Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Archaeology of the Imagination

David Madden’s Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh, a collection of novellas, explores a writer’s journey

David Madden’s new collection of novellas, Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh, traces the arc of an artist’s journey and testifies to the power of a veteran writer who continues to find innovative ways to entertain and instruct readers.

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Real Bones, Real Person, Not a Myth, Not a Story

In Bryn Chancellor’s Sycamore, a small town reckons with the eruption of a long-buried mystery

For the characters of Bryn Chancellor’s accomplished debut novel, Sycamore, the image of a vanished girl has come to embody the instability marking their lives. Once a new arrival discovers human remains outside town, their pasts suddenly press into the present.

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Looking Back—and Looking Forward

Editor Adam Ross talks with Chapter 16 about the 500th issue of The Sewanee Review

This fall marks the publication of the 500th issue of The Sewanee Review and a full year of issues under Adam Ross’s leadership. Today the Nashville novelist talks with Chapter 16 about how the past informs the present—and influences the future—at the oldest literary magazine in the country.

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Haven in a Dark Time

The stories in Unbroken Circle highlight a range of contemporary Southern voices

With Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South, editors Julia Watts and Larry Smith set out to collect essays and stories that reflect a more nuanced picture of Southern experience. Watts, along with several of the anthology’s contributing writers, will discuss Unbroken Circle at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville November 12 at 2 p.m.

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Hometown Homicide

A detective returns to his hometown to recuperate but finds something else

Detective Joe “Preach” Everson never expected to return to his sleepy hometown, but it’s the perfect place to recuperate. Then the first murder victim is discovered. Layton Green will discuss Written in Blood at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on November 12 at 2 p.m.

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Stars of Southern Literature Arrive in Tennessee

The SouthWord Literary Feast will convene in Chattanooga November 3-4

SouthWord Literary Feast, a biennial book festival and reunion of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, will feature forty celebrated Southern authors, including Wendell Berry, Charles Frazier, Jill McCorkle, and Ron Rash. Seating is available for talks, readings, panel discussions, book signings, and meals November 3 and 4.

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