For the book lovers of the world, there is truly no season like fall. It’s when some of the biggest books of the year are released (e.g. Atwood, Margaret), and the perfect time to curl up next to a roaring hot ... open window? Surely it will start feeling like fall any day now, possibly. But in the meantime, grab your planner or open your calendar app of choice, because this autumn is hot in that other sense of the word — and stacked high with book-related goodness.
Oct. 11-13: Southern Festival of Books
The apex of the city’s literary events arrives every October as the Southern Festival of Books takes over War Memorial Plaza and the Nashville Public Library downtown. What’s it like to see some of the best authors working with 30,000 of your closest friends? There’s nothing quite like it in this town.
This year’s lineup features no shortage of talent, starting with a particularly strong showing from the home team. Speaking of the big books of the year, a new Ann Patchett novel is always an event, and The Dutch House has been racking up accolades since before it hit shelves. Patchett has been at the top of her game for many years, but at this year’s festival she’s joined by two friends whose debut books also fetched national acclaim. Mary Laura Philpott’s funny, self-effacing memoir-in-essays I Miss You When I Blink landed her an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered, among other media spots. Margaret Renkl, beloved champion of all things literary in Tennessee (and former books editor of this newspaper), similarly broke out with her meticulous and heartrending memoir Late Migrations, which received numerous national notices, an adoring review by Fresh Air’s Maureen Corrigan among them.
With My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh found herself on best-of-the-year lists left and right once again, and further cemented her status as one of the most talented writers working today, with a sensibility that manages to be both fascinating and aloof. Ted Chiang wrote a short story that inspired the film Arrival, and his new collection Exhalation is not only the kind of speculative fiction that defies easy categorization, but also connects with readers who might think they’re genre-averse. (It probably helps that Barack Obama featured it on his recent reading list.) Award-winning poet and former Buzzfeed LGBT editor, culture editor and AM2DM host Saeed Jones, a Memphis native, presents his new memoir How We Fight for Our Lives.
A very select few other highlights include: Taylor Jenkins Reid, whose Daisy Jones and the Six reads like an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music; Dani Shapiro, who delivered a moving memoir of paternity and surprise DNA tests; Elliot Ackerman, who was a National Book Award finalist for his novel Dark at the Crossing, but whose memoir Places and Names grapples with his time as a Marine special operations officer; Hanif Abdurraqib, who comes to the festival for his new poetry collection A Fortune for Your Disaster (which is pretty impressive considering he was recently long-listed for the National Book Award for the other book he published this year, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on A Tribe Called Quest); and former U.N. ambassador and Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power, who will present The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir. Look for a much more complete rundown of the festival — Changes! Poetry! YA! — in a forthcoming issue of the Scene. Now for the rest of the season.
Oct. 21: Chad Abushanab at Vanderbilt
“This voice will haunt for a long time,” former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove wrote, explaining why she’d chosen Vanderbilt MFA graduate Chad Abushanab’s poem “A Voice From the Wreck” to appear in The New York Times Magazine. His debut collection The Last Visit is out from Autumn House Press. 7 p.m. at Buttrick Hall, Vanderbilt University.
Oct. 23: Salon@615 with Cyntoia Brown at Christ Church Cathedral
Cyntoia Brown’s case made national headlines and went viral thanks to social media posts by Kim Kardashian and others. She’s written a memoir about her experience, Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System, and this will be her first public appearance since she was released from prison in August. Joining Brown in conversation will be journalist Liliana Segura, who covers prisons and harsh sentencing for The Intercept. 6:15 p.m. at at Christ Church Cathedral; reservation is required.
Oct. 28: Lisa Taddeo and Stephanie Danler at Bastion
In one of the fall’s most talked-about books, Lisa Taddeo follows the sex lives of the titular figures from her book Three Women. “None of the narratives ... are inspirational or empowering,” Laura Miller writes in Slate, “but they are what the best long-form journalism should be, which is truthful.” Stephanie Danler’s Sweetbitter was described in The Washington Post as “a sexy, sweaty book of sensory overload.” 6:30 p.m. at Bastion; $25 ticket includes a copy of The Sewanee Review.
Oct. 29: Community Town Hall feat. Jonathan Metzl and Meribah Knight at the Nashville Public Library
Perhaps you heard about an author event at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C., which was interrupted when a bunch of Nazis marched in yelling racist things. The author that night was Vanderbilt professor Jonathan Metzl, whose book Dying of Whiteness argues that racial resentment is literally killing white people who have come to prioritize it over even their own well-being. Metzl will be joined in conversation by WPLN journalist Meribah Knight. 7 p.m. at the Nashville Public Library downtown.
Nov. 1: Salon@615 with Gloria Steinem and Ashley Judd at War Memorial Auditorium
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem — co-founder and editor of Ms. magazine, bestselling author of The Revolution Within and other titles — is back with The Truth Will Set You Free, but First It Will Piss You Off!, a new illustrated collection of quotes from her life of activism and work work work work work. She’ll be in conversation with Ashley Judd, who probably needs no introduction in these pages, but who, in addition to her humanitarian work, has been central to #MeToo. 6:15 p.m. at War Memorial Auditorium; $31.50 ticket includes a signed copy of the book.
Nov. 6: Salon@615 with Ta-Nehisi Coates at TPAC’s Polk Theater
Best known for his timely and essential nonfiction writing — Between the World and Me, “The Case for Reparations,” etc. — National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates comes to Nashville in support of his debut novel, The Water Dancer, a tale of an escaped slave who nearly drowns and is saved by a mysterious force. Hiram subsequently discovers he possesses unusual powers himself, and has to decide how to apply them, and whether to become involved in the war between slavers and enslaved. Coates will be joined in conversation by Nashville poet Tiana Clark, author of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize-winning I Can’t Talk About the Trees Without the Blood. 6:15 p.m. at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater; $37.50 ticket includes copy of the book.
Nov. 11: Kevin Wilson at Parnassus Books
Last year, Ann Patchett went on national television and said that Kevin Wilson should win a Pulitzer (for his short story collection Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine). This year, Wilson — whose The Family Fang was turned into a film directed by Jason Bateman — has a new novel, Nothing to See Here, which fans of his canny oddball storytelling are calling his best yet. Take note, Pulitzer committee. 6:30 p.m. at Parnassus Books.
Nov. 16: Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas at Hume-Fogg
Both accomplished bestselling authors in their own right — Walter Isaacson for his biography of Leonardo DaVinci and Evan Thomas for Being Nixon, to name just one each in their long resumés — the two recently teamed up for The Wise Men. Together they’ll be honored with the Nashville Public Library Literary Award, and this pre-gala conversation will center on creativity, history and innovation, as they see them. 10 a.m. at Hume-Fogg Academic High School; registration recommended.
Nov. 21: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at Vanderbilt
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie broke through with her novel Americanah, which garnered massive critical acclaim and earned the National Book Critics Circle Fiction award. Now there’s a miniseries in development based on the book, produced by and starring Lupita Nyong’o. And perhaps you heard Beyoncé sample her TED Talk “We Should All Be Feminists.” (Flawless.) Not bad for someone who also won a MacArthur “genius” grant. She’ll visit as part of the Vanderbilt University Chancellor’s Lecture Series. 6:30 p.m. in Vanderbilt University’s Langford Auditorium.
Other events of note:
Sept. 26: Samantha Hunt at Vanderbilt
Sept. 29: Rakim (Sweat the Technique) signing at Parnassus Books
Oct. 1: Ruta Sepetys at Nashville Public Library
Oct. 8: Martha Serpasa at Vanderbilt
Oct. 14: Leigh Bardugo (Ninth House) at USN
Oct. 15: JoJo Moyes at MBA in conversation with Mary Laura Philpott
Oct. 18: Charles D’Ambrosio at Vanderbilt
Oct. 21: Sean Brock (South) at Blair School of Music
Oct. 28: Andrew Rea (Binging With Babish) at Harpeth Hall
Oct 29: Tegan and Sara (High School) signing at Parnassus (sold out)
Oct. 31: Doris Kearns Goodwin at Vanderbilt University
Nov. 5: Andrew Maraniss at Parnassus Books
Nov. 2: Tim McGraw (Grit & Grace) at Parnassus
Nov. 2: Allison Moorer (Blood: A Memoir) at Parnassus
Nov. 14: Melissa Range at Vanderbilt
