Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Poetry at Gunpoint

The new novel by James E. Cherry is a thriller with the soul of poetry

edgeofthewindcover2In Edge of the Wind, a compelling and disturbing new novel, poet James E. Cherry explores the connection between jazz and poetry—and between racism and mental illness.

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The Thing’s the Plays

Shakespeare’s First Folio comes to Nashville, signifying everything

first-folio“First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare,” a new exhibit at the Nashville Parthenon, brings a four-centuries-old copy of the Bard’s first collection to Tennessee, and it is not to be missed. The rare book—on loan from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death—will be on display from November 10, 2016, to January 8, 2017

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Maternal Longing

Mothers—absent and otherwise—are the dynamic force at the center of Brit Bennett’s debut

In Brit Bennett’s debut novel, The Mothers, a teenage girl’s casual fling in the wake of her mother’s suicide profoundly recalibrates her life and the lives of those closest to her. Bennett will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on November 10 at 6:30 p.m.

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Where the Characters Quicken to Life

Bret Anthony Johnston shares the details of his writing process

remember“Family life seems given to a kind of emotional suspense, which in no way feels less tense or compelling than other kinds of suspense.” Prior to his November 7 reading at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Bret Anthony Johnston talks about creativity, collusion with imaginary characters, and his acclaimed novel, Remember Me Like This.

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A Uniquely Tennessee Take on the Haunted House

Girl meets house, house has ghosts, in Cherie Priest’s new novel

the-family-plot-cover_priestf16With the continued existence of her family’s Nashville salvage business hanging in the balance, Dahlia Dutton leads a work team to dismantle an old house—an old haunted house—in Chattanooga in Cherie Priest’s delightfully spooky The Family Plot.

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Telling the Whole Story

In work and life, Dorothy Allison defies narrow categories

bastardoutofcarolinaWhether she’s writing about her tough, spirited characters or her own difficult life, Dorothy Allison seems determined to defy all narrow categories, seeking instead to express the full complexity of human experience. Allison, who serves as the 2016 Acuff Chair at the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts at Austin Peay State University, will speak on October 27 at 8 p.m. in Clement Auditorium on the APSU campus. The event is free and open to the public.

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