Husband-and-wife authors Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly will be the featured writers for Writers @ Work sponsored at Chattanooga State Community College.
A series of free events open to the public have been scheduled beginning Monday, April 8, through Thursday, April 11, to hear the couple speak on their book, "The Tilted World," ask questions of them and get books signed.
"Tilted World," set in 1927, follows federal revenue agent Ted Ingersol as he and partner Ham Johnson attempt to locate two missing agents in the town of Hobnob, Mississippi. After finding an abandoned baby at the scene of a shootout, Ingersol places the child with a woman named Dixie Clay, not knowing she will eventually help him unravel the town's secrets of sabotage and murder.
Franklin was born in Dickinson, Alabama, a town of about 400 people. As a non-hunter in a hunting family, he spent his childhood writing, drawing and reading. After moving to Mobile, Alabama, to attend college, Franklin recalls receiving such low marks that his father decided to stop paying his college tuition. To pay for school, Franklin worked a variety of night jobs including a stint cleaning up hazardous waste. It was during this time that he discovered creative-writing classes.
After graduating from the University of South Alabama, he earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arkansas, where he met his wife. He currently teaches in the University of Mississippi's MFA program.
He has received the Edgar Award, the Golden Dagger Award for Best Novel (UK), the LA Times Book Prize for Best Mystery or Thriller, as well as a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship. He is the author of "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter," "Smonk" and "Hell at the Breach," as well as a collection of short stories called "Poachers."
Fennelly was born in New Jersey, but grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, she spent time teaching English in a coal-mining town along the Czech/Polish border. She earned her MFA from the University of Arkansas then taught at the University of Wisconsin, as well as Knox College, before moving to the University of Mississippi, where she is currently a professor and the director of the MFA program.
Fennelly has received a Pushcart Prize, the Wood Award from The Carolina Quarterly and won The Black Warrior Review Contest. In 2016, she was named poet laureate of Mississippi, a position she still holds.
Fennelly's work includes three collections of poetry, and her new book is "Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs."
Founded in 2011, Writers @ Work chooses Southern authors with works centered on life in this region with the goal that participants gain a new understanding and appreciation for the culture and arts offered in the South.
SCHEDULE OF FREE EVENTS
An Evening at The Princess
» When: 6 p.m. Monday, April 8
» Where: The Princess Theater, 215 S. Cedar Ave., South Pittsburg, Tennessee
Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly will read from "The Tilted World," discuss their lives as writers, answer questions from the audience and sign books.
A Night at the Museum
» When: 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 9
» Where: Hunter Museum of American Art, 10 Bluff View
Take a self-guided gallery walk of art that shares themes relevant to the authors' novel, then return to the lobby by 6 p.m. when Franklin and Fennelly will read, discuss writing together and answer audience questions. Get your books signed during the hors d'oeuvres and dessert reception.
SouthBound Featuring Beth Ann Fennelly
» When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10
» Where: Star Line Books, 1467 Market St.
Fennelly will discuss and read from "Heating and Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs," followed by a book signing. Seating is limited; register for this event at www.southernlitalliance.org.
ChattState Chautauqua: Moonshine, Marriage and Mississippi
With Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly
» When: 2 p.m. Thursday, April 11
» Where: Chattanooga State Humanities Auditorium, 4501 Amnicola Highway
The couple will read from their books, discuss their lives as writers and answer questions before signing books.
Inside the Minds of Franklin and Fennelly: Behind-the-Writer Interview
» When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11
» Where: Chattanooga State Humanities Auditorium, 4501 Amnicola Highway
Chattanooga State English Professor Erica Lux will interview Franklin and Fennelly about their collaboration on "The Tilted World," their lives as Southern writers and what their writing process looks like. Bring your questions for the authors and your books for the signing. Dessert reception to follow.