Featured Photo by Emma Burden
Story by Emma Burden
When walking through Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in Nashville, Tennessee, one might see city dwellers taking a break from Nashville’s hustle and bustle to read their favorite novels in the grass. But once a year, the entire park turns to their books for a weekend.
On Oct. 26 and 27, Humanities Tennessee held the 36th annual Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word. The free literary festival included vendors, book talks and author signings. The majority of the festival took place in Bicentennial Park, with book talks and pre-event writing workshops at the Tennessee State Museum and the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
Bicentennial Park served as a cozy venue for the festival. Fresh, fallen leaves littered the ground and families trekked through the park. The familiar, nostalgic scent of old books fluttered from vendor tents, and live music traveled the length of the park. Book lovers crowded around food trucks to drink milk tea and ice cream floats, and leashed dogs accompanied many festivalgoers.
Among the book talks, signings and general festival hubbub were authors TJ Klune, Keren Blankfield and Rachel Khong. Folk singer-songwriter Joan Baez also headlined, promoting her recent poetry collection, “When You See My Mother, Ask Her To Dance.”
These authors weren’t confined to the signing tent and their talks. Many strolled the festival to take part in other festivities, visiting the banned books exhibition in the park’s Court of Three Stars, titled Paul Collins’ Unbannable Library and perusing vendor stalls. Brian Fairbanks, author of “Willie, Waylon, and the Boys,” visited Books by Britton and shared his appreciation for shop owner Britton Perelman’s work, as he owns one of her products — a miniature bookshelf.
“We don’t always get to meet the people that get the shelves,” Perelman said, smiling as Fairbanks stopped by her tent. “This is so nice, it’s so cool.”
“I see it everyday,” Fairbanks said. “And [on the bookshelf] I had the cover for my new book, which came out in June, six months before it came out, when I was still editing.”
Based in Cinncinatti, Ohio, Perelman creates miniature bookshelves, bookthemed ornaments and miniature books inside of jars. In her tent, she sold bookshelves stacked with New York Times Bestsellers, such as “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas and “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros, but also creates custom miniature bookshelves. Fairbanks has a bookshelf featuring his own writing, which was a commission from Perelman’s shop.
“I love being able to do that for authors. They say, I have the cover, but I don’t have the book out yet,” Perelman said. “And I say I can make it in miniature for them, just as long as I have the cover.”
The interaction between Fairbanks and Perelman highlights the connection between authors and vendors at the Southern Festival of Books, along with the festival’s collaborative nature. The festival is unique, as it takes place primarily outdoors, and is open for authors, vendors and book lovers to mingle.
Across from Books by Britton was The Spine Bookshop. The tent was packed full of books, ranging from sci-fi to Christian fiction, alongside stickers, bookmarks and a plush green dragon.
Authors Michael Cook and Elizabeth Cook sat at a table in the tent, signing copies of their books, “The Long Way to You” and “Rising,” respectively.
“This is our first year as authors at the Southern Festival of Books, but it’s our second year as readers,” Michael Cook said. “It’s always fun to come out to the festival.”
The Cooks, who are married, volunteered to sign their books together at The Spine Bookshop’s tent.
“The Spine Bookshop is the only bookshop in Smyrna,” Michael Cook said. “It’s a great local bookstore that you can come out and find local authors, but also some of the mainstream stuff.”
Other notable vendors included Black Lawrence Press, Parnassus Books and HarperCollins. Parnassus Books, a major sponsor of the festival, sold signed copies of books by featured authors..
The festival drew to a close at 5 p.m. on Sunday. As book lovers filtered out of Bicentennial Park, they swung bags filled with new, pre-loved and signed books, along with new connections, whose names they hope to see on shelves.
Emma Burden is a Reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the Lifestyles Editor, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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