The Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word is among the oldest literary festivals in the country, annually welcoming hundreds of authors and thousands of visitors to the Tennessee State Museum, Tennessee State Library & Archives, and Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park each October. The Festival is free and includes author readings and discussions, performance stages, food trucks, and dozens of publishers and booksellers.
The 38th Annual Southern Festival of Books, a program of Humanities Tennessee will take place on Saturday, October 17 from 9am to 6pm and Sunday, October 18 from 10am to 5pm. This beloved, free public event unites thousands of readers with approximately 175 popular and award-winning authors for panel discussions, book signings, and readings. For a full schedule and more information, please visit: SoFestofBooks.org. For a regularly updated list of all authors, visit: sofestofbooks.org/authors.
In addition to 100 sessions over two days, the festival features more than 100 vendors, food trucks and three performance stages. Three distinct stages run all weekend: the Music Stage highlights Nashville’s local songwriting talent; the Performing Arts Stage hosts theater, spoken word, and poetry; and the Children’s Stage offers youth authors, crafts, and character meet-and-greets. A massive gathering of local food trucks pairs with a dedicated beverage area sponsored by local favorites like Jackalope Brewing Co. The festival will feature a special screening of the PBS American Masters documentary, “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.”
There are a number of authors coming whose works intrigue me, and I am willing to share that list with you, as follows: Katie Delmez, Shaun Giles, Sai Clayton, and Laura Hutson Hunter, In Her Place: Nashville Artists In The Twenty-First Century; Lisa E. Davis, Our Minds Were Always Free: A History of How Black Brilliance Was Exploited — And The Fight to Retake Control; Max Dosser, Nostalgic Futures: The Reactionary Fantasies of Speculative Fiction Fandoms; Benjamin Houston, Expelled: James Lawson Jr. And Vanderbilt University; Blair Kelley, Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days; Emily Lordi, Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston; Jason Miller, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and The Birth Of Black Power; Susan Eva O’Donovan, Moving Toward Freedom: The Political Education of Enslaved Americans; Joe Pagetta, The Apostle of Tennessee; Gautham Rao, White Power: Policing American Slavery; Dorothy Roberts, The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family; Alex Wright, Empire of Ink: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper; Rev. James Lawson Jr. and Emily Yellin, Nonviolent: A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, and Love; and Dave Zirin, The People’s Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn.
The Festival always has interesting and thought-provoking titles and their authors, such as this one: Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves From The Tyranny of The Automobile by Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon; count me out I love my wheels and the personal freedom they bring, but, who knows? I wonder what Eric Hendrikx, the author of Motorcycle Life, …might have to say. Enjoy the Festival!
