Fiction | Chapter 16

Pushed to the Edge

Samantha Shannon talks with Chapter 16 about The Mime Order, the new novel in her mind-bendingly good dystopian series

By Sarah Norris | February 2, 2015

February 2, 2015 In The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon’s runaway bestseller, the young clairvoyant Paige Mahoney has a talent for reading minds that continually lands her in mortal danger. The charismatic protagonist is back in Shannon’s new dystopian thriller, The Mime Order, and Shannon will read from the book at the Nashville Public Library on February 10, 2015, at 6:15 p.m. The event, part of the Salon@615 series, is free and open to the public.

The Secret Fusion

Novelist Jonathan Miles talks with Chapter 16 about comedy and philosophy in fiction

By Sean Kinch | January 20, 2015

January 20, 2015 Jonathan Miles has a gift for transforming life’s base materials into literary gold. His novels, Dear American Airlines (2008) and Want Not (2013), address dark, potentially dispiriting themes with a deft, comedic touch. Miles will give a free public reading at the University of Tennessee’s John C. Hodges Library in Knoxville on January 26, 2015, at 7 p.m.

How They Live On

In The Secret of Magic, Deborah Johnson tackles the difficult truths of segregation-era Mississippi

By Emily Choate | January 13, 2015

January 13, 2015 Regina Mary Robichard, the determined young NAACP lawyer at the center of Deborah Johnson’s The Secret of Magic, finds herself deeply drawn to the case of a brutal murder in segregation-era Mississippi. Investigating, she enters a world of both racial conflict and magical surprise. Deborah Johnson will discuss The Secret of Magic at Parnassus Books in Nashville on January 17, 2015, at 2 p.m.

Be a Mule

Revered novelist Tim O’Brien talks with Chapter 16 about his forthcoming Nashville appearance with the other Tim O’Brien, a bluegrass legend

By Ed Tarkington | January 12, 2015

January 12, 2015 For more than thirty years, Tim O’Brien has been regarded as one of the definitive voices of the Vietnam War. A literary trailblazer, he melds fact and fiction in texts that are both starkly realistic and surreal. O’Brien will be in Nashville on January 17, 2015, to share the stage with Tim O’Brien, the equally legendary Nashville musician, at a special benefit in support of The Porch Writers’ Collective.

Addressing the Anxieties of Art-Making

Novelist Leah Stewart talks with Chapter 16 about her literary roots in Tennessee

By Susannah Felts | January 7, 2015

January 7, 2015 Leah Stewart, the author of four critically acclaimed novels, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville who has held teaching positions at both her alma mater and the University of the South in Sewanee. Stewart will return to Tennessee to give a reading in Vanderbilt’s Buttrick Hall, Room 101, on January 15, 2015, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The Consolations of Nature

In Christopher Scotton’s debut novel, a young man finds strength in the Kentucky mountains

By Sean Kinch | January 6, 2015

January 6, 2015 Christopher Scotton’s debut novel, The Secret Wisdom of the Earth, is both contemporary and old-fashioned, addressing present-day issues in a novelistic form that harks back to the nineteenth century. Scotton will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on January 13, 2015, at 6:30 p.m.

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