Each session begins with an animated opening featuring a character clicking away at a computer while a guitar plucks a melody. The back of that character’s computer is festooned with 3 stickers 1) the Humanities Tennessee logo 2) the Southern Festival of Books tree logo 3) a bumper sticker with text that switches from video to video. The character is looking at a computer screen that is displaying a box titled EMAIL 4 U a picture postcard. The narration goes while the character looks at the screen, wiggles its hand, and sips its coffee. Just as the postcard greeting is ending a popup alert reading “CALENDAR REMINDER FESTIVAL SESSION STARTING SOON with an OK button.” The character hovers and clicks to no avail. The popup alert multiplies, the screen malfunctions, the computer shakes, books fall off of bookshelves … there goes the coffee! The lights go out and then, WHAM, a book that fell from above crashes/liquidates the computer and opens up in heavenly light/sounds revealing the poster artwork. The page is turned to feature the Festival Sponsors’ logos [THANKS TO THE 2020 SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS SPONSORS: NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, METRO ARTS NASHVILLE OFFICE OF ARTS + CULTURE, INGRAM, TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISION: CULTIVATE. CREATE. PARTICIPATE., NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS: ARTS.GOV, DOLLAR GENERAL LITERACY FOUNDATION: GIVE. DREAM. HOPE., NASHVILLE SCENE, PARNASSUS BOOKS NASHVILLE, VANDERBILT, COMCAST, NES ,OLIVE AND SINCLAIR TENNESSEE STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES SECRETARY TRE HARGETT]. The page turns to reveal that session’s presenters preceded by a Chapter heading. And that’s it! At the end of the session, the character’s arm returns, picking up a watering can/teapot with the HT logo on it. Water pours forth and the Southern Festival of Books tree logo appears.
Below, please find the rotating bumper sticker, a description of the postcard, and the Title Page for the sessions. Thank you!
Oct 1, 2017: In Conversation: Ann Patchett and Yaa Gyasi:
Sticker: Do Ye Decimal?
Postcard: Color exterior shot of the Chattanooga Choo Choo building with a train sign on top.
Chapter 1: Ann Patchett Yaa Gyasi
The Whole Wide World
Date: 02 Oct 2020
Sticker: What A Long Strange Book It’s Been
Postcard: Mahalah Mullins Cabin
Chapter 2: Elizabeth Bunce, Karina Glaser, and Courtney Stevens
Life is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age
Date: 02 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’ll Be Book
Postcard: Greetings from the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame; Picture of Building Exterior; Picture of Spalding’s Athletic Library Basket Ball for Women (1901 Spalding Rulebook for Women’s Basketball) Picture of logo; Knoxville, Tennessee www.WBHOF.com
Chapter 3: Bruce Feiler
Deal with the Devil
Date: 02 Oct 2020
Sticker: The Book Abides
Postcard: Wish you Were Here Blount County Public Library; 10 pictures of hills, buildings
Chapter 4: Kit Rocha
In Conversation: Joe Hill and Paul Tremblay
Date: 02 Oct 2020
Sticker: Can’t Spell Read Without Rad
Postcard: Greetings from Chattanooga … a picture of The Jingle Truck (colorfully decorated pickup truck), Art 120, Chattanooga
Chapter 5: Joe Hill and Paul Tremblay
Mirror Sound
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’m Reading Nine to Five
Postcard: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; Cindy Walker’s royal deluxe, floral typewriter
Chapter 6: Lawrence Azerra and Spencer Tweedy
Click, Clack Good Night
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: Gonna Take My Book to the Old Town Road
Postcard: Picture of the largest bronze statue collection in Tennessee – Green McAdoo Cultural
Center, Clinton Tennessee
Chapter 7: – Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin
Voyage of the Adventure
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: To Thine Own Book Be True
Postcard: Picture of cave with lights and people: The Caverns in Pelham – Underground Bluegrass
Chapter 8: John Guider
American Sunrise: Poems
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: Wilde Thing
Postcard: Erwin Tennessee – Rebuilt Clinchville Streamengine illustration
Chapter 9: Joy Harjo
In Conversation: Ashley Blooms and Caroline DuBois
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: I Love You to the Moon and Book
Postcard: Exterior shot of Davies Manor Home
Chapter 10: Ashley Blooms and Caroline DuBois
In Conversation: Olivia Cole and Jessica Young
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: Books Forever
Postcard: Picture of the buildings at Discovery Park of America, Union City, TN
Chapter 11: Olivia Cole and Jessica Young
Inner Lives: Three Poets
Date: 03 October 2020
Sticker: Honk If You’re A Book
Postcard: Photograph of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory
Chapter 12: WIlliam R. Brown, Linda Parsons, Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum
In Conversation: Jess Montgomery and Erica Waters
Date: 03 October 2020
Sticker: This Book Climbed the Great Smoky Mountains
Postcard: A video of the Graceland Archives, Elvis’s Library, with gloved curator showing artifcats including a book that contains underlined passages.
Chapter 13: Jess Montgomery and Erica Waters
In Conversation: L.M. Elliott and Jennifer Li Shotz
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: Do Ye Decimal
Postcard: Black and white drawing of East Tennessee History Center
Chapter 14: L.M. Elliott and Jennifer Li Shotz
Mary Bohlen’s Heritage Cooking Inspired by Rebecca Boone
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: What A Long Strange Book it’s Been
Postcard: Cabin and structure at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
Chapter 15: Mary Bohlen
Road from Raqqa: A Story of Brotherhood, Borders, and Belonging
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: Honk If You’re a Book
Postcard: New Votes for Women Space at the Nashville Public Library
Chapter 16: Jordan Conn, Riyad al Kazam
In Conversation: Lisa Alther and Leah Hampton
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’ll Be a Book
Postcard: Picture of notebook with handwriting at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oakridge
Chapter 17: Lisa Alther and Leah Hampton
The Big Door Prize: A Novel
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker: The Book Abides
Postcard: Pictures of 4 seasons at Lilly Bluff Overlook, Rural Morgan County, TN
Chapter 18: M.O. Walsh
In Conversation: Mary Robinette Kowal and Jenn Lyons
Date: 03 Oct 2020
Sticker:You Had Me At Book
Postcard: Picture of land snails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 19: Mary Robinette Kowal and Jenn Lyons
A Measure of Our Belonging: Twenty One Writers of Color on the American South
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: Picture of Stribling House Museum Clifton, TN
Chapter 20: Barnes
I Am Not Your Enemy: Stories to Transform a Divided World
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: You Had Me At Book
Postcard: Picture of old school house Promised Land in Dickson County, TN
Chapter 21: Michael McRay and Jo Berry
Women’s National Book Association presents Coffee with Authors
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: Can’t Spell Read Without Rad
Postcard: Sunsphere, the World’s Fair Symbol, reflected in a puddle in Knoxville, TN
Chapter 22: Ahmed, Bennett, Zhang, and Philpott
In Conversation: Rod Davis and W.M. Akers
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’m Reading Nine to Five
Postcard: Blacklit scene from Rock City Gardens: Mother Goose Village and Fairyland Caverns
Chapter 23: Rod Davis and W.M. Akers
Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: To Thine Own Book Be True
Postcard: Mural on brick wall featuring Sleepy John Estes with guitar and Tina Turner with mircophone and the words Tina Turner Highway Lil’ Ole Town in TN Simply the Best Now I’m goin’ down South Brownsville West TN Delta Heritage Center and Tina Turner Museum
Chapter 24: Lisa Donovan
In Conversation: Lamar Giles and Phil Stamper
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: Wilde Thing
Postcard: Picture of the Casa Gallery room at the Museum of Science and History Pink Palace in Memphis
Chapter 25: Lamar Giles and Phil Stamper
Learning from the Masters
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: I Love You To The Moon And Back
Postcard: Exterior shot of the Etowah Depot Museum
Chapter 26: Ackmann, Curnutt, Bell, and Reed
Date: 04 Oct 2020
Sticker: Books Forever
Postcard: Postcard: Votes for Women Nashville Public Library’s Special Collection Center Room
Chapter 27: Debut Novelists: The Interactive Game Show Where Re-Titling This Very Event Will Be the First Challenge Hosted by Kate Reed Petty and Patrick Not Reed Petty
Kenny and the Book of Beasts (Kenny and the Dragon)
Date: 05 Oct 2020
Sticker: Honk If You’re A Book
Postcard: Close up of Alex Haley statue at MorningSide Park and Haley Heritage Square
Chapter 28: Tony diTerlizzi
In Conversation: Ruta Sepetys and Andrew Maraniss
Date: 05 Oct 2020
Sticker: Do Ye Decimal
Postcard: A hat, fox, stone wall and foliage at Knoxville Botanical Garden
Chapter 29: Ruta Sepetys and Andrew Maraniss
Southern Storytellers: Jill McCorkle, Lee Smith, and Margaret Renkl
Date: 05 Oct 2020
Sticker: What A Long Strange Book It’s Been
Postcard: James Agee Monument with stones and initials JA Knoxville, Historical Sites
Chapter 30: Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle and Margaret Renkl
Homeland Elegies: A Novel
Date: 05 Oct 2020
Sticker: Honk If You’re A Book
Postcard: Kara Walker book art with four figures pop up silhouette and text “In it she knows she need not fear an insurrection. “Why, surely my people will understand that my knowledge pairs in opposition and their operation in America will make me great.” She thinks. She has taken to referring to these unknown Africans as her people. She would like to claim ownership. “But not with papers or deeds or laws or such-like, but with undying devotion, and when I’ve earned myself that then I’ll work for the White people as well!”” Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga
Chapter 31: Ayad Akhtar
A Perfect 10: The Truth About Things I’m Not and Never Will Be
Date: 06 Oct 2020
Sticker: Books Forever
Postcard: Votes for Women Nashville Public Library’s Special Collection Center Room
Chapter 32: Heather Land
This is My America
Date: 06 Oct 2020
Sticker: What A Long Strange Book It’s Been
Postcard: Photograph of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory
Chapter 33: Kim Johnson
Greetings from New Nashville: How a Sleepy Southern Town Became “It” City
Date: 06 Oct 2020
Sticker: Do Ye Decimal
Postcard: Color exterior shot of the Chattanooga Choo Choo building with a train sign on top.
Chapter 34: Steve Haruch and Margaret Renkl
Deep Delta Justice: A Black Teen, His Lawyer, and Their Groundbreaking Battle for Civil
Rights in the South
Date: 06 Oct 2020
Sticker: You Had Me At Book
Postcard: Mural on brick wall featuring Sleepy John Estes with guitar and Tina Turner with mircophone and the words Tina Turner Highway Lil’ Ole Town in TN Simply the Best Now I’m goin’ down South Brownsville West TN Delta Heritage Center and Tina Turner Museum
Chapter 35: Matthew Van Meter
In Conversation: Sharon Cameron and Deborah Wiles
Date: 07 Oct 2020
Sticker:The Book Abides
Postcard: Wish you Were Here Blount County Public Library; 10 pictures of hills, buildings
Chapter 36: Sharon Cameron and Deborah Wiles
In Conversation: Wesley Morris and Masha Gessen
Date: 07 Oct 2020
Sticker: You Had Me At Book
Postcard: Picture of courthouse play reenactment of Scopes Trial at Scope Trial Museum Dayton, TN
Chapter 37: Wesley Morris and Masha Gessen
One by One
Date: 07 Oct 2020
Sticker:Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: Picture of cave with lights and people: The Caverns in Pelham – Underground Bluegrass
Chapter 38: Ruth Ware
Illustoria Live!
Date 07 Oct 2020
Sticker: Can’t Spell Read Without Rad
Postcard: Postcard: Greetings from Chattanooga … a picture of The Jingle Truck (colorfully decorated pickup truck), Art 120, Chattanooga
Chapter 39: Amanda Uhle and Elizabeth Haidle
Robobaby
Date: 07 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’m Reading Nine To Five
Postcard: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Cindy Walker’s royal deluxe, floral
typewriter
Chapter 40: David Wiesner
We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half-Century of Silence
Date: 07 Oct 2020
Sticker: To Thine Own Book Be True
Postcard: Picture of the largest bronze statue collection in Tennessee – Green McAdoo Cultural
Center, Clinton Tennessee
Chapter 41: Becky Cooper
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchhill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Date: 08 Oct 2020
Sticker: I Love You To The Moon And Book
Postcard: Exterior shot of Davies Manor Home
Chapter 41: Erik Larson
In Conversation: Meg Medina and Renee Watson
Date: 08 Oct 2020
Sticker: Wilde Thing
Postcard: Painting of Clinchfield Train Engine
Chapter 42: Renée Watson and Meg Medina
In Conversation: Bobbie Ann Mason and Jon Peede
Date: 08 Oct 2020
Sticker:Books Forever
Postcard: Exterior of Discovery Park of America, Union, TN
Chapter 43: Bobbie Ann Mason and Jon Peede
In Conversation: Ron Rash and George Singleton
Date: 08 Oct 2020
Sticker: This Book Climbed The Great Smoky Mountains
Postcard: Exterior of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory
Chapter 44: Ron Rash and George Singleton
Wild, Wild Nature: Three Explorations
Date: 09 Oct 2020
Sticker: Do Ye Decimal
Postcard: A video of the Graceland Archives, Elvis’s Library, with gloved curator showing artifcats including a book that contains underlined passages.
Chapter 46: Rob Simbeck, Ted Williams, Michael Ray Taylor
Princesses and Warriors: Kalynn Bayron, Sarah Henning, and Amy Tintera
Date: 09 Oct 2020
Sticker: You Had Me At Book
Postcard: Black and White Drawing of East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville
Chapter 47: Kalynn Bayronn, Sarah Henning, and Amy Tintera
Ordinary Girls: A Memoir
Date: 09 Oct 2020
Sticker: Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: Cabin and structure at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
Chapter 48: Jaquira Díaz
Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poems: Poems and Artifacts
Date: 09 Oct 2020
Sticker: Can’t Spell Read Without Rad
Postcard: Picture of notebook with handwriting at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oakridge
Chapter 49: Nikki Finney
Black Bottom Saints: A Novel
Date: 09 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’m Reading Nine to Five
Postcard: Pictures of 4 seasons at Lilly Bluff Overlook, Rural Morgan County, TN
Chapter 50: Alice Randall
Heroes for Young Readers: Picture Books
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: To Thine Own Book Be True
Postcard: Picture of land snails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 51: Gaillard, Rosner, and Hubbard
Inside the Publishing Industry with Gail Vinnett
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Wilde Thing
Postcard: Picture of Stribling House Museum Clifton, TN
Chapter 52: Gail Vinett
Step Into the Circle: Writers in Modern Appalachia
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: I Love You To The Moon And Book
Postcard: Sunsphere, the World’s Fair Symbol, reflected in a puddle in Knoxville, TN
Chapter 53:
ANNETTE SAUNOOKE CLAPSADDLE
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Books Forever
Postcard: Blacklit scene from Rock City Gardens: Mother Goose Village and Fairyland Caverns
Chapter 55: Natasha Trethewey
Girlhood Revelations: Middle Grade Novels
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: This Book Climbed The Great Smoky Mountains
Postcard: Picture of old school house Promised Land in Dickson County, TN
Chapter 56: McDunn, Sumner, and Bond
In Conversation: Adam Gussow and Jessica Ingram
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: A video of the Graceland Archives, Elvis’s Library, with gloved curator showing artifcats including a book that contains underlined passages.
Chapter 57: Adam Gussow and Jessica Ingram
In Conversation: Nate Marshall and Destiny Birdsong
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Do Ye Decimal
Postcard: Mural on brick wall featuring Sleepy John Estes with guitar and Tina Turner with mircophone and the words Tina Turner Highway Lil’ Ole Town in TN Simply the Best Now I’m goin’ down South Brownsville West TN Delta Heritage Center and Tina Turner Museum
Chapter 58: Nate Marshall and Destiny Birdsong
Who Gives a Poop? Surprising Science from One End to the Other
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: What A Long Strange Book It’s Been
Postcard: Picture of the Casa Gallery room at the Museum of Science and History Pink Palace in Memphis
Chapter 59: Heather Montgomery
In Conversation: Johnnie Bernhard and Philip Lee Williams
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’ll Be Book
Postcard: Exterior shot of the Etowah Depot Museum
Chapter 60: Johnnie Bernhard and Philip Lee Williams
Appalachian Voices Past and Present
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: You Had Me At Book
Postcard: Picture of courthouse play reenactment of Scopes Trial at Scope Trial Museum Dayton, TN
Chapter 61: Wayne Winkler, Tom Burton, and Sarah Smarsh
In Conversation: David Havird and Charlotte Pence
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: The Book Abides
Postcard: Votes for Women Nashville Public Library’s Special Collection Center
Chapter 62: David Havird and Charlotte Pence
In Conversation: Ashleigh Bryant Phillips and Deesha Philyaw
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: Close up of Alex Haley statue at MorningSide Park and Haley Heritage Square
Chapter 63: Ashleigh Bryant Phillips and Deesha Philyaw
Dreaming of America
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: Picture of land snails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Chapter 64:
The Family Perspective: Three Novels
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: Can’t Spell Read Without Rad
Postcard: A hat, fox, stone wall and foliage at Knoxville Botanical Garden
Chapter 65: Lydia Millet, Odie Lindsey David James Poissant
In Conversation: Julie Clark and Jennie Fields
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’m Reading Nine to Five
Postcard: James Agee Monument with stones and initials JA Knoxville, Historical Sites
Chapter 66: Julie Clark Jennie Fields
Pujol Basement Poetry Hour
Date: 10 Oct 2020
Sticker:To Thine Own Book Be True
Postcard: Kara Walker book art with four figures pop up silhouette and text “In it she knows she need not fear an insurrection. “Why, surely my people will understand that my knowledge pairs in opposition and their operation in America will make me great.” She thinks. She has taken to referring to these unknown Africans as her people. She would like to claim ownership. “But not with papers or deeds or laws or such-like, but with undying devotion, and when I’ve earned myself that then I’ll work for the White people as well!”” Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga
Chapter 67: Daniel Pujol
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Date: 11 October 2020
Sticker: Wilde Thing
Postcard: Color exterior shot of the Chattanooga Choo Choo building with a train sign on top.
Chapter 68: Christopher Paolini
In Conversation: Wanda Lloyd and David Pilgrim
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: This Book Climbed the Great Smoky Mountains
Postcard: Kara Walker book art with four figures pop up silhouette and text “In it she knows she need not fear an insurrection. “Why, surely my people will understand that my knowledge pairs in opposition and their operation in America will make me great.” She thinks. She has taken to referring to these unknown Africans as her people. She would like to claim ownership. “But not with papers or deeds or laws or such-like, but with undying devotion, and when I’ve earned myself that then I’ll work for the White people as well!”” Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga
Chapter 69: Wanda Lloyd and David Pilgrim
In Conversation: Chris Hamby and Stephanie Gorton
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’m Gonna Take My Book To The Old Town Road
Postcard: Picture of notebook with handwriting at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oakridge
Chapter 70: Chris Hamby and Stephanie Gorton
In Conversation: Ann Hite and Carter Sickels
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: I Love You To The Moon And Back
Postcard: Mahalah Mullins Cabin
Chapter 71: Ann Hite, Carter Sickels
Southern Foodways Alliance Presents the John Egerton Award
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: Books Forever
Postcard: Greetings from the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame; Picture of Building Exterior; Picture of Spalding’s Athletic Library Basket Ball for Women (1901 Spalding Rulebook for Women’s Basketball) Picture of logo; Knoxville, Tennessee www.WBHOF.com
Chapter 72: O’Neill, Berry, Milam, and Randall
In Conversation: Kacen Callender and Daphne Kalmar
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: I’ll Be Book
Postcard: Greetings from Chattanooga … a picture of The Jingle Truck (colorfully decorated pickup truck), Art 120, Chattanooga
Chapter 76: Kacen Callender and Daphne Kalmar
All You Need To Know About IngramSpark
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker:The Book Climbed The Great Smoky Mountains
Postcard: Wish you Were Here Blount County Public Library; 10 pictures of hills, buildings
Chapter 73: Josh Floyd
Afterlife: A Novel
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: DoYe Decimal
Postcard: Picture of courthouse play reenactment of Scopes Trial at Scope Trial Museum Dayton, TN
Chapter 74: Julia Alvarez
Such a Fun Age
Date: 11 Oct 2020
Sticker: What A Long Strange Book It’s Been
Postcard: Picture of cave with lights and people: The Caverns in Pelham – Underground Bluegrass
Chapter 75: Kiley Reid