Kathryn Stockett, recently out with "Calamity Club" nearly 17 years after her smash debut “The Help,”will be among the authors appearing at the 38th annual Southern Festival of Books.
"Nashville has such good energy," Stockett told The Tennessean. "So many creatives come out of Nashville. I grew up riding Tennessee Walkers, so Tennessee holds a very different meaning for me — not as a literary scene, but as somewhere where I rode horses as a girl. I'm excited to get there. I'm sure it's going to be a fantastic event."
Former Tennessee Gov. and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, whose 10th title is the newly published memoir "The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump," will be among the featured writers at the free event planned for Oct. 17 and 18
at Bicentennial Mall, the Tennessee State Museum, and the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville.
The book festival, open to the public from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 17, then from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 18, will feature about 175 authors representing an array of genres. The event will feature panel sessions, discussions, book signings and readings. While the festival will include authors from around the world, one commonality that many of the Southern writers share is that their books were inspired by an obsessive interest in a particular aspect of history.
For Stockett, it was a burning desire to understand how women survived and made their own economic choices during the Great Depression in Mississippi. For Tennessee-based writers Jim Emison and Kathy Bingham Turner, it was a desire to understand local legacies related to civil rights activism and family secrets, respectively. They both wrote unique nonfiction books that bring history to life.
When asked why she published the story of how her grandfather faked his own death and ran away to start a new family, Turner said that researching her own history revealed the unique pressures of the time were a relevant part of local history, not just her own family's legacy.
"I think, basically, he was a good human being who was faced with some circumstances that I don't think any of us can understand," she said.
Likewise, Emison said he was inspired to publish his research about the murdered Black activist Elbert Williams, because it is an important part of Tennessee history.
"I didn't want this man to be forgotten," Emison said. "He's a civil rights hero."
For fiction writer Susannah Felts, artistic director of the nonprofit literary organization The Porch, her sophomore novel "The Come Apart" explores the question of what trade-offs are required for musicians and songwriters who lack generational wealth. While the book is fictional, Felts used inspiration from real people and places to explore whether a career in music is worth the emotional strain and financial instability that often comes with it.
When asked about Nashville's literary landscape, Felts told The Tennessean: "The city has been growing so quickly. By virtue of that, the literary scene has expanded and diversified... It's bustling, thriving, better than ever. There is so much going on all the time that it's hard to even keep track. We've got incredible big-name authors right here."
Some of those local writers include Ann Patchett and Margaret Renkl, both of whom are appearing at events during the festival. As for why public spaces and events like the Southern Festival of Books are so important for writers and book lovers alike, Felts said that she is a passionate ambassador for the idea of fostering Music City's "artistic community."
"No matter what kind of artist you are, you need it to some degree, and it can enrich your practice in ways you never imagined," she said.
For the full list of authors, schedule and other details, see sofestofbooks.org.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tell me a story: Southern Festival of Books features all types of authors
