Natural Man

Last year, the Tennessee Humanities Council (THC) was forced to come up with creative ways of funding its annual literary event, the Southern Festival of Books. Originally funded by private and public monies, THC hit a snag when it was slammed with the double-whammy of congressional budget cuts and the loss of a five-year grant. Donna Tauscher, public information officer for the Humanities Council, and Janice Zeitlin, a longtime festival supporter and curator/owner of Zeitgeist Gallery, discussed various fund-raising possibilities and came up with the idea of A Literary Salon. Held last August, the event was a modest success, drawing more than 150 people to hear John Egerton, Steven Womack, Ann Patchett, and John Baeder read from their works in the intimate settings of Zeitgeist and AKA Gallery.

Last year’s respectable turnout paved the way for another salon—one that may prove to be even more important and exciting than the first. In September, essayist, novelist, and poet Wendell Berry will make a rare public appearance as the sole reader at this year’s literary salon. A shy and reclusive man, Berry seldom participates in conferences or readings, preferring instead to spend time with his wife Tanya on their farm near Port Royal, Ky.

Since 1964, when Berry moved to Kentucky to escape the tumult of the New York publishing world, his writing has increasingly emphasized the values of history, place, life, and our responsibility to both land and community. Although his poetry is better known, Berry’s essays have earned him high praise: Last year, Utne Reader noted his status as “one of America’s most eminent ecological thinkers” and featured him prominently in its “100 Visionaries” issue. Listed at No. 10, Berry rated much higher than Czech President Vaclav Havel (No. 39), Spike Lee (No. 56), and Jeremy Rifkin (No. 80).

Berry’s latest book, A World Lost, is set in 1944 in the fictional small town of Port William, Ky.—a place that has inhabited the author’s writing for 36 years. The novel tells the story of a young boy, Andy Catlett, struggling to understand the murder of his uncle. Scheduled for publication by Counterpoint in October, advance copies will be on sale at the salon, and it’s possible that Berry will be available to sign copies.

A Literary Salon takes place 4-6 p.m. Sept. 8 at Zeitgeist Gallery in Cummins Station. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Call 320-7001 for tickets and information.

A couple of years ago, when Stephen King went on tour to promote Insomnia, he decided to do things a little differently. Instead of flying from city to city, visiting the big chain bookstores in cities like Chicago, New York, and L.A., King crossed the country on a motorcycle and stopped only at independent bookstores, including Nashville’s Davis-Kidd Booksellers. He explained at the time that he was concerned the larger stores were driving the smaller mom-and-pop bookstores out of business. And since the independents were the very stores that had helped King gain an audience in the first place, he wanted to return the favor.

In the end, King’s tour drew some attention to the plight of smaller stores, but it certainly didn’t stop the chains from expanding. What’s more, King clearly chose to visit some rather large independent stores: Davis-Kidd isn’t exactly a small, mom-and-pop operation. In fact, with four stores across the state, the retailer has decidedly reached the big-time. Even 10 years ago, when it was much smaller, the store was blamed, in part, for the closure of several independents, most notably the much-lamented Mills Bookstore.

The tables turned last year, however, when several chains arrived in the Nashville area. Many customers wondered how the presence of these large stores—which were able to offer significant discounts—would affect Davis-Kidd. Indeed, the store admits that it has seen a drop in sales, but its marketing department has responded by aggressively pursing authors for book signings. The hard work shows: Davis-Kidd averages about three signings weekly with both local and best-selling authors; by comparison, Barnes & Noble hosts just one signing a week.

Angie Howard, Davis-Kidd’s PR and events coordinator, tries to look at the store’s current situation in a positive light. “Competition makes everybody do their best,” she explains. “We’ve always had a lot of signings, but we’ve been developing relationships with publishers to bring more authors here. Nashville is not one of the top places to send authors; they typically go to Chicago, New York, and L.A. If they come to the South at all, they go to Atlanta. If another big bookstore makes Nashville more attractive, that’s great.”

While mega-size bookstores might help draw big-name authors, the dwindling number of independents means there are fewer stores willing to champion lesser-known writers. Indeed, it was the small, independent bookstores that first stocked the now best-selling authors Anne Rice, Stephen King, and Pat Conroy when some of the larger chains wouldn’t give them self space. As Davis-Kidd continues to straddle the line between the chains and independents, let’s hope the store continues to maintain and develop an independent spirit—Nashville already has more than its share of faceless corporate retailers.