A Publication of Humanities Tennessee

Q&A

Always Graceful

By Jim Patterson

Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South collects 60 of Margaret Renkl’s essays for The New York Times. Her fascinating explanations of the natural world are the standouts, but she also weighs in with authority on politics and culture. Renkl will discuss the book at a free ticketed event held in Harpeth Hall’s Frances Bond Davis Theater in Nashville on September 14, at a virtual event hosted by Novel in Memphis on September 16, and at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.

Always Graceful

Hoop Dreams — and Nightmares

By Aram Goudsouzian

In Memphis Hoops, Keith B. Wood examines how basketball promoted racial unity in Memphis, while also reflecting the city’s persistent prejudices. It centers around Larry Finch, a local legend as both player and coach.

Hoop Dreams — and Nightmares

Politics for Christians

By Jim Patterson

Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam does a deep dive into the two subjects not fit for polite conversation in Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square. Haslam, also the former mayor of Knoxville, outlines a way of approaching the role of religious faith in the hardball arena of politics. He will appear at the online 2021 Southern Festival of Books.

Politics for Christians

Spanks for the Memories

By Aram Goudsouzian

In Sadomasochism and the BDSM Community in the United States, University of Memphis historian Stephen K. Stein explains how a sexual community organized itself and found wider acceptance.

Spanks for the Memories

The Comedy of Empathy

By Lee Conell

From the Chapter 16 archive: “Doubt is essential to the writing life,” Andrew Sean Greer says. “If you only had arrogance, you’d write a book that’s all ego.” 

The Comedy of Empathy

The Body as Storyteller

By Stephen Usery

From the Chapter 16 archive: “When I was a kid, I loved any kind of historical drama. I loved being transported to different worlds, historical or fantastical.” Fiction writer—and new Memphis transplant—Chanelle Benz talks with Chapter 16.

The Body as Storyteller

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