Q&A

In her Pulitzer Prize-winning history Franchise, acclaimed historian Marcia Chatelain explains how the story of McDonald’s intersected with the civil rights movement. Chatelain will discuss the book at a virtual event hosted by the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis on February 8.

Kathlyn J. Kirkwood discusses her memoir in verse, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round, as well as the literacy program she runs in Middle Tennessee with her husband, Alan.

In Power Hungry, author Suzanne Cope profiles Aylene Quin, a restaurant owner in McComb, Mississippi, and Memphis resident Cleo Silvers, who ran free breakfast programs for the Black Panther Party. By feeding people, they advanced the Black struggle for freedom.

In Practically Divine, social entrepreneur and Episcopal priest Becca Stevens explores how the wisdom of women opens a place for love to grow even in the aftermath of trauma.

Memphis writer Wayne Dowdy makes another critical contribution to local history with Enslavement in Memphis.

Dan O’Brien’s A Story That Happens, a collection of essays originally delivered as craft lectures at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, weaves observations on the art of playwriting with deeply personal memoir.