Southern Festival of Books

Strapped for cash and shuttled back and forth in a joint custody arrangement with Memphis, where it is now held every other year, the Southern Festival of Books nonetheless remains the South’s premier literary festival. For three days, Oct. 12-14, Nashville will host more than 200 authors giving readings, participating in panel discussions and signing books. In the closest thing to a bacchanal that literary folk can dream up—and, count on it, some of these writers will also get literally drunk after all the books are signed; look for a bunch of them in Tootsie’s—Legislative Plaza will be transformed into a book fair, a concert hall and a theatrical stage for showcasing literary talent in all its forms: thrillers, chick lit, sci fi, poetry, literary fiction, children’s books, humor, history and food, not to mention the genre-defying talents of Kinky Friedman.

As in the past, the Scene’s book reviewers report on the festival’s highlights, but this year we’ve asked them to focus primarily on writers heading to town from across state lines. (We’re not dissing our favorite hometown authors—we give them the love all year long, and in-depth coverage of their books is archived at nashvillescene.com.) We also sat down with five very different writers to talk about the state of their art. What they have to say about poetry, journalism, politics, storytelling and humor is just more evidence that the Southern Festival of Books puts Athens back in the Athens of the South.

For more details, see the program insert in this week’s issue, or visit Humanities Tennessee at humanitiestennessee.org.Best of the FestScene reviewers pick their favorite out-of-towners appearing at the Southern Festival of BooksI Wonder What on Earth Possessed MeA conversation with Bobbie Ann MasonIs Capitalism Killing the News?A conversation with Gene RobertsOf Children's Books and Dirty CartoonsA conversation with Harry BlissAll Yearning for the Same ThingA conversation with Judith Ortiz CoferPoly-Ticks as UnusualA conversation with Kinky FriedmanWatch the Local Stars ShineHere's where to find our hometown favorites at the festival