Sponsors
Recent Visits from George Singleton and Lynne Berry
George Singleton came from South Carolina in support of the Festival during this bookfair week and read "Which Rocks We Choose," an amusing and intelligent short story about a Mississippi rock farmer taking a distance-learning course in Southern Culture at Ole Miss, Taylor. Though Singleton's stories will have you laughing, he has a way of stunning you with subtly fused sobering twists and details. He's someone you won't want to miss at the Southern Festival of Books in October.
Lynne Berry entertained children during story hour in support of the Festival on March 22 as she read from her delightful rhymes in Duck Skates. The book for very young children is charmingly illustrated and fun to read again and again. After story time, Berry then led the children in crafting their own fluffy ducks to take with them.
UPDATE: BOOK FESTIVAL RETURNS PERMANENTLY TO NASHVILLE
After four years of rotation between Nashville and Memphis, the twenty-year-old Southern Festival of Books will return to Nashville's War Memorial Plaza in 2008 and all future Festivals will remain in Nashville as well.
The annual Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word features more than 200 authors from around the nation and in every genre for presentations, readings, panel discussions and book signings and draws nearly 30,000 patrons annually.
"Holding the Festival in Memphis was a worthy attempt to serve Tennessee more broadly, but putting on the Festival in Memphis with a staff residing in Nashville was simply too hard to do well, and the strain of the rotation was putting the entire Festival in jeopardy. The folks in Memphis are great and couldn't have been more supportive, but we simply could not afford the year-round staffing presence that we learned we would need to have a successful Festival in Memphis," said Robert Cheatham, executive director of Humanities Tennessee.
In 2004 Humanities Tennessee, which produces the Festival, announced that it would hold the Festival in Memphis due in large part to major renovations being done at Nashville's War Memorial Plaza that rendered the traditional site of the Festival not usable for one year. The organization later announced that it would rotate between Nashville and Memphis, holding the Festival on even years in Memphis and odd years in Nashville.
Even though the Festival is moving to back to Nashville permanently, Humanities Tennessee will remain an active part of Memphis's literary, arts and cultural community.
The organization is working with the Assisi Foundation and the Memphis Public Library to pursue new literary partnerships and programs in the community.
Additional existing programs include:
- Spring author event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. All participating students will receive a complimentary copy of the author's book.
- Tennessee Young Writers' Workshop. A week-long workshop that provides students 8th–12th graders the opportunity to explore and develop their writing skills. Approximately 35 percent of participants are Memphians who receive scholarships to participate.
Humanities Tennessee is dedicated to developing a sense of community through educational programs in the humanities across Tennessee. The organization is multi-faceted non-profit that supports community history, cultural life and the studies of language and literature.
Other statewide program supported by Humanities Tennessee include the Tennessee Community History Program; the Smithsonian Museum's Museum on Main Street program; numerous grants and awards to museums, historical societies, libraries, teachers, schools and other small not-for-profits; youth education programs including the Tennessee Young Writers' Workshop and Letters about Literature.
The Southern Festival of Books is presented by Humanities Tennessee, a non-profit organization that promotes humanities education across Tennessee. The Festival is proudly sponsored by the National Endowment for Humanities, the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, Ingram, the Nashville Scene, the Frist Foundation, Davis Kidd Booksellers and Vanderbilt University.
The 2008 Southern Festival of Books will be held on Nashville's War Memorial Plaza October 10 through 12.
Thank you!
Thank you for your part in making the 19th annual Southern Festival of Books a true Celebration of the Written WordSM! We hope you enjoyed hearing from a wide range of talented writers, met new people and generated thought provoking discussion.
Looking for an author's name, book title or session featured at the Festival? The 2007 Festival schedule is still available online.
See you next year at the Festival's 20th anniversary celebration, October 10-12, 2008!
Want to be updated on other Humanities Tennessee events and programs throughout the year? Subscribe to Humanities Matters, our e-newsletter, by sending an email with the subject line "Subscribe to newsletter" to tim@humanitiestennessee.org.
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