Thanks to the Trump administration's proposed plan to target funding for the nation's cultural agencies, now is a particularly crucial time to recognize the importance of programs like the National Endowment for the Humanities. Every year, Humanities Tennessee — which is funded via a mixture of private donations and federal funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities — puts on the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. It's a massive three-day event that draws hundreds of authors and thousands of attendees.
Over the weekend, Humanities Tennessee announced the lineup of the 29th annual Southern Festival of Books, which will take place Oct. 13-15. What's more, this year the festival will merge with Handmade & Bound Nashville — "a festival that celebrates independent publications and printed matter" — via a partnership between Humanities Tennessee and Watkins College of Art. This year will mark Handmade's seventh iteration, and the fest will offer "craft sales, hands-on demonstrations and a community project.
So what authors will be present at the SoFest? Well, dozens. The list includes locals like noted music writer Peter Cooper (Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride), Victoria Schwab (A Conjuring of Light), Jeff Zentner (The Serpent King, Goodbye Days), Janet Lee, Andy Hardin, Cassidy Martin and Jessica Young, among others. Also appearing will be Jami Attenberg, Ann Beattie, Chris Bohjalian, Rodney Jones, Ron Rash, Clyde Edgerton, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Eig, Sarah Dessen, Nicole Krauss, Radney Foster and more. See the full list of participating authors right here.
The Southern Festival of Books will take place at War Memorial Plaza and the Nashville Public Library downtown, and also present will be more than 60 exhibiting publishers, booksellers and nonprofit organizations. There will be three stages — a music stage, a performing arts stage and a children's stage. The festival is free and open to the public, and you can find more information about this year's festival via Humanities Tennessee's site.
