with debut Knoxville novelist, Christopher Hebert, whose new novel is set in an unnamed Caribbean country that bears a striking resemblance to Haiti. “One feels the weight of the tropical air in reading this book,” Bell writes, “and the weight of blood and history behind it.” Madison Smartt Bell and Christopher Hebert will appear at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Inside the Nightmare

Novelist Sarah McCoy kneads together one family’s Third-Reich past and another’s Texas-border present

By Lyda Phillips | July 24, 2012

July 24, 2012 In The Baker’s Daughter Sarah McCoy delivers an intimate and nuanced view of people trapped in the nightmare culture of Aryan supremacy and draws an intriguing parallel to the current debate over immigration. McCoy will discuss The Baker’s Daughter at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Exquisite Intricacy

Bobbie Ann Mason talks to Chapter 16 about drawing art out of life

By Ed Tarkington | July 23, 2012

July 23, 2012 Since her first published story, “Offerings,” was plucked from the slush pile in 1980 by New Yorker fiction editor Roger Angell, Bobbie Ann Mason has fashioned a career that is far more unique and distinct than its association with literary movements such as the “Dirty Realism” or “Minimalist” style might imply. Mason’s stories and novels are at heart studies in intimacy: the private, painstaking, sometimes brutally honest examination of interior lives, written in a style that suggests a private, unspoken confidence between reader and author. Bobbie Ann Mason will discuss The Girl in the Blue Beret at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker