Nashville News
Women’s National Book Association – Nashville chapter members are looking forward to another year of enlightening programs, fun activities, and community-service opportunities! This marks the thirteenth year of our WNBA Book Discussion Group. The Nashville Public Library has hosted us from the beginning, and our discussion group has proved to be a great community outreach program.
Fall is the busiest time for our chapter, as we gear up for our largest project of the year: Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books (SFOB)on October 12-14. WNBA Nashville has a long history of partnering with Humanities Tennessee’s Southern Festival of Books. Our members are often among the authors speaking at the festival, and this year was no exception, with Phyllis Gobbell (Treachery in Tuscany), Kelly Oliver (Jackal), Brenda Rickman Vantrese (The Broken Kingdom) and Dana Chamblee Carpenter (Book of the Just) discussing their latest books, and Tracy Barrett presenting her two very different works (Freefall Summer and Cricket and Clancy: Characters that Jump off the Page {and out of Airplanes}).
A number of chapter members lent their talents to hosting discussion groups and presentations for guest authors, with many of us filling in as needed with the myriad tasks necessary to keep a project the size of the SFOB running smoothly.
Coffee with Authors
Our annual NRGM event, Coffee with Authors, celebrated its twelfth anniversary this year and was one of the most popular events at the three-day festival. The Nashville Public Library provided support and generous space for our attendees to mingle over coffee and pastries before filling the auditorium to hear from a select panel of authors.
This year we welcomed Alexander Chee (How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays/Mariner Books), Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers/Viking), Abigail DeWitt (News of Our Loved Ones/Harper Collins Publishing), and Wayéu Moore (She Would Be King/Graywolf Press).
Moderator Mary Laura Philpott immediately put the panelists at ease, opening the program with a toast to each author’s most recent award or accomplishment. She gave all four authors the opportunity to explain the inspirations behind their books before following up with spot-on questions and contributions from the audience. Our four guest authors made for a varied and interesting panel, with just the right combination of humorous asides and anecdotes to balance the serious themes of their best sellers.
After the panel discussion, WNBA Nashville members presented each departing guest with an assortment of complimentary books, another much anticipated moment at Nashville’s annual NRGM event.
The Tennessee Young Writers’ Workshop
The Nashville chapter also manned a booth at the festival, an opportunity to introduce yet more book lovers to the WNBA and to promote our chapter’s authors and their latest books. In addition, we sell a variety of book-related items to fund annual scholarships to The Tennessee Young Writers’ Workshop.
This week-long learning experience provides both the instruction and support necessary to mentor talented aspiring writers in grades eight through twelve. Students spend seven days living on the campus of a local university, attending classes taught by professional writers and writing teachers. Free to concentrate solely on refining their talents, former attendees often refer to the experience as “life changing.” It’s a source of pride that our chapter plays a part in helping these talented young teens.
By Susan Lentz, WNBA – Nashville’s Bookwoman Correspondent
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