We’re on Vacation

Chapter 16 is taking a break from new posts until July 31, when we’ll return with coverage of Ann Patchett’s latest novel, among other good things. (We’ll break our silence briefly on the evening of July 20 to announce the lineup for this year’s Southern Festival of Books.) 

 

In the meantime, we thought we’d share a few pieces from the first half of 2023 that you might have missed. Emily Choate wrote a splendid and bear-friendly appreciation of Richard Powers‘ Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece The Overstory. (Emily will lead an online discussion of the book on July 18. Be sure to check back at the post for details nearer the date.) Jane Marcellus reviewed Emily Strasser’s memoir about the ghosts that haunt a family and a nation, Half-Life of a Secret. Sara Beth West interviewed U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón prior to her visit to Nashville in April. Kashif Andrew Graham delivered a thoughtful appreciation of Randall Kenan‘s posthumous essay collection, Black Folk Could Fly. And Summer Awad‘s essay “Overtime” is a moving account of working with refugee families.