In I Will Hold, James Carl Nelson tells the story of Clifton Cates, a University of Tennessee law-school graduate who joined the Marines just as the U.S. entered the Great War. The young soldier’s amazing luck and bravery during the carnage made him a him a hero.
On November 16, John Lewis—along with his collaborators, co-author Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell—won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature with March: Book Three. But even before he accepted that honor, Lewis had already been named the 2016 recipient of the Nashville Public Library Literary Award, a prize that last week brought him back to Nashville, where he first began his long career as a civil-rights activist. Today Lewis talks with Chapter 16 about his books—and his unparalleled life in public service.
Shelves groaned from overpopulation. But it was this gaudy Shakespearean excess, the Mumbai crowds of jostling books, that made it such a heady experience to visit BookMan/BookWoman. It was the archaic opulence of it all, as if you might come home smelling of myrrh.
In 2011, Karen Hayes and Ann Patchett opened Parnassus Books, which celebrates its fifth anniversary today. During that time, the Nashville store has doubled its space, bought a bookmobile, and brought authors, hundreds of them, to town. And they’re just getting started. Drop by the store today for special anniversary discounts, giveaways, prizes—and birthday cake.
On November 18 and 19, Congressman John Lewis will be in Nashville to receive the Nashville Public Library Literary Award. The new graphic memoir, March: Book Three, chronicles Lewis’s role in the civil-rights movement. Lewis will give a free public lecture about March: Book Three at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School in Nashville on November 19 at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
In The Liberal Redneck Manifesto, Trae Crowder, Corey Ryan Forrester, and Drew Morgan tackle the stereotypes of poor white Southerners, mostly “fellers,” from drunk-as-skunk-on-Saturday-night to singing-hymns-at-church-on-Sunday-morning, all delivered in a hick accent. The trio will perform at Zanies Comedy Night Club in Nashville on November 13.
