Poetry | Chapter 16

"The Faraway Nearby"

By Bill Brown | October 6, 2011

October 6, 2011 Bill Brown has written four poetry collections, three chapbooks, and a textbook. The recipient of many awards and fellowships, Brown lives in the hills of Robertson County with his wife, Suzanne, and a tribe of cats. He wrote “The Faraway Nearby” for an exhibition called Fragments: Poets and Artists of the South and Southwest at the Harrington Brown Gallery in Memphis. Brown’s poem is a response to a photograph of the work of Carolyn Hinske, a fiber artist based in Taos, New Mexico. Read more about Fragments here.

Naked Girls Reading

Gallatin poet Elizabeth McClellan is a finalist for an unusual literary award

By Margaret Renkl | October 3, 2011

October 3, 2011 “Razor Hair Girls,” a poem by Gallatin native Elizabeth McClellan, is one of five finalists for the 2011 Naked Girls Reading Literary Honors. The winner will be announced in Chicago on November 18 after a live, on-stage reading of the finalists by the Naked Girls, a group of “beautiful ladies who love to read…naked,” according to their website.

The True Costs of Amazon's Savings

According to a new analysis of a study by UT, it’s even worse than we thought

By Margaret Renkl | September 22, 2011

September 22, 2011 Liz Garrigan’s Dear John letter to Amazon in today’s edition of Chapter 16 is an unvarnished call for book lovers to put their money where their mouths are and support their local bookstores instead of buying books online. Garrigan argues that Amazon’s refusal to collect the state and local sales taxes that other bricks-and-mortar stores collect–taxes that support local schools, police and fire departments, and other civic necessities–amounts to a “powerful incentive for customers to let their fingers do the clicking.”

Not What You See, But What You Perceive

Poet Terrance Hayes adopts lightheadedness as an aesthetic stance

By Charlotte Pence | September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011 Terrance Hayes’s fourth collection of poems, Lighthead, won the National Book Award in poetry this year—a prize which is only the most recent iteration of an award-winning literary career. Hayes recently answered questions from Chapter 16 via email prior to his appearances at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on September 21 and at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on September 23.

Ninth Inning

Memphis poet Matt Cook lands on the Writer’s Almanac yet again

By Margaret Renkl | September 19, 2011

September 19, 2011 Having a poem read aloud to millions of public-radio listeners by the thick, buttery voice of Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac has to be a high point in any poet’s public life. For Memphis poet Matt Cook, it’s a high with which he’s becoming increasingly familiar: today Keillor read Cook’s poem, “Nonsense”–Cook’s ninth appearance on the program since 2002. Listen to Keillor read it here.

A Great and Challenging Game

Memphis author and bookseller Corey Mesler talks about art and commerce

By Maria Browning | September 14, 2011

September 14, 2011 Corey Mesler has eight books of poetry and fiction to his credit and has received praise from the likes of John Grisham and Robert Olen Butler, but he’s probably best known to his fellow Memphians as the co-owner of Burke’s Books, a venerable store founded in 1875. With two new books this year—Before the Great Troubling, a volume of poetry, and a collection of short fiction, Notes Toward the Story & Other Stories—he talks with Chapter 16 about his art and his business. Mesler will read and sign Before the Great Troubling and Notes Toward the Story & Other Stories at Burke’s Books on September 15 at 6 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